Park Pride believes that everyone deserves access not just to a park, but a quality park. Fulfilling this vision cannot occur in isolation from other city priorities that impact people’s health, happiness, and quality of life. Affordable housing, regionalism, and active transportation, are three front and center issues within which parks need to find their place. Read more in Park Pride’s monthly contribution to Saporta Report’s People, Places, and Parks.
SOURCE: Saporta Report
Park Pride and our greenspace partners have been hard at work through the better part of this year attempting to develop a rapport with the next Mayor of the City of Atlanta. The challenge, at this particular point in time, is that we don’t know who that person will be. As of the August 20th filing, there were 14 candidates who claimed to be up to the job. However, at the race’s conclusion there can be only one.
SOURCE: Saporta Report
Thirteen organizations have emerged as a “Green Cabinet” available to help the next administration develop policies that improve Atlanta’s green spaces and parks.
SOURCE: Saporta Report
At Park Pride’s virtual Roundtable, Charlie McCabe, parks and placemaking, discussed the results of a study commissioned by The Trust for Public Land that outlined a number of funding opportunities for Atlanta’s parks and recreation, followed by comments from four candidates for Atlanta mayor or their representatives.
SOURCE: Saporta Report
Atlanta did not fare too well in the Trust for Public Land’s 2021 ParkScore ranking. Of the 100 major U.S. cities, Atlanta ranked 49th compared to 40th last year. Part of the reason can be attributed to equity. For the first time, TPL added measures of park equity in its ParkScore rankings.
SOURCE: Saporta Report
Park Pride’s Executive Director, Michael Halicki, shares updates on the organization’s efforts to deepen our commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. These highlights are part of a larger body of DEI-related work that began in 2020 and will continue in 2021 and the years ahead.
SOURCE: Saporta Report
Michael Halicki, Executive Director of Park Pride, discusses the evolutions COVID-19 has had on Atlanta-based non-profits to engage local communities in activating the power of parks on a metropolitan scale.
SOURCE: COVID Conversations
Four more Atlanta school playgrounds will be redesigned to go from recess to neighborhood recreation. The Atlanta Community Schoolyards project is an effort to transform school playgrounds into public parks that serve students during the school day and are open to residents after the final bell rings and on weekends. Students get to help redesign the spaces, and donations will pay for about $110,000 in construction upgrades at each site. The goal is to create more accessible green space across the city — parks that residents can enjoy within a short walk of their homes.
SOURCE: Atlanta Journal Constitution
In this column for Saporta Report’s “People, Places, and Parks,” Executive Director, Michael Halicki highlights changes coming to Park Pride’s grant programs to make them more equitable.
SOURCE: Saporta Report
“While many of us have perhaps never thought of parks and recreation centers as critical infrastructure, that is, in fact, the exact the purpose for which they were originally created. While the modern idea of parks has become associated with playgrounds, baseball fields, and park benches, parks in America actually began as an initiative to improve public health during past pandemics and increase urban resiliency.” In this month’s contribution to the Saporta Report’s “People, Places, and Parks,” Executive Director, Michael Halicki shares the major lesson from the COVID-19 health crisis and that parks are not all just fun and games.
SOURCE: Saporta Report
