Why is this important

Parks and public open space have important health benefits. The amount and type of park space is a key element of urban design and impacts people’s perceptions of ‘neighborliness’ and safety. Quality parks that are used by residents can have positive impacts on physical activity, stress reduction, community building, and injury prevention.[i] Satisfaction with and use of parks and recreation facilities, hinges upon perceptions of the quality, maintenance, and accessibility of amenities. Challenges in accessing parks can arise from factors including proximity, public safety, the level and type of services provided, social exclusion, and the management and design of the space.

How are we doing?

In 2015, the Controller’s Office made significant changes to the City Survey methodology to ensure that the survey reached a representative sample of San Francisco residents. In previous years the City Survey had been administered primarily by mail, while the 2015 survey was administered primarily by phone. Due to these changes, differences in survey results between 2015 and previous years should be interpreted with caution. Additionally, in 2015 resident zip code was not requested, so there are missing data for that year for 94102.

Between survey years 2011 and 2013, the proportion of residents visiting city parks on average, at least once per week increased by about 29% citywide and 45% in the zip code 94102. Visiting rates were about 4-6 percentage points higher citywide. In 2015, after the survey methodology changed, the proportion of residents visiting a city park continued to increase, to a high of 46% citywide and in 2019, we see the proportion is similar at 25%. In 2019, the percent of residents visiting parks weekly in 94102 was 45% - increasing by 15 percentage points from 2013.

Dataset Source

Office of the Controller, San Francisco City Survey, 2011-2019, available here: http://sfcitysurvey.weebly.com/.

Citations

[i] National Center for Environmental Health. “Parks and Trails Health Impact Assessment Toolkit.” Center for Disease Control and Prevention, June 2, 2016. http://www.cdc.gov/healthyplaces/parks_trails/#health.