Research physical activity. Slightly less than half of Americans visit their local parks based on a desire to be closer to nature. There are a number of barriers that are keeping Americans from enjoying their local park and recreation facilities even more. These barriers represent chal- 5th lenges (and perhaps opportunities) for park and recreation professionals to identify solutions to further improve the accessibility of their offerings to the public. The biggest barrier keeping Americans from greater enjoyment of their local park and recreation facilities is a lack of time (39 percent). A lack of quality facilities near one's home (20 percent) is the second biggest barrier, followed by a concern about personal safety at the park or recreation facility (17 percent), a lack of awareness of the park location or offerings (16 percent), parks/recreation offerings not matching areas of interest (14 percent) and excessive costs/fees (14 percent). Also detracting from the enjoyment of local park and recreation offerings are concerns about the ability to safely travel to and from their nearest local park, playground, open space or recreation center. While almost three in five Americans feel " completely " or " very " safe walking to and from their local park and recreation facility (58 percent), 14 percent of Americans say they feel unsafe doing so. What's concerning is that Americans without a safe way to walk to their local parks visit these facilities 40 percent less often than those who do. BARNETT PARK | CITY EDMOND, OKLAHOMA, USA JOIN US AT BOOTH 1227 BRING COMMUNITIES TOGETHER World leader in aquatic play solutions with over 6,000 installations worldwide 1.877.586.7839 (USA/CANADA) | info@vortex-intl.com VORTEX-INTL.COM 22 Parks & Recreation | O C T O B E R 2 0 1 6 | W W W. PA R K S A N D R E C R E AT I O N . O R G