Playgrounds are needed in every neighborhood

If you have raised children in the city, you know how important it is to be able to get to a playground. Playgrounds and parks are vital for children who live in cities in order to have safe spaces to run and jump, swing and climb. Vigorous play is essential for children’s health, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The Trust for Public Lands, the Urban Resources Initiative and the city of New Haven recently studied parks in the city and published a report, New Haven ParkScore Index in September 2021. The ParkScore reported that people in New Haven for the most part live within a 10-minute walk of a park. The study did not look at who lives within a 10-minute walk of a fully equipped public playground. Using their data, we did.

Friends of Kensington Playground also used their data to determine which neighborhoods have at least one fully equipped public playground. We define that as having a playscape, a splash pad and mature trees. We found that nine neighborhoods have at least one such playground, and 11 do not. Some neighborhoods have more than one.

The nine neighborhoods that have at least one fully equipped, public playground are: Dixwell, East Rock, Edgewood, East Shore, Fair Haven, Hill, Newhallville, West Rock, and Wooster Square/Mill River. The total population of those neighborhoods is 68,950.

Eleven neighborhoods don’t have a fully equipped, public playground: Amity, Annex, Beaver Hills, Downtown, Dwight, Fair Haven Heights, Long Wharf, Prospect Hill, Quinnipiac Meadows, West River and Westville. The total population of those neighborhoods is 64,000. Except for Prospect Hill and Westville, the neighborhoods without a fully equipped public playground have a majority of residents who are low-income and people of color.

According to the City Parks Alliance, based on the National Study of Neighborhood Parks, the most common reason for going to a park is “bringing children.” They report that “play areas account for 25 percent of children’s park use. Every play element added to a playground increases its use by 50 percent.” Taking our children or grandchildren to the park gets us out, too — a plus for our health, mental health and for community-building.

Of course, there are playground at schools. Those are cataloged in the ParkScore Report, as well. However, they are for use during the school day by students, not by others. They may not always be open for use at other times.

What would it cost to fill the gaps in New Haven’s playground equipment? Katherine Jacobs, the landscape architect for the city, provided rough estimates. A single bay swing set installed would cost $6,000. A splash pad installed would cost $148,000. A playscape installed would cost $198,000.

What should the city do about this? Friends of Kensington Playground urged the board of park commissioners to begin by adopting a policy that every neighborhood have at least one fully equipped public playground, and that the city should commit to never selling or giving away a neighborhood’s only playground. Every community management team in the city endorsed this idea.

Friends of Kensington Playground has urged the board of park commissioners to create a strategic planning process so that every neighborhood could participate in thinking about its own playground needs and desires. From that, a multiyear plan could be put in place that would include targeting multiple sources of funds. Neighborhoods could be involved with raising the funds.

The Trust for Public Lands report noted that New Haven has not looked to outside sources to help fund parks and playgrounds. If the Community Foundation were asked to conduct a workshop for neighborhood management teams and park friends groups, each neighborhood could help to generate the resources for a good playground.

The city has been given American Rescue Plan federal funds for park projects. Some of those funds could be used to correct this problem. A great report from the City Parks Alliance, “Active Parks, Healthy Cities, Recommendations from the National Study of Neighborhood Parks,” highlights the health and economic development benefits to cities that strategically plan for parks and playgrounds.

We have presented this information and more to the board of park commissioners. See the PowerPoint and the report under the Park Policy tab at our website, www.kensingtonplayground.org. They have not voted on it.

New Haven has been creating playgrounds since 1903. Our current mayor, Board of Alders and board of park commissioners did not create this problem. However they can equalize the playing field. We believe that elected and appointed officials should take leadership on behalf of the city’s children. Surely it is time to say that every child deserves a safe place to play