can we create a gray box to background for the "our work to date" section
for the safe routes to parks resources, could we create a table of contents where they could click something like "case studies" and it would move them down the page to that? Can we also add a section where we highlight some of best/most popular content? based on the most recent analytics it seems likePower Mapping 101; Safe Routes to Parks Walk Audit; Connecting People and Parks Tookit; Evaluation Template
Safe Routes to Parks
Walking or bicycling to a community park offers double the benefits. It supports health, reduces traffic and pollution, and creates more opportunities for social connection and time outdoors.
Walking or bicycling to a community park offers double the benefits. It supports health, reduces traffic and pollution, and creates more opportunities for social connection and time outdoors. Safe Routes to Parks is a movement to provide safe, convenient, and equitable access to parks for people walking and biking.
What is a Safe Route to a Park? A “Safe Route” to a Park is Safe, Convenient, and Equitable.
- Safe routes have sidewalks, crosswalks, and working streetlights. Passing cars travel at reasonable speeds.
- Safe routes are free from crime, violence, and over-policing. People feel comfortable walking, biking, or taking transit there.
- Safe routes are close and convenient. They connect people to parks from home, work, or school within approximately ten minutes.
- Safe routes focus on people and places that have received the least investment and elevate community voices in determining what improvements are needed.
Why does Safe Routes to Parks matter? Safe Routes to Parks Supports a Healthy Community.
- People who live within a ten-minute walk of a park visit more often than those who live farther away. They can more readily reap the mental, physical, and social health benefits of time spent in parks.
- Communities of color and low-income communities consistently have less access to safe, connected routes and public spaces. High-speed streets, low-quality or absent pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, and threats from over-policing and racial profiling mean that communities that most often rely on walking and biking are most likely to experience injury or harm on their everyday routes.
Who can be part of the Safe Routes to Parks movement? We Can All Be Part of the Movement!
- Led by Safe Routes Partnership, the Safe Routes to Parks movement is made up of community-based organizations and state and local government agencies working to make walking, biking, and taking public transit to parks safe and convenient for people of all ages, races, ethnicities, abilities, and disabilities.
- Walkable, bikeable, thriving communities connect people to the places that they need and want to go: school, work, grocery stores, parks, and more. Safe Routes to Parks taps into the energy of the active transportation movement and the enthusiasm of outdoor and green space champions and unites them under one banner: Safe Routes to Parks.
Our work to date
2017 The Safe Routes Partnership partners with the National Recreation and Parks Association to pilot the Safe Routes to Parks program
2018 to 2024 Safe Routes Partnership leads the Safe Routes to Parks Activating Communities program, providing in-depth technical assistance and grant funding to local communities working to improve safe, secure park access for people of all ages and abilities in low-income communities and communities of color.
2023 The Safe Routes Partnership launches a concurrent, state-level program, the Safe Routes to Parks Accelerator which brings together cross-agency staff from a state’s departments of transportation, health, and natural resources to work on projects and programs that better support local communities’ park access needs.
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How do we create Safe Routes to Parks?
Creating Safe Routes to Parks is about more than just adding a sidewalk or hosting a single community meeting. It’s about understanding the bigger picture and changing the systems that have made access to parks inequitable in the first place. True transformation happens when we tackle the root causes of these inequities and work to create solutions that address the underlying systems that have hindered safe park access.
This collection of factsheets highlights seven years of Safe Routes to Parks, featuring case studies, best practices, and strategies we’ve used to drive lasting, sustainable change in communities across the country. These resources will help guide your community in creating effective solutions that improve park access for everyone.
- Safe Routes to Parks: Seven Years of Impact
- The Safe Routes Partnership’s Approach to Coaching Communities for Sustainable Park Access
- Five Actions to Get Started on Safe Routes to Parks
- A Systems Approach to Safe Routes and Long-Term Change
- Connecting State and Local Safe Routes to Parks Work: A Colorado Case Study
Safe Routes to Parks Resources
These fact sheets, toolkits, infographics, and videos can help your community create safer, more accessible parks in communities across the country.
General
Safe Routes to Parks Action Framework and Resource Guide
Guide from the National Recreation and Parks Association (NRPA) and Safe Routes Partnership provides strategies and resources to support the development and implementation of plans that improve safe, equitable, convenient access to local parks and green spaces.
Safe Routes to Parks Action Framework Training
Recorded training that provides in-depth instruction on each stage of the framework and examples from pilot sites across the country that worked on Safe Routes to Parks.
Four Tips to Advance Safe Routes to Parks
In fall 2023, four communities in Pennsylvania wrapped up participation in our Safe Routes to Parks Activating Communities program. We asked if they could impart practical advice to any community interested in advancing Safe Routes to Parks. Here are some of the key takeaways and lessons learned from their projects.
Sample Safe Routes to Parks Plans
View action plans from past Safe Routes to Parks Activating Communities program grantees.
- Blue Zones Project Hawaii (Honolulu, HI)
- United Neighborhood Association of South Wenatchee (Wenatchee, WA)
- Safe Routes to Parks Action Plan (Primos Park - Boulder, Colorado)
Safe Routes to School Meets Safe Routes to Parks
Factsheet overviewing alignment between Safe Routes to Parks and Safe Routes to School efforts.
