The Value of a Neighborhood Park

Together with the Trust for Public Lands, we are on a mission to transform Tacoma’s schoolyards to vibrant, community spaces.

This program works toward the 10-Minute Walk Initiative, working to ensure 100% of Tacoma residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park by 2030. This nation-wide movement to increase proximity to green spaces works with cities and partners to prioritize park equity.

We are working to ensure that every person in Tacoma has a quality park within a 10-minute walk of home. By maximizing the use of existing schoolyards to serve as improved play arenas and increasingly natural spaces for children as well as adults, we are working toward better access and equity for all Tacoma residents. Currently, 31% of Tacoma residents cannot access parks or open spaces within a 10-minute walk of their homes, the largest park access gap of any major city in Washington. Renovating and opening all of Tacoma’s schoolyards to the public would increase the percentage of Tacomans living near a park from 69% to 88%.

The launch of the first five pilot locations will serve more than 25,000 people in Tacoma’s eastside neighborhoods.

This map was generated May 26,2023. Click the link below for current statistics on Tacoma’s park access.

Objectives and Community Engagement

Site visit at Jennie Reed Elementary School on October 6, 2021

The local community in Tacoma has been actively involved in the design of each schoolyard park. Participatory design sessions with students and community members has an integral part of the program, as Parks Tacoma and The Trust for Public Lands has continued to center communities as a core principle and goal of the program.

After input from schools and local communities, several key objectives were identified as top priorities when redesigning the schoolyards.

Objectives:

• Provide green spaces that are accessible and open to the community
• Plant trees for shade, making the schoolyard safer for students in warmer months
• Improve drainage to prevent flooding and increase usability throughout the year
• Contribute to community health by offering new spaces for exercise and play for children and adults
• Create a space for community gatherings and cultural events

Unlocking America’s Schoolyard Potential

Parks are essential for healthy, equitable communities. And almost 20 million people without park access, including kids and their families, live within a 10-minute walk of a public school.

That’s why the Trust for Public Lands has partnered with communities and school administrators to open schoolyards to the public after school hours and transform them from blacktops into vibrant play spaces, connecting students and neighbors alike to the benefits of the outdoors.

If all schoolyards were transformed and opened to the community after hours, 80 million people would have access to a new park within a 10-minute walk of home.

Close-to-home parks serve as essential backyards for millions of people and open up countless possibilities for communities and cities by helping to confront some of today’s most pressing urban challenges.

Connecting Parks to Communities in 10 Minutes

The 10-Minute Walk Program helps cities expand access and green spaces for everyone.

In this time of recovery and reinvestment, we have an urgent opportunity to reclaim and revitalize our cities to make them supportive of diversity and accessibility while celebrating culture and nature.

The Trust for Public Land envisions a future where every community has safe, equitable access to a high-quality park within a 10-minute walk of home. The 10-Minute Walk Program is one way we work – in collaboration with cities and partners – to address the most pressing questions and challenges to park equity. Launched in 2017, we are an award-winning national effort to improve safe, easy access to parks and green spaces. We aim to advance policies and solutions that change the way we plan, fund, and govern our public greenspaces.

The 10-minute walk metric is the average distance most people are willing to walk to reach a destination, a standard that helps us examine the number of opportunities and resources a person has close to home.

Ensuring that all people have access to a park within a 10-minute walk of home and that there’s adequate park space in all neighborhoods is essential to creating an equitable park system. In our work, safe access and quality spaces are both central to achieving park equity.