As part of the Salazar Center’s celebration of National Public Lands Day, we asked a few of our friends and partners to reflect on the power of public lands to inspire hope, foster unity, and strengthen communities. This reflection is part of that series.
As summer turns to fall, Americans naturally turn from beaches and lakeshores to parks and woods. There, they may trace a familiar footpath to take in the foliage or join a pickup game of soccer. But parks offer something more profound than a sensory escape or venue for physical activity, as important as those things are. They are an opportunity to deepen friendships and make new ones, to strengthen community, and even, perhaps, to heal our democracy.
As Americans’ sense of community is being tested by political polarization, racial and economic division, and loneliness, parks and green spaces are neutral gathering places. On National Public Lands Day, we at Trust for Public Land (TPL) know how effective parks are in bringing people together and bridging divides. In fact, building community is a key pillar of our work, from brainstorming with residents at the start of a park project to ensuring they have the power to shape programs and form partnerships to realize a park’s potential.
A recent survey by TPL found that great parks yield strong communities. Each year, our ParkScore® index ranks the park systems of the 100 most populous cities in the United States, based on metrics like investment, equity, amenities, access, and acreage. This year, we also surveyed those cities about their efforts to bolster community through parks.
In a special TPL report, “The Power of Parks to Strengthen Community,” we revealed that residents of cities with the highest park rankings were more socially connected and engaged with their neighbors than residents of cities with lower-ranked park systems. In the top 25 cities, there were, on average, 26 percent more social connections between low- and high-income individuals than in lower-ranked cities. People were also 60 percent more likely to volunteer than those living in lower-ranked cities. (These patterns held after controlling for race/ethnicity, education, poverty, urbanicity, family structure, and transiency.)
Photo: Alexa Hoyer
Social connections lead to social capital, the somewhat fuzzy but proven concept that neighborly ties empower communities. Social capital is associated with significant community benefits, including improved health, social resilience, civic participation, and economic well-being. Communities with more social connections see other positive outcomes, from lower mortality and reduced depression to resiliency to disasters.
Whether through baseball leagues, senior walks, community picnics or volunteer days, people come together in parks and public lands. They share news and gossip, complain and organize, and ultimately, advocate for better and more parks, as well as other services. But in order for Americans to convene in parks, local green spaces must be attractive and widely accessible, and not just in affluent suburbs and cities, but everywhere.
At the federal level, we are championing legislation that would greatly strengthen local parks. The bill, called the Outdoors for All Act (O4A), would improve the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership, a grant program that provides funding for communities that need parks the most. The new legislation would make that program permanent, avoiding the need for annual renewal. It would also let federally recognized tribes apply to the funding program for the first time. It would also lower the population requirement to 25,000, meaning that towns and smaller cities would be eligible.
National Public Lands Day is a time to reflect on the wonder of parks—whether the magic of sunlight filtering through a tree canopy or the social alchemy of a chance encounter. But it’s also an opportunity to demand that everyone have access to their health-inducing, community-building superpowers.
Luis Benitez is the chief impact officer at Trust for Public Land. He is also the author of “Higher Ground: How the Outdoor Recreation Industry Can Save the World.”