October 2019 - Parks & Recreation - 41

from playing outside and leads
them to play in parking lots, which,
in some cases, causes the families
to get evicted. " To address these
problems, the city began negotiations with the property owner for
a long-term lease. However, after
months of investing time and effort, no agreement was reached.
Tukwila faced difficulty closing
the access gap not only because of
unwilling property owners, but also
because of rising real estate costs.
Removing the barriers in the acquisition process required Tukwila to
change the scope of its work to focus on creating more equitable policies. One barrier to acquiring land
was the inability of low-income
communities to provide a match
for the King County Conservation
Futures Tax Levy funding requirement. Through extensive work reviewing, developing and proposing
revisions to the tax levy, the Open
Space Equity Cabinet adopted a
new code of standards. This would
waive the tax levy funding match
requirement for identified " equity areas, " as defined by median
household income, rates of hospi-

talization for asthma, diabetes and
heart disease, and urban areas lacking publicly owned and accessible
open space within a quarter mile.
This will allow Tukwila to acquire
funding and create parks and open
spaces for underserved areas.
After passing the policy and identifying a new area for development
and acquisition, in March 2019,
Tukwila applied for funding to purchase a different property through
the tax levy. Ahead of the purchase
and in the negotiations for the initial
lease, the city utilized new community engagement strategies, such as
Artist in Residence. The two artists
in residence engaged the community through an inclusive, interactive
arts-based method that allowed
everyone, regardless of language,
culture or other barriers, to express
their desires for the new park space.
Tukwila will use these engagement
methods, policy frameworks and
other lessons of park access to develop the Tukwila Parks, Recreation
& Open Space Plan, ultimately aiding in the increase of equitable access across the city.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ANCHORAGE PARK FOUNDATION

ed States, and most of its residents
are people of color. Equity is a core
value, and, in 2017, the city developed an equity policy that defines
equity as " eliminating systemic
barriers and providing fair access
to programs, services and opportunities to achieve social, civic and
economic justice. " Although 71
percent of Tukwila's residents have
access to a park within a 10-minute
walk, quality and access continue
to be top priorities.
To accomplish the equity policy for parks, Mayor Allen Ekberg
and Parks and Recreation Director
Rick Still selected criteria to prioritize development and maintenance
of parks. These criteria included
access to parks within a 10-minute
walk, income, rates of chronic disease and other factors, such as language and racial diversity. Through
this process, Tukwila identified a
community that had a critical gap
in park access and obtained an
NRPA 10-Minute Walk grant, initially to focus its efforts on addressing the gap. Specifically, the city
aimed to develop a community engagement model for acquiring and
developing new park space that it
hoped could be replicated in other
neighboring communities.
As team members began engagement, they learned just how much
their community needed a safe
park space. " Everybody deserves
a safe place to play, " says Tukwila Parks and Recreation Manager
Tracy Gallaway. " The challenge
with this area is that even though
there are parks within a 10-minute
walk, they are not always safely
accessible. This prevents children

Anchorage residents participate in one of
three listening tours during which indigenous and new Alaskans share their experience with park and recreation services.

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Parks & Recreation

October 2019 - Parks & Recreation

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