Greensboro Plan2Play Parks and Recreation Master Plan 2019

GREENSBORO PLAN2PLAY MASTER PLAN - 17

Community Engagement Results Across all forums, the community engagement process elicited a rich tapestry of ideas ranging from small scale suggestions such as “I want wall climbing and lego building at my park” to larger unifying concepts like “I hope to see greenways completed and connected around the city.” While it is important to not lose the richness of individual comments, it was also clear that dominant themes emerged across the various platforms. Common themes, listed below, played an integral part in shaping the big ideas embedded within the master plan. We want access to fun, interactive, and cool water play! Access to spraygrounds, indoor pools, and outdoor pools emerged as a major • community priority early in the process, and remained a top request throughout the 7-months of plan engagement. We love our trails and greenways and want more miles and more connections across parks and city destinations. •

• Make kids playgrounds more interactive, interesting, and creative. Many of these suggestions came directly from kids at pop-up events where they were given the tools to let their voices be heard. From frogs, to swings, to fruit themed stepping stones they illustrated a strong desire to add unique creative elements to traditional play structures. • Please provide more senior centers and programming for older adults throughout the city. Interest in parks and recreation facilities and programs tailored for older adults aligns with the city’s changing population. • Provide more programming around environmental education, as well as, arts and culture. Residents continually noted their love of activated parks, and requested more richness in program and event offerings ranging from guided trail walks, to more food, more movies, more dance, and more festivals. Provide clearer marketing and messaging . Make it easier for me to learn what the Department offers and how I can get involved. Residents •

continually expressed a desire for clarity, consistency, and one-stop shopping for the Department's communications, program guides, and maps. Fix what we have. From individual suggestions to add a bench at specific parks, to improving overall signage at trails, to updating major tennis facilities, requests to improve and build on what we already have consistently emerged as a priority throughout the engagement process. We love our gardens and Country Park. The four gardens and Country Park, which offers one of the longest and diverse trail system of any other park in the city, were repeatedly noted as assets within the system. • Dog parks, fields for pick-up games, pickleball courts, midnight basketball, an indoor inclusive play facility, shade structures, wifi and charging stations all ranked high as either overall community or special interest group desires. • •