Personal Benefits

Fun

• The number of people starting “new” leisure activities declines over the human life span from early adulthood (ages 24-43) to late adulthood (64 or older).  Starting outdoor recreation activities is an exception; the number of people starting these activities increases throughout the first three stages of the human life span and does not decrease until participants reach age 64 or older.  (Iso-Ahola, et al., 2001)
• Over the human life stages, the importance of recreation is consistent in that as participation rates in exercise, outdoor, and team sport types of activities declines, the same rate for hobbies and home-based recreation activities, such as gardening, handicrafts and creative activities, increases.  (Iso-Ahola, et al., 2001)
• Leisure activity participation emerged as the strongest contributor to the life satisfaction of older females. (Riddick and Stewart, 2001)

Wellness

• When researching the link between green space and health, in a greener environment people report fewer health complaints, more often rate themselves as being in good health, and have better mental health.  (Sherer, 2003)
• Proximity to public parks and tree-lined streets appeared to have the greatest impact on the length of the lives of study participants, even when taking into account factors known to affect longevity, such as gender, marital status, income and age.  (American Planning Association, 2003)  
• Contact with nature resulted in significant improvement for children with attention disorders and teens with behavioral disorders.  (American Planning Association, 2003)
• Participation in leisure activities provides resources that assist people either to resist the onset of stress reactions or cope with stress before stress has an impact on health.  (Coleman and Iso-Ahola, 2001)
• Leisure was used instrumentally to help study participants cope with the challenges they encountered as a result of a traumatic injury or illness in two ways (1) by using leisure activities as a buffer from immediate stressors, and (2) using leisure activities as a source of motivation to sustain coping efforts.  (Hutchinson, et al., 2003)  
• Increased importance on leisure goals enhanced the positive psychological well being for women who had become homemakers after having been employed, men who had experienced recent or long-term illnesses, and men who had married.  Leisure can be both a cause and an effect of psychological well-being.  (Iwasaki and Smale, 1998)  
• Creation of or enhanced access to places for physical activity combined with informational outreach produces a 48.4% increase in the frequency of physical activity.  People who engage in regular physical activity benefit from reduced risk of premature death, reduced risk of coronary heart disease, hypertension, colon cancer, non-insulin dependent diabetes, improved maintenance of muscle strength, joint structure, and joint function; weight loss and favorable redistribution of body fat; improved physical functioning in persons suffering from poor health, and healthier cardiovascular, respiratory, and endocrine systems. (Sherer, 2003)
• Women believed physically active leisure improved their health, reduced their risk of disease, and was important to their emotional well-being, sense of familiarity, and improved self-attitude. (Parry, 1999)
• Exercise is more beneficial, leading to enhanced tranquility, and more relief of anxiety and depression, when it occurs in natural settings, like parks rather than along urban streets.  (American Planning Association, 2003

Learning

• Adolescents who spend time in communities that are rich in developmental recreational opportunities for them experience less risk and show evidence of higher rates of positive development.  A diversity of program opportunities in each community is more likely to support broad adolescent development and attract the interest of and meet the needs of a greater number of youth.  (Committee on Community Level Programs for Youth, 2002)
• Involvement in constructive, non-academic activities both at school and in the community facilitates continued school engagement and academic achievement as well as other aspects of positive development during adolescence and into the early adult years. (Eccles, et al., 2003)
• Brain research confirms that physical activity actually enhances the learning process in children.  Recreational activities are powerful ways to refine children’s social, decision-making, and problem solving skills.   (Isenberg and Quisenberry, 2002)
• Play is the foundation for children’s healthy development.  The benefits of outdoor play are maximized when developmentally appropriate equipment and materials are combined with adult supervision to support child-initiated learning.  (Sawyers, 1994)
• Preschool students exposed to a structured intervention program of a physical education curriculum that included hopping, galloping, jumping, ball bouncing, striking, kicking, catching and throwing demonstrated significantly higher improvement in fundamental locomotor and object control skills than preschool students who were only allowed to have unstructured physical play with limited equipment.  (Ishee, 2003)
• Level of participation in sports and physical activities is positively associated with psychological maturity and identity development for young women.  However, young men tend to feel they must “prove” themselves through sports, so it is important to structure recreation activities to allow them to feel the freedom to use sports and physical activity as an exploration of alternative leisure activities and identities. (Shaw, et al., 2001)
• Because high levels of television watching by adolescents are related to low levels of development suggests that recreation programs in general are beneficial.  If such programs reduce the time spent in this non-involving and “boring” activity, recreational programs may have indirect developmental benefits as well, especially for young men. (Shaw, et al., 2001)
• Participation in after school literacy and enrichment programs leads to gains in reading and math on standardized tests, making the greatest impact with students who are low performers and poor attenders. (Sacramento START, 2002-03 Program)

