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Pittsburgh Has a Parks Plan08-20-13 | News

Pittsburgh Has a Parks Plan

Pittsburgh's comprehensive parks plan (OPENSPACEPGH) seeks a bigger piece of the city budget.

Pittsburgh has lots of green space, indeed, parks cover one-fifth of the city. However, parks account for only 3.5 percent of city funding.

On July 9, the city fathers unfurled a comprehensive parks plan (OPENSPACEPGH) that will take an in-depth look at nearly all of the city's parks. The park plan is just one of 12 components in Pittsburgh's 25-year city plan (PLANPGH).

Noor Ismail directs the Pittsburgh Planning Department, which oversaw the creation of the park plan. Pittsburgh proper has a population of 307,484, but Ms. Ismail says the city is in the enviable position of having park facilities to accommodate twice that population. The object of the park plan, she explains, is to better use city resources and allot more money for parks. While the city's planning commission has formally approved OPENSPACEPGH, the park plan only makes recommendations, however, Ms. Ismail told the local media she has received some assurances from the budget office.

A planning department analysis shows that homes near the large regional parks have increased in value, while homes near some other parks have not. The planning department wants to upgrade those parks and improve access to them to bolster real estate values. The plan also takes into account the city's shifting population. The result is some parks may be "naturalized" or closed, with their monies allocated to other parks. Some underused or poorly maintained sports courts and pools may also be shuttered.

The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy supports the new park plan. For more about the city's OPENSPACEPGH plan, visit https://planpgh.com/openspacepgh.