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We got our whole video done!!! We were very productive
Haley

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We continued to go deeper into thought and detail
Marin

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CLOSE

Forget the Golden State. California should be called the Smoggy State.

Eight of the USA's 10 most-polluted cities, in terms of ozone pollution, are in California, according to the American Lung Association's annual "State of the Air" report, released Wednesday.

The Los Angeles/Long Beach area took the dubious distinction of being the nation's most ozone-polluted city as it has for nearly the entire 19-year history of the report.

Overall, the report said about 133 million Americans - more than four of 10 - live with unhealthful levels of air pollution, placing them at risk for premature death and other serious health effects such as lung cancer, asthma attacks, cardiovascular damage and developmental and reproductive harm.

"We still have a lot to do in this country to clean up air pollution," said Lyndsay Moseley Alexander, director of the Association's Healthy Air Campaign.

The report looked at pollution levels from 2014 to 2016. Ozone pollution was worse overall in this report than it was in last year's report.

Bakersfield, Calif., was in second place for ozone pollution. Other California cities on the list include Fresno, Sacramento and San Diego. The only non-California metro areas in the top 10 list were Phoenix and New York City.

Of the 10 most-polluted cities, seven cities did worse in this year's report, including Los Angeles and the New York City metro area.

More: President Trump directs EPA to ease air quality rules he says suffocates industry

"Near record-setting heat from our changing climate has resulted in dangerous levels of ozone in many cities across the country, making ozone an urgent health threat for millions of Americans," Lung Association President and CEO Harold P. Wimmer said.

Smog forms on warm, sunny days and is made worse from chemicals that exit vehicle tailpipes and from power plant and industrial smokestacks. Warmer temperatures make ozone more likely to form.

"This adds to the evidence that a changing climate makes it harder to reduce ozone pollution and protect human health," Alexander said

Bakersfield took the top spot in a list of cities with another variety of air pollution - small particulate matter, aka soot. Increased heat, changes in climate patterns, drought and wildfires - many related to climate change - contributed to the high number of days with unhealthy particulate matter.

Since California is known for its strict environmental regulations, why are so many cities from the state typically on this list? It's because the state would be far worse off without its strict laws on tailpipe pollution and eliminating coal-fired power plants. California has done more than any other state to counteract air pollution, the Lung Association said.

With this report, the Lung Association also calls out Congress and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for ongoing threats to the nation's air quality, including steps to roll back or weaken enforcement of the Clean Air Act.

EPA administrator Scott Pruitt has taken many steps to roll back or put in loopholes to the Clean Air Act, Alexander said, adding that "the association is concerned and we will continue to fight for healthy air," she said.

Some good news in the report was that particulate pollution "generally continued to improve in 2014-16," the report said. This was true for both short-term particulate pollution and for year-round particulate pollution.

For year-round particle pollution, Fairbanks, Alaska, was the most-polluted city.

The Lung Association also lists the nation's cleanest cities, meaning ones that experience no high ozone or high particulate pollution days.

The nation's cleanest cities are Bellingham, Wash.; Burlington, Vt.; Casper, Wyo.; Honolulu; Melbourne, Fla.; and Wilmington, N.C.

Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2H7ihty

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California has eight of 10 most polluted U.S. cities

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CLOSE Forget the Golden State. California should be called the Smoggy State. Eight of the USA's 10 most-polluted cities, in terms of ozone pollution, are in California, according to the American Lung Association's annual "State of the Air" report, released Wednesday.

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We found new sources and links to update our project. We discovered roles of caretakers for the parks and how to create fundraisers.
Molly

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We answered all of our need to knows and researched more information about funding
Marin

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Park mangers combine private and public ownership in the park

Government officials sometime build, own, and manage downtown and city parks

Sometimes a business improvement district manages the park under a contract with the city

Hiring Park caretakers will open more job opportunities for people in the neighborhood

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1. Contribution from private sources
-donations, sponsorships, and naming rights are essential to the success of Park creation.
2. Local General Obligation Bonding
-either by city council vote (local legislative authorization) or referendum, has been a primary source for many parks. Where a ballot measure is considered, some jurisdictions have tested public opinion on voter support before determining what funding strategies to use.
3. Grants
- grants from local, regional and federal sources may support particular features or uses of the park. Proposed uses and features of a park greatly affect its eligibility and competitiveness for various grants.

