January 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 8

PERSPECT I VES A MESSAGE FROM NRPA' S LEADERS
2022 Trends Address
Today's Challenges
What an exciting
issue we have
for you this month! We've got Rich
Dolesh's ever-popular park and
recreation trends column. Dolesh, who
is
former vice president of strategic
initiatives for NRPA and current editorat-large
of Parks & Recreation, has a
fascination for trend spotting and has
entertained and inspired this magazine's
readers for years with the results of
his research and exploration. Neelay
Bhatt, vice president and principal at
PROS Consulting and a former NRPA
board member, is back to amplify on
his engaging work and expand on
his education session presented at the 2021 NRPA
Annual Conference this past fall, by identifying the
" next practices " of our field. These perspectives, and
others that come from park and recreation leaders
around the country and globe, help us understand the
dynamic and challenging world we live in.
Recently, I saw a post on LinkedIn calling out the
disconnect between accessible trails and how their
access points are designed. In this example, there was
a large rock and post, intended to block vehicular
traffic. However, the gap was smaller than the safe
distance required by the Americans with Disabilities
Act for wheelchairs and other devices. We want our
accessible trails to actually be accessible. This is becoming
even more important considering our aging
population and the increasing number of people who
have mobility challenges.
When we combine increasing accessibility with
evolving products like electronic bikes (ebikes), we
find challenges that need to be managed. A trend
that has been around for decades and is growing
in complexity and intensity: user conflict. With
the growing popularity of ebikes and increasing
investment in multi-use trails and trail connections,
the
user conflicts
that
park and recreation
professionals have navigated in the past have become
even more challenging. In Fort Collins, Colorado,
which is a Platinum Bike Friendly community
8 Parks & Recreation |
J ANUAR Y 2 0 22 | PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G
(tinyurl.com/39n5hcm2), the city ran a one-year pilot
project to assess ebike usage on paved trails. The pilot
enabled city staff to collect data on, understand the
acute issues with and implement policies governing
road, bike-lane, and paved- and natural-trail access
for all classes of ebikes.
Another trend for our field that virtually all agencies
are feeling acutely is the competition for labor. Add to
this " The Great Resignation " and retiring baby boomers,
and our agencies are losing significant institutional
knowledge. This trend isn't going away and will put
even more pressure on establishing clear policies and
documented procedures, building career pathways
to attract and retain talent, and investing in creative
workforce development strategies. Stay tuned for more
on this topic from us in the coming months.
I want to sign off with a shout out to San
Francisco Recreation and Parks and our valued
partner, KABOOM!, which was lauded recently by
UNICEF's 2021 Cities Inspire Awards in the ChildFriendly
Environments
category (tinyurl.com/
rkv7w23y). Their Heron's Head Nature Exploration
Area (tinyurl.com/vwmt3wfv) was recognized as a
place that " encourages people of all ages to engage
with diverse natural elements, while promoting more
equal access to outdoor play and nature. " This is a
great example of responding to the trend of creating
cities and public spaces that work for all ages.
Congratulations!
To everyone doing the tough work of responding
to current and future challenges, we see you and
thank you!
KRISTINE STRATTON
President and CEO
http://www.tinyurl.com/39n5hcm2 http://www.tinyurl.com/rkv7w23y http://www.tinyurl.com/rkv7w23y https://www.tinyurl.com/vwmt3wfv
January 2022 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January 2022 - Parks & Recreation
