Agenda - Parks and Recreation Commission - 08/11/1994

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Parks or prisOns? igi ing Crime With green space - comi~r~page, reader' may startling idea advanced in a ".Dick .~racy' amp a few decades ago that u~ parks foster crime. Accord- ing to,the squag-jawed, wrist-radioed cartoo~n detecnive, that's because park ~ _~nd ~n'ubbery give ne'er-do-wells htdinl{ places from which to leap out on' unn~cting pa'ss~by. Therefore,* ac- ~ to Tracy, the way to make a city s~fe ~i to pave over the park. s. The~Trust for Public Land has a better ide~ To fight urban crime, provide Tni°~h~ inner-ci,y parks and playgrounds. nonprofit, San Francisco.based codservation group, argues persuasively iq i new report_ that ne can_be_sisaif- ic~311y~..edU...c%-d,when cities Provid.! ade- ql~ate and wea.*mainta~ed neikfibor- ~ i-e6reation facilitied'. l~oenix, ~-iz., for example, experi- e/Il. ced a 55 l~reent dex~ase in reported ~y~r me_summer closing ~e for 6creationa, fa.cilities ~S"e.x- ~hcled to'2 ~.m'.'ln a Philadelpki~' pre- ~cl~ct; ~'crime Cir~pped 90 ~l~lice h~-~ped' plant gardens and clean ju~em~il~arrests dropped by almost one- de. ~---'C~iY'd~recrb. a ti o n program. Ohe obvious reason for such results is that wh..._~_youngsters who consu.'tute_a m~jor part o! tlxe urban crime ~roblem ha~a~ve way ~o_.expend -time and~fi~'tw~i~y~taY O U~f oftr-°qble. But as'~'~hiladelphia example indicates, cl.eanup and beautification of urban spaces can have a positive imPact as · we./i ' helping to fight' crime by foster- ' lng nciglib~bodpticie ann ~.'sex~ ~at so~Y~. '. :' . - Wi~ thek nafio~y ~no~ ~k s~te~ Minn~ and SL Pa~ may mog ~~ ~fieg But ~e ~g's .me~ge ~t ~e ~fion n~s of ad~o~ inner~w pa~ ~a app~- ~us'~ ~o~ a y~ ago by H~ ~ ~d o~ for a jo~ ~d pub~ wor~ ~o~m to m~e up for ~e ~a- five ~k of ~ ~d o~ no~ ~na~a~s ~mp~d to ~e han6ng ~e no~'s supply of and p~y a~, p~n~ ho~ ~e~hen ~e ~ oval ~ a .pla~ w~eh to five. A f~b~i~ ~ id~ is ~ed to ~ ~i~ ht~ t~s mo~. · With its focus on crime-fighting, the .Trust for Public Land report makes a narrower case for urban parks and rec- reation facilities. But evcn in that limit- ed context, the arguments are compel- 'ling. The trust's report refutes Republican ' eomplainL~ that money earmarked in congressional crime bil~ for midnight. basketball leagues and other recrtation programs would be better spent on pris- on cells. The truth is thc other way around: In many cases, m_o~n parks is money that