Parks

Economic Benefits

Information and resources on the positive impacts parks have on local businesses, real estate, and more.
  • Economic Benefits of Open Space

    Communities around the country are learning that open-space conservation is not an expense, but an investment that produces important economic benefits. The Trust for Public Land's entire report on the economic benefits of open space is available online.

  • Bibiliography: Economic Benefits of Open Space

    The bibliography accompanying the Trust for Public Land's report contains more than a hundred citations on the economic benefits of protecting open space.

  • Real Estate Impacts of Urban Parks

    Brief case studies of how six recently built or rehabilitated downtown parks have impacted the value of surrounding properties, and a summary of previous research on the topic. Examples from New York City, Bellevue (Wash.), Atlanta, Boston and Shreveport (La.)
    Economic Research Associates

  • Open Space Survey: National Association of Realtors

    Among the findings in this 2001 survey: voters' support for open space depends on costs and use (neighborhood parks, playgrounds, and walking trails over golf courses, for instance); and 50% of voters would pay 10% more for a house near a park or other open space.

  • Economic Benefits Model

    An economic model that could be used to estimate economic benefits of parks for local economies. Developed for and by the National Park Service.

  • Economic Reinvestment in All Open Spaces

    Jim Lyons, Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment, USDA, on the need for public investment in what he calls the "greenfrastructure."

  • Greenway Vision Saves River and Generates Investment

    An article chronicling how Denver civic and political leaders organized the reclamation of the South Platte River into a regional greenway system, spurring not only parkland and environmental benefits but also redevelopment of large tracts of industrial land downtown.
    Project for Public Spaces/Urban Parks Institute

  • The Chattanooga Riverpark: Transforming a City and its Economy

    How a park helped this once-faded industrial town become one of the most talked-about cities in the Southeast. A Success Story from the Urban Parks Institute.

  • Why Open Space Promotes Urban Development

    A Denver business leader explains why the creation of Commons Park, along the Central Platte Valley, was a cornerstone in developing new mixed-use downtown neighborhoods.
    Project for Public Spaces/Urban Parks Institute

  • Making Parks Work In Cleveland

    In Cleveland, good public spaces and parks are regarded as critical in helping the city attract highly mobile “New Economy” businesses and workers. This article reports on an effort to identify potential new open spaces downtown and build a constituency for investing in them.
    Project for Public Spaces/Urban Parks Institute

  • The Benefits of Parks: Why America Needs More City Parks and Open Space

    A highly informative examination of the essential role parks play in urban neighborhoods, this white paper from Trust for Public Land includes chapters on the health, environmental, economic, and social benefits of parks and open spaces.