For my family – like so many of yours – summer means lots of time spent at our public parks. Soccer at Homestead Park. Tennis at Cedar Falls Park. Time rolling down the big hill at Community Center Park. And of course, swims in the best kept secret in Chapel Hill – Hargraves Community Pool!
Parks have always been central to Chapel Hill’s identity. They are also essential to any healthy, vibrant community.
I've heard community concern about investment in our parks system, and the desire for more modern facilities. And as someone who frequents them, I share your concerns. However, I've also heard misinformation being spread about how we compare to other communities, and what we're doing to address these concerns.
I'd like to set the record straight about where we are on parks, and all the work that's already in progress to make things even better.
Understanding the facts about Chapel Hill parks
A little over a year ago, my opponent published this op-ed about how “Chapel Hill ranks last in parks” relative to our neighbors. But the facts tell a much different story. If you check the Trust for Public Land's website, 81% of Chapel Hill residents currently live within a 10-minute walk of a park – while Durham and Raleigh residents trail far behind (50% and 48%, respectively). In fact, we’re also ahead of Durham and Raleigh in:
- % of low-income residents who live within a 10-minute walk of a park.
- % of children who live within a 10-minute park.
- % of seniors who live within a 10-minute walk of a park.
Dig deeper on the Trust for Public Land's website, and you'll see we not only compare favorably locally but nationally, too. In terms of walkability to parks, Chapel Hill ranks ahead of the median of the 100 most populous US cities (74%), as well as the median of all US urban cities and towns (55%). This is impressive, especially since Chapel Hill's count doesn’t even include the parks and green spaces within many of our neighborhoods!
In short, when it comes to our parks program, I believe we should be taking pride in how our town fares relative to others – not putting it down.
Of course, this doesn’t mean we can’t do even better. And that’s one reason I've championed the Complete Communities vision. It’s a path to making sure that 100% of our residents get quick and easy access to a public park. In fact, work on the “Everywhere to Everywhere” greenway network that will help make this happen is already under way. And as mayor, I’ll make sure we see this work to completion as quickly as possible.
Improving funding for Chapel Hill parks
The financial collapse and COVID have meant that we – like many communities around the country – have had to make some tough decisions about our budget over the last few years. As a result, many of our parks haven’t received the love they needed, and are now in need of repairs and updating.
The good news is that we've not only made significant investments in our parks this year, but created a dedicated funding stream for the future. The investment includes allocating $2.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding toward the following park projects:
• Inclusive playground equipment at Community Center Park
• Skate park repairs and updates at Homestead Park
• Playground accessibility upgrades at all of our parks
We also just passed a new program called “Penny for Parks” that I'm excited about. This program will provide annual funding dedicated to maintaining, improving and expanding our parks. For 2023-24, this equates to $1.1 million – more than three times what we spent last fiscal year.
Of note, the "Penny for Parks" program passed with a strong majority (8-1) on Council. My opponent in the Mayor's race was the lone vote against the "Penny for Parks" program.
Getting Chapel Hill's splash pad and inclusive playground off the ground
As a parent to two young kids who love water play, this has been a pet project of mine. Here's what's happened so far:
- I helped champion this splash pad petition through Council.
- We immediately created a Splash Pad and Inclusive Playground Task Force (I volunteered as council liaison so I’d have a front row seat to the progress).
- We collected community feedback and completed a feasibility study, which staff has already reviewed with Council.
The next phase is design and construction. However, breaking ground on this – or any other "wish list" project – requires funding.
For that exact reason, two years ago I pushed to have a grants coordinator added to our town budget. Having a dedicated grants resource can help us identify and compete for all the different awards out there – including federal, state and agency funds. Grant money makes our money go farther – faster – helping us get more parks, greenways and other infrastructure projects off the ground sooner.
But that’s not all.
In the case of Federal funds, experienced council members – like myself – have also seen how having designs in place before applying can help us “skip the line” in terms of waiting for funds. And of course, this allows us to make progress on projects like splash pads and greenways much faster. It’s why eight out of nine members on our council have consistently supported putting funds toward getting projects “shovel ready.”
For the record, my opponent in this mayor's race has consistently been the sole dissenting voice – and the lone vote against – spending the money that would help get projects "shovel ready."
Positioning Chapel Hill parks for success in 2024 and beyond
I love that we're aspirational about our parks program. However, it's important to understand that we're starting from a fantastic place. And with our new dedicated parks budget, the Complete Community framework, and a smart approach to obtaining funding, we've been taking action and moving things forward. As mayor, I'll keep this momentum going.
Stay tuned later this year for opportunity to help shape our new master plan for the future of Chapel Hill parks. As always, if you have any input on how we can improve our parks program, I invite you to connect with me!