Connections

• Companionships and friendships developed and fostered through leisure participation and perceived availability of social support generated by leisure engagement help people cope with excessive life stress and thereby help maintain or improve health.  (Coleman and Iso-Ahola, 2001)
• Programs and services that allow youth to have input, involvement, and ownership lead to positive human growth.  Environments that are nurturing where youth can have a sense of achievement and recognition as well as opportunities for creative expression, physical activity, and social interaction provide the best settings for them to achieve the five development competencies needed to be successful as adults.  The five competencies are:  1. Health/physical, 2. Personal/social, 3. Cognitive/creative, 4. Vocational, 5. Citizenship.  (Hudson, 1997)   

Social Benefits

Safe Places

• Park like surroundings increase neighborhood safety by relieving mental fatigue and feelings of violence and aggression that can occur as an outcome of fatigue.  (American Planning Association, 2003)

Strong Communities

• Residents who live near outdoor greenery are more familiar with their nearby neighbors, socialize more with them, and expressed greater feelings of community and safety than did residents lacking nearby green spaces.  (American Planning Association, 2003)

Environmental Benefits

Quality of Life

• The experience of leisure enhances and reflects the quality of life or well-being of both the individual and the society of which she or he is a part.  (Freysinger, 2001)
• Because of the lifetime external costs proven by economists that are associated with a sedentary lifestyle, prevention of a sedentary lifestyle is an important individual and societal issue and provides an economic rationale for health-promotion programs and active leisure lifestyles.  (Iso-Ahola, et al., 2001)

Conservation

• The U.S. Forest Service calculated that over a 50-year lifetime one tree generates $31,250 worth of oxygen, provides $62,000 worth of air pollution control, recycles $37,500 worth of water, and controls $31,250 worth of soil erosion. (Sherer, 2003)

Economic Benefits

• There is a positive relationship between park proximity and residential property value when parks/open space are well maintained and secure, including in low income urban areas and at the edges of urban areas.
• Parks can revive demand for space in neighboring office buildings, and commercial asking rents, residential sale prices and assessed values for properties are positively effected when near a well-improved park.
• Overall quality of life and livability, including recreation opportunities, are important factors in the decision by businesses on location—if people want to live in a place, companies, stores, hotels, homes and apartments will follow.
• Parks can serve as a city’s signature attractions, prime marketing tools to attract tourists, conventions and businesses, helping to shape city identity and give residents pride of place.
• Organized events held in public parks—art festivals, athletic events, food festivals, musical and theatrical events—often bring substantial positive economic impacts to their communities, filling hotel rooms and restaurants and bringing customers to local stores. (Sherer, 2003)
• School Districts receive economic value from contribution of City resources in partnerships for facility development and programming for students and the general public.

Information Sources

ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF PARKS AND RECREATION SERVICES

• “How Cities Use Parks to Improve Public Health, Help Children Learn, Create Safer Neighborhoods.”  City Parks Forum Briefing Papers, American Planning Association.  2003.
  
