February 2018 - Parks & Recreation - 20

Alliance for the Great Lakes

Community Center

Gary residents participate in a site-selection
meeting to determine ideal locations for
neighborhood pocket parks.

45 percent of the 1960s peak population.
Those left to address the city's expansive
and aging stormwater infrastructure are
ill-equipped to pay for needed updates.
To manage these issues, the city committed to scaling the Vacant-to-Vibrant
program, a multicity, Cleveland Botanical Garden-led initiative in which Great
Lakes cities, challenged with many vacant properties, blight and flooding,
install green infrastructure in pocket
parks. The city partnered with The Alliance for the Great Lakes to support resident leadership and ensure that resident
expertise is driving the site selection, design and implementation process for the
transformation of six vacant city lots to
pocket parks.
The project was highlighted at district
meetings, and the community was given
the chance to join the project steering
committee, which included residents,
city staff, landscape architects, planners,
18

Parks & Recreation

ecologists and engineers. This ensured
that those community members had a
say in every step of the planning process. Joelle Gamble, a resident of the
Aetna neighborhood in Gary, shared
her thoughts on being included in the
process: " I have seen and have played
a part in my neighborhood developing into a family-friendly place, where
neighbors know each other and have a
vested interest in the neighborhood. We
voice our concerns and address issues,
and the result is that more families have
moved in. It's such a nice feeling to see
children playing in the streets, riding
bikes and people walking their pets. We
have a lot more challenges to overcome,
but the neighborhood is the place we
call our home! "
The alliance and the committee conducted targeted outreach, including attending neighborhood and church meetings, making personal calls and sending
emails to promote community-wide site
selection meetings where sites and design were discussed. This helped inform
the city of priority pocket park locations
and designs.
Lessons Learned
Through outreach and engagement,
residents in Chelsea, Covington and
Gary are now more knowledgeable
about solutions that enable their communities to better manage the effects
of extreme weather and protect against
severe flooding. In addition, their park
and recreation agencies and partner organizations learned valuable strategies
to engage residents in green stormwater
infrastructure projects.
Rely on Existing Relationships - To recruit kids for the city of Covington's
program, the parks and recreation
manager relied on her relationship
with a student she met through a previous summer camp program. Word of
mouth proved to be the city's most suc-

| F E B R UA R Y 2 0 1 8 | W W W. PA R K S A N D R E C R E AT I O N . O R G

cessful recruitment tactic, because that
student encouraged his sister and other
friends to join the program. " Recruitment for the program would have been
very difficult without existing relationships with students, " says Rosie Santos, Covington's parks and recreation
manager. Now several students are
leading an effort to establish a club at
their school to continue learning about
related topics and to generate more interest in implementing green stormwater infrastructure projects among their
peers, as well as their families.
Start with Understanding Needs Rather
than Education - Communities may not
be informed about green stormwater
infrastructure as a solution for flooding
and poor water quality. By understanding the needs of the community and
showcasing how those needs can be met
with green stormwater infrastructure
projects, residents will not only be more
engaged, but will also become advocates
for future projects.
In Chelsea, GreenRoots learned that
engaging residents in green stormwater
infrastructure projects through the lens
of creating more open green space and
public access to the river has empowered
them to think about the long-term, positive effect on local rivers and climate
change more broadly. They have coupled
community gardens, parks and sitting areas with bioswales and rain gardens.
Don't Let Project Setbacks Impede Community Engagement - Almost every project encounters delays that cannot be
prevented. However, it can be difficult
to explain this to a community that lacks
trust in its city government to deliver on
its promises. Instead of focusing on the
negative, keep residents engaged through
related activities. It shows you still care
about their needs and you are not abandoning the project.
GreenRoots had to delay its project
to deal with land ownership and reme-



February 2018 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of February 2018 - Parks & Recreation

February 2018 - Parks & Recreation - 1
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