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Extra increased taxes will be used as donations toward Park. Donators and sponsors will contribute during fundraisers.

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We decided our audience and answered the 4 new questions. Marin wasn’t here but that’s okay, we still got things done.
Haley

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Next month, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors will consider putting a parcel tax on the ballot that could be used to raise funds for open, green spaces-important considering that a recent parks-needs assessment conducted at the behest of the board found that 51 percent of county residents don't live within a 10-minute walk (half a mile) of a park.

The report looked at more than 3,000 parks in the county, across 86 cities. Among the most park-poor areas were South LA, Sun Valley, Van Nuys, North Long Beach, and Baldwin Park.

The timing is important too: one big income source for park creation is on the verge of expiring (and another has already done so), says the . Together, they accounted for $80 million a year for parks.

What's being proposed to compensate for those losses is a parcel tax-the "most likely proposal" is one that would amount to 3 cents per square foot for built-out property like a single-family house or a commercial structure. That would mean that a 1,500-square-foot building would generate $45 a year, but altogether, the tax would bring in around $198 million in a year.

That might sound like a lot, but considering that the parks-needs assessment found that there are actually about $21.5-billion worth of priority projects in existing parks, it's really not. "58 percent of park amenities in the county are either in poor or fair condition while nearly 80 percent of county parks have infrastructure that is either fair or poor," the report found.

A similar attempt to raise funds for parks in 2014 (Proposition P) failed by a slim margin, with many opponents saying that there were not enough assurances that high-need areas would get commensurate funding. This time, money would be allotted according to a list of priority projects; the needs assessment singled out 1,800 such projects.

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Just How Park Poor is Los Angeles County?

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Half of LA County has to walk more than a half mile (10 minutes) to get to some green space, a report has shown. Once they get to those parks, there's a decent chance the facilities will be in not-great condition. The supes are hoping to fix that.

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The people will need to start using the parks

Using the parks will improve their health greatly

The people in the areas will need to take care of the parks

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- they are important for cultural and social exchange
- parks help mental and physical health by encouraging physical activity
- parks are a prescription to chronic diseases
- parks help calm stress
- North Long Beach is in California, which has eight out of ten of the most polluted US cities
- with Long Beach being the most polluted place in California, using the carbon cycle, the additional plants will help take pollution out of the air by taking in the Carbon Dioxide

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Funding from taxes can be moved from 10% to 15%

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Residents in a an apartment complex in North Long Beach with the help of taxes

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We got more information added to our notes and we got more specific. We also cited more sites and continued to work together well.
Molly

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Aug 22, 2016, 1:45 PM, Posted by

As the National Park Service celebrates its 100th anniversary of beauty, recreation, and conservation this summer, we asked six leaders why access to public land is vital to everyone's physical and mental health.

When we think of national parks, we think of places for people to recreate and connect with nature and their history, but they also provide places for people to have fun, and find mental, physical, and spiritual health, and social wellbeing.

Historically, the justification for the creation of park land in the United States is rooted in public health through the provision of clean air and clean water, and also providing spaces for finding respite from the stressors of everyday life. Yellowstone was established as such a place, and we can look at Hot Springs National Park, where bathing in the hot waters provided opportunities for healing for all people, regardless of income.

Today the National Park Service has more than 400 parks, recreation areas, cultural sites, rivers, trails and historic sites that can serve as "go-to" resources for people's health and wellbeing. We believe a park visit can influence park visitors to adopt healthier lifestyles. The research is proving this out. For example, fascinating research from Cornell University shows if you think of exercise as being fun-like a scenic walk in the park, or just a break to relax-you will actually eat less and healthier afterwards.
- Diana Allen, Chief, National Park Service Healthy Parks Healthy People National Program

Parks are a great way to encourage physical activity and sustain healthy lifestyles. According to a study from the RAND Corporation in 2013, about 14 percent of moderate exercise and 50 percent of vigorous, heart healthy exercise takes place in nearby neighborhood parks.

