changelabsolutions.org 6 Grow: Parks Maintenance and Ecology Healthy people need healthy places to live, including clean air, water and soil. Because humans are part of the ecosystem, what’s good for the environment is usually also good for people.17 A Complete Parks system manages parks in a way that is good for the environment and makes parks attractive for long-term use by all kinds of people. Parks improve air quality,18 provide shade and cool cities prone to extreme heat,19 and absorb storm water to reduce flooding and property damage.20 Social connections can be reinforced by parks,21 which can improve a community’s ability to withstand disasters,22 and parks can serve as staging areas during emergencies.23 How to Measure: Assessing the Grow element focuses on environmental stewardship, including parks system practices around recycling and managing waste. It also measures outreach and engagement on ecology and park ecosystems, as well as the environmental conditions in parks, such as air quality. Protect: Safety in and around Parks Cities, towns, and communities cannot thrive or enjoy good health unless they are safe. Safety is as much a public health issue as a matter for police and the justice system, since violence and fear of violence increase the risk of all sorts of poor physical and mental health outcomes.24,25 Safety and perceptions of safety can mean very different things to people depending on their experiences. The Protect element addresses the safety concerns of all people. People in and around parks need to feel safe, or else they will avoid using parks.26 Overflowing trash and litter, lack of maintenance, or a lack of clean bathrooms or drinking water discourage park use and lead to negative community perceptions that make parks feel unsafe.27 In a Complete Parks system, park safety is understood within the context of broader community safety and wellness, since people who feel safe in their neighborhood are more likely to feel safe in their local parks.28 How to Measure: Assessing the Protect element involves measuring the level of safety in and around parks, as well as some of the conditions and perceptions that support park safety. People are most likely to use parks that feel safe and are clean, well lit, and well maintained,29,30 so these conditions include park maintenance that addresses litter, graffiti and lighting, as well as alcohol outlet density in the neighborhood.
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