April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 77

" how " and " why " of green infrastructure in parks in underserved communities. We found an ideal location
for this gathering in Atlanta, Georgia - a city that has embraced green
infrastructure in its parks and public
spaces, particularly in traditionally
under-resourced neighborhoods.
We were joined by colleagues from
the Trust for Public Land and The
Conservation Fund to help us understand initiatives at the national level
and how this translates into work
on the ground. Representatives from
Amigos de los Rios in Los Angeles
and the West Atlanta Watershed Alliance shared their recipes for success
in engaging people from low-income
and immigrant communities and
people of color in the process of implementing green infrastructure in
parks and public spaces.
We engaged in rousing dialogue
and working groups with experts
representing a range of perspectives
- leaders in the fields of planning,
environmental justice and social equity, conservation funding, water
management, park design and many
others. Topics of discussion ranged
from community engagement and
financing for green infrastructure to
partnerships, operations and maintenance. We heard from representatives from Philadelphia, Atlanta, and
Milwaukee - cities leading the effort
to place green infrastructure in parks
- about their achievements and how
they got there.
We were fortunate to have a beautiful spring day for an afternoon tour
of Atlanta parks that exemplify what
we aim to achieve through the Great
Urban Parks Campaign. We visited
the future site of Proctor Park, currently a neglected, trash-filled space
in the Bankhead neighborhood that
regularly floods as runoff from near

by downtown Atlanta is released
from underground pipes. The new
space will offer the community in
Atlanta's west side opportunities for
recreation and a place to connect
with nature alongside 4 acres of constructed wetlands that will manage
the stormwater. Lindsay Street Park,
the first park in the English Avenue
neighborhood, boasts more than 30
organizational partners that contributed to this shining example of
community engagement to address a
critical neighborhood-scale flooding
and combined sewer overflow problem. Lindsay Street features rain gardens and other green infrastructure
to manage stormwater and control
flooding. We drove by Mims Park
and Vine City Park - two other examples of parks in underserved areas
of West Atlanta that will benefit from
green infrastructure while providing
community members access to green
space and recreation.
Our tour concluded at Atlanta's
Historic Fourth Ward Park - an
award-winning example of the opportunity green infrastructure presents to transform a neighborhood.
Located in a former industrial area
known for its vulnerability to flooding and debris strewn by stormwater
runoff, the 17-acre Historic Fourth
Ward Park now offers playgrounds,
a skatepark, an outdoor theater, athletic fields and plenty of open green
space. The centerpiece of the park
- a 2-acre lake - functions to hold
stormwater in place, reducing the
burden on the city's grey stormwater
infrastructure, minimizing flooding
and providing wildlife habitat. The
stormwater management features of
Historic Fourth Ward Park are not
only beautiful and functional - they
also save the city money. The cost
savings total roughly $15 million as

compared with construction of grey
infrastructure to manage the same
amount of water.
What's Next
This convening of experts helped to
frame the conversation about how
park leaders and planners can best
advance green infrastructure projects
in parks in underserved communities.
During the next 18 months, NRPA
and APA will roll out a series of educational tools and resources for our
members on topics such as making
the case to elected officials for green
infrastructure in parks, strategies for
funding green infrastructure projects, and best practices for engaging
the community in the process. These
tools will include a comprehensive
resource guide, available for free online, and a series of training webinars
and conference presentations.
Meanwhile, we will continue to
learn from and support the field by
providing three to five grants ranging
from $350,000 to $575,000 to support
replicable green infrastructure pilot
projects in local parks in underserved
communities and demonstrate how
such projects can positively influence
social and environmental outcomes.
We anticipate funding projects such
as constructing rain gardens with educational signage, inviting the public to learn about the role of plants
in mitigating stormwater runoff or
improving the installation of a green
roof on a recreation center, complete
with a gathering space where the
public can enjoy the view and learn
about the role of green roofs in cooling buildings and holding and filtering stormwater. Visit www.nrpa.org/
greeninfrastructure to learn more.
Jessica Culverhouse is NRPA's Senior
Manager of Fundraising (jculverhouse@nrpa.
org).

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Parks & Recreation

April 2016 - Parks & Recreation

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