New Study Finds Parks and Recreation are Essential to the Daily Lives of Californians

At a moment when California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed closing 221 state parks, a new study finds Californians see parks as essential to their daily lives.
By: California Park & Recreation Society
 
June 3, 2009 - PRLog -- Sacramento, CALIF -- Virtually every household in California (98%) visits a park annually (two-thirds of California households visit a park every month) and half of all California households participate in a recreation program each year, according to a major new study of Californians conducted by Hiner & Partners (Long Beach) and Lauren Schlau Consulting (Los Angeles) for the California Park & Recreation Society (CPRS), Sacramento, CA.

“We knew Californians love parks, but until now no one imagined the importance that Californians attribute to parks and recreation,” said CPRS Executive Director Jane H. Adams.  Senior researcher, Harry Hines said, “It is clear from this study that these spaces, places, facilities and services are an essential component of the everyday lives of Californians.”

The CPRS research study found that Californians give high importance to the “personal benefits” of parks and recreation.  “They struggle to describe how parks and recreation programs benefit their community or neighborhood, but easily express the private, internal benefits to themselves or to their friends and family,” said Hiner.

“Personal benefit is one of the things we hadn’t fully appreciated, previously,” said Ms. Adams.  “From  the park and recreation professional perspective, we viewed what we do as creating community through our people, parks and programs, but Californians see parks and programs in a different way.  They care more about how parks and recreation benefit their lives, including those of their family and friends, than they do about their general benefit to society.”

Ms. Adams said this is the first statewide study to look at how the public perceives local and regional parks and recreation.  “CPRS undertook it as part of an effort to better understand what Californians see the profession as delivering to them, though it also revealed how Californians recreate and use their parks. We found that half of all households participate in organized park and recreation programs and even more use parks for self-directed recreation. These incredibly high usage statistics show how important parks and recreation is to Californians.”

Mr. Hiner added, “One of the most powerful revelations was that Californians see parks as making their communities better places to live.  That statement ranked very near the top of the priority list.  The CPRS survey found that Californians equate a better place to live with access to serenity and nature, outdoor spaces for play for children and adults alike, facilities for group sports, and lower levels of juvenile crime because of positive recreational alternatives.”

The importance of the future-oriented benefit of parks to Californians was not previously understood to be so profound according to Mr. Hiner who said, “Virtually all of the highest importance statements had some connection to the future.  Even Californians who don’t have children responded in ways that show they see parks as beneficial to children and future generations.  In one response after another, Californians indicated that they see parks as making their lives better, now and in the future.”

The CPRS study sampled 848 Californians, representative of the population at large with a margin of error of +/- 3.37% at a 95% confidence interval, meaning that there was only a five percent chance that the percentages reported in the study was off by more than 3.7% for the opinions of all Californians.

The study is available online at www.cprs.org or by contacting the California Park & Recreation Society at (916) 665-2777.  The California Park & Recreation Society provides career development, networking, resources and is the public advocate for California parks and recreation professionals.

(30)

# # #

The California Park & Recreation Society provides career development, networking, resources and is the public advocate for California parks and recreation professionals.
End
Source:California Park & Recreation Society
Email:***@cprs.org
Zip:95832
Tags:Parks, Recreation, Parks And Recreation, California, Schwarzenegger, Budget, Deficit
Industry:Recreation
Location:Sacramento - California - United States
Account Email Address Verified     Disclaimer     Report Abuse



Like PRLog?
9K2K1K
Click to Share