Greensboro Plan2Play Parks and Recreation Master Plan 2019

GREENSBORO PLAN2PLAY MASTER PLAN - 83

Enhance

Parks are vital elements of Greensboro residents’ everyday lives. Beyond providing shade, playgrounds for children, and benches for people-watching or socializing, parks are critical for the social, economic, and cultural health and well-being of the neighborhoods that surround them. Today, Greensboro’s parks are of divergent quality. The emphasis on a large quantity of neighborhood parks has led to excellent access in many neighborhoods. But, it has also created maintenance challenges and a lack of differentiation and identity among the many small

to medium parks that make up the majority of the system. While there are some significant, high quality, historic, or specialty sites, like the gardens in particular, there are also many aging structures in need of repair and re-purposing. Significant deferred maintenance across the system, particularly in many of the centers or aquatics facilities, limits programming and utilization. Based on the number of amenities owned by the city, the Department features an adequate inventory of indoor and outdoor facility amenities

to serve its resident population. However, quality of and access to indoor and outdoor facilities is outdated and limited, which impacts the ability of the Department to effectively offer programs and serve the population. In order to enhance the system for all Greensboro residents, three foundational steps for the Department are to elevate the basic amenities available to each neighborhood, amplify its brand through improved marketing, and make better use of its many existing natural resources.