Even a small and inexpensive park provides great opportunities for exercise. The Trust specializes in helping to create micro parks that we call fitness zone areas. These are small open spaces-less than 1,000 square feet-with outdoor fitness equipment. We focus our efforts almost exclusively in lower income communities, with the logic that higher income communities have access to gyms. So far, we've seen both genders and multiple age groups heavily use these fitness zones. We've seen three generations of the family working out together and it's elating!
- Adrian Benepe, Senior Vice President and Director of City Park Development, The Trust for Public Land

We know that there are racial disparities in rates of activity and childhood obesity, particularly in urban areas. Parks with trails and greenway attractions afford activity such as walking and cycling, and those connections allow people to move back and forth between activities. We have cross-sectional data from many studies that suggests people who live close to parks are more active, including children, and adolescents living near parks are less prone to being overweight.

Parks help restore people from the stress of day-to-day challenges, hassles and struggles. That's especially important for people who are more likely to experience discrimination and its psychological toll. Our national parks can foster a sense of community and shared identity. For example, The National Park Service attempts to tell the American story from diverse angles in its sites of history and antiquity. That helps build community and sustain our identity as Americans. When people can see themselves in these American stories, they feel, 'We are part of this story, too. We are part of this country and we have made contributions that are recognized.'

- Myron Floyd, PhD, Professor and Department Head in the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management at North Carolina State University

Everyone agrees we should be setting kids up for healthy lives no matter where they live. One of the biggest barrier to kids playing is lack of a safe place. So kids come straight home from school and sit on the couch. This leads not only to physical inactivity problem, but disconnection and social isolation. We're trying to counter these problems by making sure parks are abundant, particularly in low-income communities with high density and high poverty rates.

Parks create an opportunity for kids to enjoy themselves and interact with others in an environment where they're shielded from adversity in their daily lives. When kids play, they develop higher order cognitive skills that complement classroom learning. They develop problem solving skills-like trying to figure out how to make it all the way across the monkey bars! Or collaboration and teamwork, like negotiating the rules of a game with other kids.

Kids also need space to interact with caring adults which leads to social and emotional health. Parks create a space where they can spend time with their families and learn norms of behavior across the community. Parks and playgrounds are the safety valve, a place where they feel protected.

We need to think about parks holistically-the greener spaces and acreage as well as hard surfaces. Parks contribute to biodiversity that we need as a species to survive. They also help mitigate climate change impact. Having green infrastructure contributes to our air quality and to our water quality-some parks provide storm water retention and water filtration and flooding control. In a heat wave or when air conditions are unavailable, urban residents can go to a park and get some relief and companionship.

The power of parks is that they transcend age, ethnicity, race, income, politics and geography. You know the park is working if you show up on a Sunday, or better yet any day, and see people on a bike or on foot, playing games that celebrate culture and activity from bocci ball to basketball to chess. Space that isn't programmed for particular activities gives us freedom to explore and to discover, to see butterflies and birds and spy larger animals. I see that as a necessary part of our culture and humanity-the free space to play, to gather or to simply be by yourself. We have a need for parks and green space, and to connect with nature, just as surely as we have a need for water. They feed our souls.
- Sharon Roerty, Senior Program Officer, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Teresa Mozur is a Creative Strategist at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. She oversees editorial strategy for the Culture of Health Blog.

Tags: Built Environment and Health

As the National Park Service celebrates its 100th anniversary of beauty, recreation, and conservation this summer, we asked six leaders why access to public land is vital to everyone's physical and mental health.

The National Park Service celebrates its centennial this week, and our national parks have never been more appreciated; visitors made a record-breaking 307.2 million visits to them in 2015. But what many park goers may not realize is that the access to natural scenery and park activities national parks provide play a role in improving health. In fact, research shows that using public parks-even tiny local ones in your neighborhood-contributes to health in a number of ways, from promoting physical activity to improving mental health and even having the potential to reduce health care costs.

To celebrate this milestone in American history, the Culture of Health blog's editorial team asked six leaders to give us their reasons why parks matter for health.

Here's what they had to say:

When we think of national parks, we think of places for people to recreate and connect with nature and their history, but they also provide places for people to have fun, and find mental, physical, and spiritual health, and social wellbeing.

Historically, the justification for the creation of park land in the United States is rooted in public health through the provision of clean air and clean water, and also providing spaces for finding respite from the stressors of everyday life. Yellowstone was established as such a place, and we can look at Hot Springs National Park, where bathing in the hot waters provided opportunities for healing for all people, regardless of income.