  
• “Why America Needs More City Parks and Open Space.” By Sherer, Paul M.  The Trust for Public Land White Paper.  2003.
  
  
• “Extracurricular Activities and Adolescent Development.”  By Eccles, Jaquelynne S.; Barber, Bonnie L.; Stone, Margaret; Hunt, James.  Journal of Social Issues, Volume 59, No. 4.  pp.865-889.  December 2003.

• “The Influence of Motor Skill Interventions on Disadvantaged Children.”  By Ishee, Jimmy H..  The Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, Volume 74, Issue 8.  p14.  October 2003.

• “Leisure as a Coping Resource:  Variations in Coping with Traumatic Injury and Illness.”  By Hutchinson, Susan L.; Loy, David P.; Kleiber, Douglas A.; Dattilo, John.  Leisure Sciences, 25: pp.143-161.  April 2003.

• “Community Programs to Promote Youth Development.”  By The Committee on Community-Level Programs for Youth, Board on Children, Youth and Families.  National Research Council and Institute of Medicine. 2002.

• “Play:  Essential for All Children.”  By Isenberg, Joan Packer; Quisenberry, Nancy.  A Position Paper of the Association for Childhood Education International.  2002.

• “Leisure as a Resource in Transcending Negative Life Events:  Self-Protection, Self-Restoration, and Personal Transformation.”  By Kleiber, Douglas A.; Hutchinson, Susan L.; Williams, Richard.  Leisure Sciences, 24:  pp.219-235.  April 2002.

• “The Role of Leisure in Women’s Experiences of Menopause and Mid-Life.”  By Parry, Diana C.; Shaw, Susan M.. Leisure Sciences, 21: pp.  205-218.  July 1999.

• “The Relationship Between Stress, Health, and Physically Active Leisure as a Function of Life-Cycle.”  By Zuzanek, Jiri; Robinson, John P.; Iwaski, Yoshi.  Leisure Sciences, 20: pp.253-275. October-December 1998.

• “Longitudinal Analyses of the Relationships Among Life Transitions, Chronic Health Problems, Leisure, and Psychological Well Being.”  By Iwasaki, Yoshi; Smale Bryan J. A..  Leisure Sciences, 20:  pp.25-52.  January-March 1998.

• “Helping Youth Grow.”  By Hudson, Susan D..  The Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, Volume 68, Issue 9.  pp.16-17.  Nov/Dec 1997.

• “Leisure and Identity Formation in Male and Female Adolescents:  A Preliminary Examination.”  By Shaw, Susan; Klieber, Douglas A.; Caldwell, Linda L..  Journal of Leisure Research, Volume 27, No. 3.  pp.245-263.  1995.

• “The Dialectics of Leisure and Development for Women and Men in Mid-Life:  An Interpretive Study.”  By Freysinger, Valeria.  Journal of Leisure Research, Volume 27, No. 1. pp.61-84.  1995.

• “Starting, Ceasing, and Replacing Leisure Activities Over the Life-Span.”  By Iso-Ahola, Seppo E.; Jackson, Edgar.  Journal of Leisure Research, Volume 26, No. 3.  pp.227-249.  1994

• “An Examination of the Life Satisfaction and Importance of Leisure in the Lives of Older Female Retirees:  A Comparison of Blacks to Whites.”  By Riddick, Carol Cutler; Stewart, Debra Gonder.  Journal of Leisure Research, Volume 26, No.1.  pp.  75-87.  1994.
  
  
• “The Preschool Playground.”  By Sawyers, Janet K..  The Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, Volume 65, Issue 6.  p.32-33.  August 1994.

• “Leisure and Health:  The Role of Social Support and Self-Determination.”  By Coleman, Denis; Iso-Ahola, Seppo E..  Journal of Leisure Research, Volume 25, No. 2.  pp.111-128.  1993.
  
  
• Sacramento START Annual Evaluation Report 2002/2003.  Minicucci Associates.  November 2003. (Website:  www.sacstart.org)