Looking at the pristine soccer fields of Manchester Meadows in Rock Hill, S.C., it’s hard to believe they once were lagoons for a wastewater treatment plant. The 70-acre soccer and lacrosse facility is part of a multi-decade revitalization for the … Continue reading →
The city of Seaside, Calif., was awarded a Building Better Communities grant in 2017 to create the Robert’s Lake eco-recreation station complete with play equipment and an outdoor classroom. The city partnered with multiple groups and agencies to make the … Continue reading →
This year has not gone as planned, with countless events nationwide cancelling in light of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Among these are annual concerts, 5Ks, marathons and a seemingly endless list of other annual happenings. With this in mind, parks … Continue reading →
Grandview Heights, Ohio; Port Richey, Fla.; and numerous other cities are promoting literacy by partnering their parks and recreations departments together with libraries in an effort to make reading fun and educational. Eileen McNeil, patron services director and librarian … Continue reading →
Civic pride encourages competition among cities for enviable titles and distinguished awards while hoping such acclaim will draw in new residents, businesses and tourists to their hometowns. A mortified southern Texas town, however, walked off with a humiliating title in … Continue reading →
There’s much more to trail systems than their face value. For instance, grassroots advocacy organization Rails-to-Trails Conservancy has released research in October 2019 that found active transportation infrastructure, like trails, currently contributes more than $34.1 billion to the U.S. economy … Continue reading →
The tried-and-true methods of fundraising — bake sales, car washes, magazine subscriptions, lemonade stands and candy — all have their place. But moving into the big leagues, such as coming up with successful fundraising ideas for city parks is a … Continue reading →
The game of Quidditch got its beginnings as a fictional sport in the “Harry Potter” series by J.K. Rowling. In October 2005, a freshman at Middlebury College in Vermont decided to make this fictional sport a reality and laid the … Continue reading →
Water quality isn’t limited to drinking water. St. Tammany Parish, a municipality in Louisiana, won the state’s only Outstanding Achievement Award for a forward-thinking decentralized management program. This program, funded in part by the Environmental Protection Agency, reduced pollution … Continue reading →
Many progressive municipalities, like Waterbury, Conn., are giving renewed life to previously industrial brownfields, turning them into brightfields or cleaned up spaces that residents want to visit. These often toxic barren grounds all over the nation are home to decaying, … Continue reading →
At its core, the purpose of local government and community-oriented organizations is to assist and serve area residents. Typically, that’s by repaving roads, servicing utilities and ensuring that residents and prospective residents find living within a town or city’s borders … Continue reading →
