November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 6

PERSPECT I VES A MESSAGE FROM NRPA' S LEADERS
Measuring the Value of Parks
Many years ago, I was flying home through Midway Airport
in Chicago. While waiting for my luggage, I picked up a tourism
brochure about Chicago and flipped through the pages. What I
remember was picture after picture of parks. It seemed that the
tourism board knew parks have value and attract tourists and
visitors, but I wondered how they knew.
I returned to work and asked my staff, " What are we worth? "
- meaning, what is the value of our parks? While the benefits
of parks are mostly intuitive for residents and visitors alike, we
sought a quantitative way to measure parks' value. We partnered
with the Civic Consulting Alliance, Global Economics
Group and Roland Berger Strategy Consultants to objectively
assess the impacts. The analysis of data showed that residential
properties within two blocks of a park, or 43 percent of all residential
properties in Chicago, experience on average 1.5 percent
higher property values directly attributable to their proximity to
a park. Additionally, the economic significance of events and
tourism due to parks was estimated at between $1.2 billion and
$1.4 billion each year, or 8 percent of the total tourist spend.
Quantifying the value of our parks with research and data helps amplify our story of the importance
of parks. Organizations like parks foundations or other advocacy groups continue to
study the data and evaluate parks' impacts. The Florida State Parks Foundation estimates 29
million people visit Florida state parks and trails annually, accounting for $2.6 billion in direct
economic impact on local economies through the state. A Parks and Trails New York study
estimated their state park system generates $5 billion in economic activity, creates 45,000 jobs
and generates 21 percent of visitor spending from out-of-state visitors. These are staggering
numbers supporting the need for, and value of, parks in our communities.
NRPA regularly researches park impacts nationally. A recent study found local and regional
public park agencies' activities and spending in 2017 generated more than $166 billion in economic
activity, boosting national gross domestic product by $87 billion and supporting more
than 1.1 million jobs. More data and resources are available at nrpa.org/EconomicImpact.
Research and evaluation of our work not only helps us tell our stories, but also bolsters
efforts to increase park funding or park access in every community. I hope you are able to successfully
make the case that our parks are valuable to residents and visitors alike.
See you in a park!
MICHAEL P. KELLY
Chair, NRPA Board of Directors
6 Parks & Recreation | NOVEMBER 2 0 2 1
| PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G

http://www.nrpa.org/EconomicImpact

November 2021 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of November 2021 - Parks & Recreation

November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - Intro
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - Cover1
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - Cover2
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 1
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 2
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 3
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 4
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 5
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 6
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 7
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November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - Cover3
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - Cover4
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2021
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com