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Originally Posted by cardeza
Tens of millions have been put into the parkway in recent years, most recently as part of the PennDOT bridge replacement project. It's also clean and in better condition than most parks in the City- that is absolutely NOT where dollars need to be focused at this point.
All of the projects people are talking about cost money and more maintenance costs money. The City has cut spending on parks and rec maintenance over the years in the name of pushing money to higher priorities. There is only so much money to go around and over the past few decades it has been decided that is a part of the budget you can squeeze and get the fewest complaints from citizens.
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...but it's proven that parks and access to well maintained green space reduces crime and gun violence.
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New research finds that well-designed and -maintained urban parks can reduce gun violence, improve safety and keep residents healthier, while poorly-designed and -maintained parks lead to more crime.
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https://www.human.cornell.edu/dea/sp...20more%20crime.
So, once again, I point to the sheer incompetency of our city leadership for cutting park funding.
Furthermore, there are MANY ways to generate funding for parks and green space. The city has wised up and started doing this with newer parks lately like Dilworth, Love, Sister Cities, etc..... by placing cafes, restaurants and other revenue generating places in parks.... by doing this, you can generate a revenue stream for the park to self fund itself. Pretty easy economics once again...
For instance, in Fairmount Park itself, there's only ONE cafe in Boathouse Row. There should be at least two cafes, and two restaurants overlooking the river.
There should be a constant Parks on Tap that moves around Fairmount Park every season to generate funds for the park.
There could be a "Fairmount Park Marathon" that generates funds for the park.
Reopen Lemon Hill as a museum and garden with a restaurant inside that serves breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea.
Open a cafe and beer garden in the Carousel House. It's currently sitting empty.
Etc. Etc.