November 2012 - Parks & Recreation - 45

" Park departments simply
can't do it alone. You've just
got to have the political will-
the support of the entire
community-to make these
kinds of changes. "
-Greg Weitzel, Director,
Parks and Recreation Division,
Idaho Falls, Idaho
a maze of elevated on-ramps. Or perhaps a tenement-dotted urban grid where only a few stubborn
blades of grass sprout between sidewalk cracks.
While haphazard urban planning and freewaybisected suburbs are often to blame for recreationdeprived areas, identifying and improving these
impoverished spaces is a complex undertaking
that demands insight into more than green spaces, facilities, and mapped distances.
" It's just as much about the people using the spaces, " Bill Beckner, NRPA's senior research manager, explains, " and how they get there and whether
they perceive them as being safe and welcoming. "
In a creative partnership between parks and
academia, the City of Allentown (Pennsylvania)
Parks and Recreation sought to better understand
its users. With funding from the Pennsylvania
Recreation and Park Society, the city worked with
Penn State University to connect the city into a
recreational destination.
Greg Weitzel is Allentown's former park and
recreation director and presently parks director
for the City of Idaho Falls, Idaho. He says aging

infrastructure and safe-access problems presented known obstacles to residents. And he and his
colleagues wanted to eliminate those obstacles
while also gaining insight into the many factors
inﬂuencing use.
Penn State's Andrew Mowen conducted a preand post-renovation study of Allentown's Cedar
Creek Parkway, a linear park connecting the eastside and westside neighborhoods of Allentown, to
determine what improvements mattered most to
residents. The following attractions were the most
commonly cited in Mowen's study:
■ A large destination playground with universal
accessibility and multigenerational appeal (including ﬁtness trail)
■ Paved access trail
■ Cleanliness of supporting facilities, such as restrooms and water fountains
■ Installation of a rose garden.
Clearly, these kinds of renovations (not to mention the many less visible to the public) require a
substantial investment in master-planning and dollars. Weitzel, known for championing thoughtful,
built-environment approaches to increased recreational access, says the study-and his own years of
experience-point to one overarching conclusion.
" Park departments simply can't do it alone.
You've just got to have the political will-the support of the entire community-to make these kinds
of changes. "

In the El Sereno
neighborhood of Los
Angeles, residents of all
ages pitched in to help
build a long-needed
playground (see Parks
& Recreation, October
2012).

Maureen Hannan is a Virginia-based freelance writer
and former staff editor with Parks & Recreation
(maureenhadams@gmail.com).
WWW.NRPA.ORG | NOVEMBER 2012 |

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November 2012 - Parks & Recreation

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