Out of 100 Cities Nationwide Mesa Parks Ranked In The Bottom 10

So, how’s our city’s park system, if it’s one of the 100 to appear in the index, rank? Better or worse than you expected? Where was there room for improvement?
Just released is a report for urban park systems in the country per the Trust for Public Land (TPL)’s annual ParkScore rankings, an index that ranks urban recreational spaces belonging to the 100 most populous American cities.
Residents of Mesa will have to scroll way down - to the bottom ten - to see how the city gets ranked.
The ParkScore® index measures how well the 100 largest U.S. cities are meeting the need for parks
http://parkscore.tpl.org/

The ParkScore methodology is based on three key criteria. Park Access uses advanced GIS mapping technology to determine how far a city’s residents must walk to access the nearest public green space. Park Size takes into consideration both the median size of a unit within an individual park system and the total amount of land within a city that’s dedicated to parks.

Finally, the Facilities and Investment category combines both a city's park spending per resident and the availability of a quartet of aforementioned park amenities: dog parks, playgrounds, basketball hoops and recreation/senior centers
.
Take a look at around 7 o'clock - for Mesa it's $28.6 Millions of dollars.

Mesa = 91 out of 100

While it’s true that a low ParkScore may yield a fair amount of hand-wringing for park officials in the cities that place close to the bottom of the list, the TPL sees the rankings — described as “the most comprehensive rating system ever developed to measure how well the 100 most populous U.S. cities are meeting their residents’ need for parks” — as a tool that poorly-ranked cities can use to help better themselves in key areas and, in turn, move up the list.
Link for Mesa >> http://parkscore.tpl.org/city.php?city=Mesa

Explore an interactive map from this link

Park Facts:
Park acreage: 2,521 acres
People served per park acre: 183
Oldest municipal park: Pioneer Park, est. 1947
Largest municipal park: Red Mountain Park, 582 acres
Most-visited municipal park: Riverview Park


City Stats

• City area: 83,578 acres
• Median park size: 2.6 acres
• Park land as % of city area: 3.0 %
• Spending per resident: $69.96
• Basketball Hoops per 10,000: 2.6
• Dog Parks per 100,000 Residents: 0.4
• Playgrounds per 10,000: 1.4
• Recreation / Senior Centers
  per 20,000 Residents: 0.2
• Population density: 5.5 per acre

You can download Maps and tables here >> Access to Parks by Age and Income http://parkscore.tpl.org/ReportImages/Mesa_AZ.pdf

VIEW FULL RANKING ANALYSIS HERE
Using mapping technology and demographic data, we determined how well each city is meeting the need for parks.
You can learn more with in-depth city profiles …
… or compare multiple cities.
We scored cities in three categories. Learn more about the ParkScore^® methodology.

OTHER RESOURCES AND LINKS


New tool: http://gis.mesaaz.gov/ParkFinder/

http://www.mesaaz.gov/things-to-do/parks-recreation-commercial-facilities/parks

http://www.mesaaz.gov/city-hall/office-of-management-budget/major-funds

Heads Up! City Council Study Session Tomorrow > Big Buck$ + A Tax increase

Public Safety and Higher Education Funding Recommendation
City Council Study Session May 19, 2016
City of Mesa
Meeting Agenda - Final





Mayor John Giles
Vice Mayor Dennis Kavanaugh - District 3
Councilmember Dave Richins - District 1
Councilmember Alex Finter - District 2
Councilmember Chris Glover - District 4
Councilmember David Luna - District 5
Councilmember Kevin Thompson - District 6
7:30 AMCouncil Chambers - Lower Level
Roll Call (Members of the Mesa City Council will attend either in person or by telephone conference call)

1 Presentations/Action Items:
16-0575 Hear a presentation, discuss and provide direction on funding options including sales taxes for the following:
1.  Public safety staffing and equipment needs, and the associated costs
2.  Higher education projects and the associated costs
1-a
16-0593 Information pertaining to the current Job Order Contracting projects.2
3 Hear reports on meetings and/or conferences attended.
4 Scheduling of meetings and general information.

5 Convene an Executive Session.
 
ES-003-16 Discussion or consultation for legal advice with the City Attorney. (A.R.S. §38-431.03A (3)) 
Discussion or consultation with designated representatives of the City in order to consider the City’s position and instruct the City’s representatives regarding negotiations for the purchase, sale, or lease of real property. (A.R.S. §38-431.03A (7)) 
Discussion or consultation with the City Attorney in order to consider the City’s position and instruct the City Attorney regarding the City’s position regarding contracts that are the subject of negotiations, in pending or contemplated litigation or in settlement discussions conducted in order to avoid or resolve litigation. (A.R.S. §38-431.03A(4))
  
1. Intergovernmental Agreement with Arizona State University for a Mesa campus on City-owned property.

Higher Education Projects
Phase 1
 •ASU Buildings $68.2 to 78.9 million
•Civic Plaza $20 to $25 million
•Parking $10 to $12 million
•Benedictine Buildout $6 to $7.5 million
•Off Site Improvements $4 million
Total $108.2 to $127.4 million
Phase 2
Building C Total Area:     60,000 square feet No. of Floors: 4 –New Construction
Building D Total Area:     18,800 square feet No. of Floors: 2 –Existing IT Bldg.
Total Estimated Cost $32 million

Next Steps
•May 26, 2016 -Council Action on Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA)
•June 8-10, 2016 –Arizona Board of Regents Action on IGA
•June 20, 2016 –Council Call for E

About Light Rail: Benefit or Boondoggle??

Whether light-rail systems in the United States are a benefit or a boondoggle in the communities that build them has been argued for many years. 

Proponents of light rail argue that rail transit increases community well-being by creating jobs, by boosting economic development and property values, and by reducing pollution and traffic congestion—all while providing drivers with an economical alternative to the automobile** see qualifier below . 
Opponents counter that light-rail transit provides little of these benefits to citizens and that the costs of such systems greatly outweigh any potential benefits.

The facts are important for residents in cities with existing light-rail transit and in cities considering proposals for building or expanding light-rail transit.

There are six key issues surrounding light-rail transit: 

• property values and development
• job creation
• traffic congestion and urban sprawl
• citizens' preferences for car over rail,
• air pollution
• solvency

Here are the conclusions:

Citizens can pay tens of millions of dollars annually to subsidize light-rail transit in their community. If the benefits exceed these costs, then rail transit would be socially beneficial. However, many of the argued benefits of light-rail transit, such as alleviating traffic congestion and pollution, may not come to bear.

One clear benefit of rail transit, however, is higher property values for homes and businesses located near a transit station. In fact, in many cities one can see economic development occurring around transit stations, although this may not be causal evidence of the relationship between rail transit and economic development. But again, the increase in property values and economic development are subsidized benefits and may not be greater than the subsidy costs. Both citizens and local officials should have an understanding of the costs of light-rail transit relative to the potential benefits.

Given the size of costs relative to the benefits, the creation of light-rail transit systems or the expansion of existing systems in American cities may be difficult to justify. Go to this link to read the entire details: Light Rail Publication from St. Louis Federal Reserve

**In a previous post about light rail there was a graph with Valley Metro's own statistics that only 5% of the population use public transportation - for the 3.1 Mile Central Mesa Light Rail extension there was an staggering investment of over $340 Million Dollars!
Who says we don't have "Million Dollar-Miles" in the New Urban Downtown Mesa???
 . . . and keep in mind that annual operating expenses  for lightrail will be paid by the City of Mesa with sales/use/consumption taxes to cover anticipated losses.