At 10:10 a.m. on October 10, Fort Collins Mayor Wade Troxell joined The Trust for Public Land, National Recreation and Park Association, and Urban Land Institute in launching a historic “10-minute walk” parks advocacy campaign, establishing the ambitious goal that all Americans, and all residents of Fort Collins should live within a 10-minute walk (or half-mile) of a high-quality park or natural area.
This bipartisan group includes mayors from across the country and represents cities both large and small, including America’s four largest cities – New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Houston – and diverse communities across Colorado including: Denver, Colorado Springs, Aurora, Thornton, Westminster, Golden, and Fort Collins. The U.S. Conference of Mayors, which represents more than 1,000 U.S. mayors, also unanimously passed a resolution at the 85th Annual Meeting urging all mayors to actively pursue the 10-minute walk to a park goal.
“Fort Collins has amazing parks and natural areas. Recreation and trails are important to all who live, work, play and visit Fort Collins. They enhance our lives and connect our community in many ways. I’m so proud to support this important initiative with mayors across Colorado and the country,” said Mayor Troxell.
Studies show that high-quality parks provide a wide range of benefits to urban residents and cities themselves. These include: physical and mental health benefits, by providing opportunities to be physically active and to interact with nature; economic benefits by boosting business and helping to revitalize neighborhoods; community-building benefits by providing opportunities for neighbors to interact with each other and work together to improve their surroundings; and environmental benefits by cleaning and cooling the air, improving climate resilience, and providing opportunities for environmental education.
The campaign marks the start of a multi-year partnership with cities and mayors across the country. Beginning in 2018, the campaign – led by The Trust for Public Land in partnership with the National Recreation and Park Association, and Urban Land Institute – will be working with select cities across the country on measurable policies and strategies to advance the 10-minute walk vision.
Reaching 100 percent served in cities nationwide will require major advances in park finance and construction; zoning changes to encourage park development; embedding this goal into city parks master plans; the expansion of “joint use” agreements that open school playgrounds, tracks, and gyms for public use after hours and on weekends; and other innovations.
For more information on the 10-minute walk to a park campaign, and the full list of 134 mayor/city endorsements visit 10minutewalk.org/.
Photo credit: ©2017 Claire Hamilton