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Americans
Agree: Every Person Deserves
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Access
to a Great Park Within a 10-Minute Walk
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Findings published in the 2018
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NRPA Americans’ Engagement with
Parks Report
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Ashburn,
VA – October 2018 / Newsmaker Alert / According
to a recent
report published by the National Recreation
and Park Association (NRPA), the majority (85 percent) of Americans
support efforts, such as the 10-Minute Walk campaign, to ensure every person
has access to a great park within a 10-minute walk of their home. Currently,
3 in 4 Americans say they live within walking distance of a local park
or other recreational facility and, on average, visit their local park
and recreation facilities more than twice a month.
Distributed
to 1,000 Americans ages 18+, the 2018 Americans’ Engagement with Parks
Report also found public support for parks and recreation remains strong.
More than 9 in 10 Americans agree parks and recreation is an important
local government service. Other key highlights from the report include:
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Seventy-six
percent of Americans are more likely to vote for local politicians who
make park and recreation funding a priority.
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Eighty-five
percent of Americans consider high-quality park and recreation amenities
important factors when choosing a new place to live.
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Sixty-eight
percent of survey respondents report having visited a local park and/or
recreation facility within a month of participating in the survey.
“The critical
value Americans place on parks and recreation is evident by the data presented
in this report,” said Barbara Tulipane, CAE, NRPA president and CEO. “Not
only do parks build healthy, vibrant and resilient communities, they are
also powerful engines of economic activity.”
A report
issued by NRPA — in partnership with the Center for Regional Analysis at
George Mason University — demonstrates the vast economic impact of local
parks nationwide. Operations and capital spending for local parks generates
more than $154 billion in economic activity and supports more than 1.1
million jobs. This is a conservative estimate that does not capture parks’
other economic benefits:
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Higher
real estate values
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Health
and wellness benefits
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Conservation/Resiliency
benefits
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Tourism
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Economic
development
The Americans’
Engagement with Parks Report is an annual research series from NRPA that
tracks the general public’s interaction with and support for public parks.
The findings provide park and recreation professionals, policymakers and
other key stakeholders with insights on the importance local parks and
recreation facilities play in lives of all Americans. The NRPA Research
Department will release new results from the Americans’ Engagement with
Parks Report each fall.
To
read NRPA’s Americans’ Engagement with Parks Report, click
here.
To
learn more about NRPA, visit www.nrpa.org.
About
the National Recreation and Park Association
The
National Recreation and Park Association is a national not-for-profit organization
dedicated to ensuring that all Americans have access to parks and recreation
for health, conservation and social equity. Through its network of 60,000
recreation and park professionals and advocates, NRPA encourages the promotion
of healthy and active lifestyles, conservation initiatives and equitable
access to parks and public space. For more information, visit www.nrpa.org.
For digital access to NRPA’s flagship publication, Parks & Recreation,
visit www.parksandrecreation.org.
Media
Contact:
Heather
Williams
National
Recreation and Park Association
703-858-4743 |