Parks & Recreation

Paying the Homeless to Clean Up City Parks

STATE AND LOCAL ROUNDUP | Civil asset forfeiture reform bills … New Orleans short-term rental restrictions … and Oregon roadkill consumption rules.

  • By Michael Grass

Paying the Homeless to Clean Up City Parks

STATE AND LOCAL ROUNDUP | Civil asset forfeiture reform bills … New Orleans short-term rental restrictions … and Oregon roadkill consumption rules.

  • By Michael Grass
Parks & Recreation

Paying the Homeless to Clean Up City Parks

STATE AND LOCAL ROUNDUP | Civil asset forfeiture reform bills … New Orleans short-term rental restrictions … and Oregon roadkill consumption rules.

  • By Michael Grass

City Leader Wants Residents to Try Balancing the Parks and Rec Budget

STATE AND LOCAL ROUNDUP | Federal shutdown delays hurricane recovery funds … another Flint water crisis plea deal …. and confusion comes with Conn. town’s pay-per-bag trash collection proposal.

  • By Michael Grass

A New Placemaking Center to Guide Changing Demographics and Technology

Brookings Institutions’ Bass Center for Transformative Placemaking wants to connect more residents to opportunities using cutting-edge development practices, tools and policies.

  • By Dave Nyczepir

How One Parks Department Created a Mobile Playground

Baton Rouge's parks agency wanted to get kids moving to combat youth obesity.

  • By Christine Vestal

When the Honors System Short-Changes State Parks

An audit found that one-third of park visitors in this state didn’t pay an entrance fee.

  • By Michael Grass

How a Midsize U.S. City Is Preparing to Host One of the World’s Largest Sporting Events

The IAAF track-and-field world championships are still three years away. Local officials in Eugene, Oregon may be “slightly nervous” but are embracing an “opportunity to really shine.”

  • By Michael Grass

Predicting Obesity From a City's Infrastructure

An artificial intelligence algorithm found a correlation between green space and obesity in several cities.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

Mitigating Flood Impacts With Resiliency Parks

How a New Jersey city is combating flood risks with comprehensive parks planning

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

Hovercraft Case in Alaska Tests Federal Rules on Rivers in National Parks

A 9th Circuit decision—now before the U.S. Supreme Court— is being viewed by some as a potential “springboard for the expansion of federal control over state-owned navigable waters throughout the country.”

  • By Laura Maggi

This City Park Is Using Goats to Remove Invasive Plant Species

It's the goats' second season at Theodore Wirth Regional Park, a project spearheaded by the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

Which Major City Has the Best Parks?

For the third year in a row, Minneapolis claimed the top spot in the Trust for Public Land's ParkScore index.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

City in Michigan Removes Fountain Offensive to Native Americans

Kalamazoo officials have not yet decided what to do with a 1940 monument or how to repurpose the park space.

  • By Ben Lando, Special to Route Fifty

Report: 68 National Parks Threatened by Offshore Drilling Expansion

Companies simply can’t guarantee a catastrophic spill won’t occur jeopardizing the livelihoods of coastal communities, a new report says.

  • By Dave Nyczepir

Florida Snakes Remain Hungry as Hunters Capture 1,000th Python

STATE AND LOCAL ROUNDUP | Wisconsin localities turn to “wheel taxes” ... Sacramento plans massive tents for the homeless ... N.Y.C. rent-controlled housing at risk … and Toledo’s lead-safe property deadline.

  • By Michael Grass

Ann Arbor Puts a Cork in Public Tree Tapping

“Not only is tapping street and park trees illegal, but doing so causes damage, leaving trees susceptible to insects and diseases,” the city said in a newsletter.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

With Kilauea Off Limits, New Mexico Has Its Own Kilauea-Like Spot to Check Out

Officials in Hawaii, for good reason, want you to steer clear of the danger zone on the Big Island. But a location on the mainland shows what can happen when lava oozes across the landscape.

  • By Michael Grass

Wringing Out New Truths From Data: Tracking Social Progress in Cities

Urban designers are ready to help cities learn from each other, combing through data both old and new.

  • By Gregor Macdonald, Special to Route Fifty

Public Spaces and Local Democracy

COMMENTARY | The ongoing political battle over Civil War monuments—and the public spaces they reside in—reflects a disconnect over civic expression and our public spaces.

  • By Jess Zimbabwe and Alex Jones, Special to Route Fifty

Tens of Thousands of Fish Travel by Truck Between Great Lakes States

“There has to be a cooperative spirit or it just flat-out won’t work,” according to Ed Eisch, fish production program manager for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

Investments in the Arts Strengthen Local Economies and Communities

Kate Levin, head of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Arts Initiatives, explains why civic art is about more than simple beauty.

  • By Kate Levin, Special to Route Fifty