Today the National Park Service has more than 400 parks, recreation areas, cultural sites, rivers, trails and historic sites that can serve as "go-to" resources for people's health and wellbeing. We believe a park visit can influence park visitors to adopt healthier lifestyles. The research is proving this out. For example, fascinating research from Cornell University shows if you think of exercise as being fun-like a scenic walk in the park, or just a break to relax-you will actually eat less and healthier afterwards.
- Diana Allen, Chief, National Park Service Healthy Parks Healthy People National Program

Parks are a great way to encourage physical activity and sustain healthy lifestyles. According to a study from the RAND Corporation in 2013, about 14 percent of moderate exercise and 50 percent of vigorous, heart healthy exercise takes place in nearby neighborhood parks.

Even a small and inexpensive park provides great opportunities for exercise. The Trust specializes in helping to create micro parks that we call fitness zone areas. These are small open spaces-less than 1,000 square feet-with outdoor fitness equipment. We focus our efforts almost exclusively in lower income communities, with the logic that higher income communities have access to gyms. So far, we've seen both genders and multiple age groups heavily use these fitness zones. We've seen three generations of the family working out together and it's elating!
- Adrian Benepe, Senior Vice President and Director of City Park Development, The Trust for Public Land

We know that there are racial disparities in rates of activity and childhood obesity, particularly in urban areas. Parks with trails and greenway attractions afford activity such as walking and cycling, and those connections allow people to move back and forth between activities. We have cross-sectional data from many studies that suggests people who live close to parks are more active, including children, and adolescents living near parks are less prone to being overweight.

Parks help restore people from the stress of day-to-day challenges, hassles and struggles. That's especially important for people who are more likely to experience discrimination and its psychological toll. Our national parks can foster a sense of community and shared identity. For example, The National Park Service attempts to tell the American story from diverse angles in its sites of history and antiquity. That helps build community and sustain our identity as Americans. When people can see themselves in these American stories, they feel, 'We are part of this story, too. We are part of this country and we have made contributions that are recognized.'

- Myron Floyd, PhD, Professor and Department Head in the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management at North Carolina State University

Everyone agrees we should be setting kids up for healthy lives no matter where they live. One of the biggest barrier to kids playing is lack of a safe place. So kids come straight home from school and sit on the couch. This leads not only to physical inactivity problem, but disconnection and social isolation. We're trying to counter these problems by making sure parks are abundant, particularly in low-income communities with high density and high poverty rates.

Parks create an opportunity for kids to enjoy themselves and interact with others in an environment where they're shielded from adversity in their daily lives. When kids play, they develop higher order cognitive skills that complement classroom learning. They develop problem solving skills-like trying to figure out how to make it all the way across the monkey bars! Or collaboration and teamwork, like negotiating the rules of a game with other kids.

Kids also need space to interact with caring adults which leads to social and emotional health. Parks create a space where they can spend time with their families and learn norms of behavior across the community. Parks and playgrounds are the safety valve, a place where they feel protected.

We've got an epidemic of chronic disease on our hands: diabetes and asthma and heart attack and stroke. We've got millions of Americans suffering from mental illness and ADHD. This routine of ours-sleeping, eating and sitting 93 percent of the time indoors-is contributing to these diseases and dying prematurely. And people of lower income and people of color tend to fare worse in those disease categories. They're also the least likely users of green space and likely to benefit most from spending time in it.

There are many studies looking at health benefits to these communities just by virtue of spending time in green space. There's good evidence that sitting or eating outdoors, even just touching a tree, has a measurable impact on your psychological health. Exposure to sunlight is healing for medical and mental health reasons; upwards of 90 percent of Americans have vitamin D deficiency. Busing people from dense urban areas to go for a hike in a national park has a measurable impact on their blood pressure and stress. Kids with ADHD do as well or better with outside play than they do with medication.
- Robert Zarr, MD, founder of DC Park Rx

We need to think about parks holistically-the greener spaces and acreage as well as hard surfaces. Parks contribute to biodiversity that we need as a species to survive. They also help mitigate climate change impact. Having green infrastructure contributes to our air quality and to our water quality-some parks provide storm water retention and water filtration and flooding control. In a heat wave or when air conditions are unavailable, urban residents can go to a park and get some relief and companionship.

