Pickleball is one of the hottest trends in recreation right now, and for good reason. It’s a welcoming sport that offers an abundance of fun. It’s known as a ‘game for everyone.’ Pickleball encourages physical activity to improve people’s fitness and wellness. As park designers, we see pickleball on the agenda for most of the park projects we work on.
This summer we celebrated the grand opening of the third and final phase of Erie Community Park. 12 acres of features were added to this park extending its value to the community. The park is consistently filled with people enjoying all it has to offer, and we could be more excited to see that enthusiasm.
This past year, schools all over the country were forced to allow fewer students inside and keep classes physically separate from each other, making their outside spaces a hot commodity. In many cases schools had to scramble to figure out ways to make this happen with little time to plan. We propose that to better equip schools for the future, more time, funding, and attention is needed to design these outdoor learning environments in ways students, teachers and the neighboring community can enjoy throughout the year.
Parks all around the world are known for igniting emotions of hope, peace, and optimism. Two Hunters Park, a commemorative park honoring the lives of Mark Martinez and Joey Irwin of Firestone, CO is no exception.
Athletic and park directors get answers to tough questions. Find out how to assess the level of service your athletic fields are providing for your community. GIS (Geographic Information System) technology creates digital models. See how our team analyizes GIS data to create real world impact for your athletic field plans.
The May issue of Parks & Rec Magazine features an article by our own Dave Peterson and Carter Marshall. Stafford County, VA needed to understand current demand and capacity of their athletic facilities, and specialized GIS applications were used to help the county make justifiable, evidence-based decisions. The study also determined target locations for new fields based on user access and population density. Ultimately GIS analysis was used as justification to secure additional funding for needed ballfield improvements.
Geographic Information System (GIS) technology is a powerful tool for mapping our world and understanding spatial relationships. GIS applications allow users to create a digital model of the real world that may be used to answer real world questions. Utilized in a wide range of industries and disciplines, GIS can be a valuable analysis and planning tool for park and recreation professionals as well.
GIS analysis provides more robust evidence for action than traditional master planning techniques and yields decisions based on customizable factors specific to an agency or community. GIS datasets may be used to identify gaps and allow service providers to prioritize improvements based on evidence based decisions. Click here to learn more.
“Prioritizing projects and their locations based on the data collected and the results of the study, we are now confident in our investment choices, knowing we are addressing actual needs,” says Jamie Porter, now Former Director of Stafford County Parks. That’s a home run in our book!
Geographic Information System (GIS) technology is a powerful tool for mapping our world and understanding spatial relationships. GIS applications allow users to create a digital model of the real world that may be used to answer real world questions. Used in a wide range of industries and disciplines, GIS is a valuable analysis and planning tool for park and recreation professionals.
GIS analysis provides more robust evidence for action than traditional master planning techniques. GIS yields decisions based on customizable factors specific to an agency or community. GIS datasets are used to identify gaps and allow service providers to prioritize improvements based on evidence-based decisions. An excellent resource to learn more about GIS basics can be found at ‘Introduction to Geographic Information Systems,’ by Robert Rose, GIS Instructor at Harvard Map Collection.
In-House GIS technology experts Dave and Carter, from our specialized planning team, presented a session at the CPRA Annual Conference in Breckenridge focused on their groundbreaking GIS analysis work in Stafford County, Virginia. Arc News published an article about the project called ‘Ball Field Study Hits Home Run’ which can be found at www.esri.com
Dave Peterson | Associate | Dir. of Specialized Planning
Dave Peterson, PLA, Director of Specialized Planning and Carter Marshall, Project Manager, will be presenting Knock It Out of the Park! Using GIS Technology to Meet Your Goaaaaaallls!!! at Colorado Parks and Recreation Association’s annual conference in Breckenridge on October 15th.
Currently there are no nationally accepted standards for measuring quality or public access to athletic field facilities. In Stafford County, VA, we recently helped this public agency use advanced GIS technology to map sports field locations and analyze quality of facilities and public access. The session is designed to address:
Carter Marshall | Landscape Designer/Planner
How to use GIS technology to inform future recreation planning for individual agencies
Tools and concepts to assist agencies in planning and assessment of recreation assets such as sports fields
Identifying necessary requirements for an agency to develop GIS proficiency and begin to leverage this powerful technology
Design Concepts is an M/WBE, SBE Landscape Architecture design firm with the City and County of Denver and a DBE under the US Department of Transportation’s Colorado Unified Certification Program (UCP).