Aligning Safe Routes to Parks with Safe Routes to School
This fact sheet outlines how Safe Routes to School and Safe Routes to Parks programming and advocacy can align to achieve shared goals and accomplish even more than each could do separately.
Safe Routes to Parks Infographic
Infographic highlighting the process of creating Safe Routes to Parks
This toolkit includes step-by-step guidance through the Safe Routes to Parks framework to increase safe and equitable access to parks and green spaces.
Why Safe Routes to Parks: Stories, Data, and Resources to Illustrate the Mission
This visual storyboard helps explain the Safe Routes to Parks program, and invites you to join us in advocating for equitable parks in your community and everywhere.
Equity
Equity in Safe Routes to Parks
Series of fact sheets with strategies to advance equity in every stage of the Safe Routes to Parks Action Framework.
Incorporating Equity into Safe Routes to Parks Training
Recorded in-depth instruction on how to incorporate equity into Safe Routes to Parks efforts and develop organizational capacity to address equity.
Taking Steps Toward Mobility Justice: An Invitation to Learn More and Take Action
Engage
A Checklist for Facilitating Community Engagement During Safe Routes to Parks Visioning Activities
Fact sheet to help organizations host a thoughtfully facilitated, engaging community visioning activity around Safe Routes to Parks efforts.
Protecting Black Lives in Parks and Public Spaces
As advocates for safe routes and safe public spaces, we must take a holistic view of safety, especially the safety of Black lives. This blog posts explores non-police strategies to improve safety in parks, streets, and public spaces.
Assess
Harnessing Data to Advance Safe Routes to Parks
This fact sheet provides ideas for ways to access and collect data as well as ways to effectively share the information to improve safe, equitable access to parks and green space.
Safe Routes to Parks Walk Audit Toolkit
Toolkit outlines steps to conduct a walk audit that will help improve safe access to parks for people walking and biking.
Health Impact Assessments: A Tool to Focus on Health Assessments of Public Park Access
Factsheet explains what Health Impact Assessments are and how they can support park access.
Plan
Standalone Policies to Support Safe Routes to Parks
Factsheet presents potential standalone policies that can demonstrate a clear commitment to Safe Routes to Parks.
Safe Routes to Parks in Complete Streets Policies
Incorporating Safe Routes to Parks priorities into Complete Streets policies can help shape daily operations and funding decisions, drastically increasing the likelihood of sustainable funding and consistent implementation.
Safety for Safe Routes in Parks - Part 1 & Safety for Safe Routes in Parks - Part 2
In these two recordings, Safe Growth founder, Greg Saville discusses the basics of a Safe Growth approach to community safety and analysis for park safety and crime prevention. Participants from the 2021 Safe Routes to Parks cohort discuss the concepts and concrete ways that they apply to assessing safety for their Safe Routes to Parks work.
Power Mapping 101 Fact Sheet
A Community Power Map is a visual tool to help you identify individuals, organizations, or institutions that may influence the outcome of the positive changes to increase park access in your community. This resource was created to guide you in developing your own community power map to build connections and improve park access.
Implement
Ideas for Implementing Safe Routes to Parks Improvements
People Powered Improvements: How Advocates Can Support the Implementation of Safe Routes to Parks
Prioritize and Partner Up to Pay for Safe Routes to Parks Infrastructure
Actionable Public Health Strategies to Boost Community Well-Being with Safe Routes to Parks
Financing Safe Routes to Parks
- Decoding the Jargon: Local Budget Basics for Funding Safe Routes to Parks
- Playing Matchmaker: Choosing the Right Funding Mechanism for Your Safe Routes to Parks Project
- Ready, Set, GO Bonds for Park Access
State-Level Funding
- Finding and Funding Great Projects: How State Funding Programs Can Prioritize Projects Backed by Strong Public Support
- Incentivizing Local Action for Safe Routes to Parks
- Federal Funding for Local Park Access
- Prioritizing Equity in Trails/Pathways
Sustain
Keep Up the Momentum: Sustaining Safe Routes to Parks Efforts
Safe Routes to Parks Success Stories
Parks + Connections, An Opportunity for Stronger Engagement in Tuscon
Bringing Flashing Stop Signs and a Community Park Celebration to Wenatchee, Washington
Residents 'Lead the Change' and Ignite Collaborative Efforts to Increase Park Safety in Houston
Sustaining Success: Former Crime Magnet is Transformed into a Community Recreational and Green Space
Grassroots Community Residents Lead the Change for a Safer and More Accessible Park in Planada, CA
Making Complete Streets a Reality in Birmingham, AL
Podcast - Park Access Starts with Safety: Two Safe Routes to Parks Efforts in Illinois
Watch: Safe Routes to Parks grantee Zyp BikeShare conducted a tactical urbanism event to build support for better bike connections to a local park in Birmingham, AL.
Watch: Living Cully Walks worked with community residents and artists to create a wayfinding network that helps people get to Cully Park, built on a former landfill in the Cully neighborhood of Portland.