The power of parks is that they transcend age, ethnicity, race, income, politics and geography. You know the park is working if you show up on a Sunday, or better yet any day, and see people on a bike or on foot, playing games that celebrate culture and activity from bocci ball to basketball to chess. Space that isn't programmed for particular activities gives us freedom to explore and to discover, to see butterflies and birds and spy larger animals. I see that as a necessary part of our culture and humanity-the free space to play, to gather or to simply be by yourself. We have a need for parks and green space, and to connect with nature, just as surely as we have a need for water. They feed our souls.
- Sharon Roerty, Senior Program Officer, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Interested in celebrating the National Park Service centennial where you live? Explore events and resources from the National Park Service.

Teresa Mozur is a Creative Strategist at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. She oversees editorial strategy for the Culture of Health Blog.

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Aug 22, 2016, 1:45 PM, Posted by As the National Park Service celebrates its 100th anniversary of beauty, recreation, and conservation this summer, we asked six leaders why access to public land is vital to everyone's physical and mental health.

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From Great Parks/Great Cities: Seattle, 1998, a publication on an Urban Parks Institute regional workshop by Fred Kent and Kathy Madden.
If urban parks can evolve from their current, primarily recreational role, into a new role as a catalyst for community development and enhancement, parks will be an essential component in transforming and enriching our cities. A park and its surrounding area can be not only a place to understand and relate to nature, but it can also be a place for social and cultural exchange. A park can be alive and teeming with entrepreneurial activities such as markets; physical activities such as children playing or people skating, walking or jogging; for cultural activities, such as art and community events; or for simply socializing with friends.

For many years and in many cities throughout the world, parks have played a pivotal role in shaping the success of cities. The first formal "parks," such as Central Park in New York City, were created in the 19th century, to be passive and beautiful, in contrast to the dense and dirty reality of urban life. However, they were, in the long run, a collection of important destinations and places. The Sailboat Pond in Central Park is a good example of such a "place," and remains both a destination in the park and a place to enjoy nature.

"We have not even scratched the surface of the impact parks could have on the revitalization of communities."

Later, parks were planned as part of a broader, inter-connected "open space system," which also included town squares, plazas, greenways and a variety of other types of spaces: just about everything in a city that is not a building or a road. This suggests that the full range of benefits that open space can provide to cities was understood. However, the quality of public spaces and public life in most cities suggests that we do not fully understand this benefit. In fact, we have not even scratched the surface of the impact parks could have on the revitalization of communities.

Many of today's urban parks have few activities outside of recreational opportunities, and do not attract people such as seniors or teens, or people who are just looking for a place to sit or walk on a daily basis. Often, there is not even a sidewalk, a place in the shade, or an opportunity to buy a sandwich or cup of coffee. The danger in all of this is that when there are few reasons for people to go to a park, fewer people use them and they will cease to be valued.

There are several important steps involved in creating parks that are important as community places. One step involves the process we use at Project for Public Spaces to renew parks, which begins with understanding a community's concerns about a particular space. It is then necessary to determine how the assets of the community can be used to develop both the plan and the programming for the park. This will all lead to the development of a community's vision for the park.

Observing how the park is used and measuring people's perceptions of it are also key elements in understanding what changes can be made to transform a park a successful "place." A good park provides a range of things to do - there are a multitude of activities for different age groups and types of people to use. It should be easy to get to, and connected to the surrounding community - accessibility. It should be safe, clean and attractive and there should be places to sit - comfort and image. Most important of all is sociability, the park should be a place to meet other people an integral part of community life. The final and essential part of this process is doing something: making changes in the park, experimenting, and evaluating how the changes effect use.

Today, some cities are beginning to see that parks can contribute significantly to the quality of urban life. By integrating parks into the cultural lives of neighborhoods, and by giving responsibility for maintenance, new programs and in some cases, design, to the communities themselves, we are seeing a renewal of parks in places some may have thought were impossible. What follows are a few examples of parks that have become catalysts for transforming urban areas.

Union Square Park, New York City
New York City's Union Square Park has, at different times in history, been a hub for hotels, theaters, fashion, and as a gathering place where labor unions, communists, anarchists, and socialists frequently met and debated. By the early 1970's the park and the surrounding area had become run-down and the park was perceived as a place for negative activities. The park was then renovated, using its historic design.

A business improvment district was developed in the area around the park, and a farmer's market and seasonal Christmas market were established in the parking lot on the north and west ends of the park. The park, the market and the surrounding area have flourished. The market attracts people, provides entrepreneurial opportunities, and gives the community a valuable connection to the farms surrounding the city.
Laguna Beach, California
A linear park and walkway located between the Pacific Coast Highway and the Pacific Ocean in downtown Laguna Beach, California, has a range of activities for all ages including small-scale sports such as basketball, climbing structures for children, seating and game areas, a boardwalk for strolling, a cafe, and extensive flower beds and landscape displays. The park is considered a major asset to the community.
San Bernardino, California
For many years the heart of San Bernardino, California was a large parking lot in front of City Hall surrounded by streets with fast moving traffic. In an attempt to bring people back to downtown, a central square with a grassy lawn surrounded by a trellis, walkway, seating areas and a bus stop was built.

By adding angled parking on the streets around the park, planting trees and improving crosswalks, traffic was slowed down and the park was made more accessible to the surrounding area.

Unique to the creation of this park was the idea that the plan for the site, and the programming activities would come directly from the community. To accomplish this, the city and the downtown business association put out a call asking non-profit associations interested in using the park to contact them. They received numerous letters and calls of interest. Today a performance tent is located at one end of the square in which weddings, holiday performances, and fashion shows are held, and there are several different types of markets around the park's perimeter. The park is functioning as a successful central square for the people of San Bernardino.

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From Great Parks/Great Cities: Seattle, 1998, a publication on an Urban Parks Institute regional workshop by Fred Kent and Kathy Madden. If urban parks can evolve from their current, primarily recreational role, into a new role as a catalyst for community development and enhancement, parks will be an essential component in transforming and enriching our cities.

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Each person fully took on their role and we all worked together nicely.
Haley

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The Sunshine Coast is growing from a series of regional villages and towns, with a large beautiful rural hinterland, to a mature urban decentralised city-state region. To complete the transition to a modern 21st century "city", the region required a contemporary urban city centre built on digital foundations.

For the city itself, there's an enormous benefit in integrating intermodally with the airport. In the potential futures presented by autonomous vehicles, there's the capacity for the airport to become essentially estranged from the city, a faraway piece of infrastructure relegated to long-haul travel, which wouldn't be a future at all for many regional, non-coastal airports. Having the airport serve as one of the city's core intermodal hubs draws the airport and city closer together functionally and emotionally.

Lighting infrastructure is a perfect example of futureproofing. As cities are swapping out traditional high-pressure sodium street lights with energy-efficient LEDs and smart nodes that can remotely monitor and control the lights, don't just be thinking about a smart lighting solution. Think about the position those streetlights are in to support so much more, like intersection safety analytics, parking optimization, and gunshot detection.

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Michael Whereat, Scott Bourke, and Paul Skillen

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New Public and Private Funding Strategies for Urban Parks

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Across the country, urban parks are enjoying a renaissance. Dozens of new parks are being built or restored and cities are being creative about how and where they are located. Space under highways, on old rail infrastructure, reclaimed industrial waterfronts or even landfills are all in play as development pressure on urban land grows along with outdoor recreation needs.

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Why Urban Parks Matter - City Parks Alliance

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Urban parks are dynamic institutions that play a vital, but not fully appreciated or understood role in the social, economic and physical well-being of

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New Funding Model Needed for Urban Parks

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People love parks, but building a new urban park is expensive. It's why so many cities rely heavily on public-private partnerships to build today's urban parks.

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- Urban parks cost 9 million
- Urban parks are important because they improve the health and wellness of urban citizens
- Local voluntary taxes from local commercial development funds the parks
- Places that need parks are places with the most population, like Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and Miami
- Los Angeles, San Jose, New Orleans, New York City, and Dallas are some of the most densely populated areas in the US that need parks the most
- They are important for cultural and social exchange
- Parks help mental and physical health by encouraging physical activity, helping kids develop, they are prescription to chronic diseases, and they help calm stress

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Marin- class connector
Molly- skeptic
Haley- driving question reminder

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1. Why are urban parks important?
2. How are parks funded in urban areas?
3. How much does a park cost?
4. What urban areas need parks the most?
5. Who will help create our park and maintain the park?

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1. Funding in taxes can go towards public parks
2. Start hiring workers to keep the park nice, and also offer jobs
3. Find a good, open area and build the park with resources that it needs.