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67 <br /> Orange County Comprehensive Parks and Recreation Master Plan <br /> CHAPTER 8- Economic, Health and Environmental Impacts of Parks and Recreation <br /> Economic, Health and Environmental <br /> Impacts of Parks and Recreation <br /> Background <br /> The provision of parks and open spaces, and of health and wellbeing. In recent years, increased <br /> recreation programs, events and opportunities, offer research has focused on the impact of parks, recrea- <br /> a variety of benefits to the health safety and general tion, and open space on a community's economy. <br /> welfare of Orange County residents. Among these "At the bottom line, parks are a good financial <br /> are benefits to the county's economy, to the overall investment for a community.i' <br /> public health, and to the local and regional natural <br /> environment. Evidence of those public benefits is <br /> described below in two papers written by <br /> consultants from the University of North Carolina - <br /> Greensboro, supplemented with complementary + <br /> information received by DEAPR staff. <br /> r <br /> i J' <br /> 1. Economic Benefits of Parks, Recreation <br /> and Open Space x + <br /> . _.ti .: <br /> A 2011 study by the Trust for Public Land (TPL) <br /> determined the return on North Carolina's invest- <br /> ment in land conservation through its four conserva- The following are ways that parks, recreation, and <br /> tion trust funds. The TPL study found that every $1 open space positively benefit the economic health <br /> invested returns $4 in economic value from the of our cities, states,and country. <br /> kinds of natural resource goods and services,such as Enhances residential property values <br /> water quality protection by wetlands and air Research consistently shows <br /> pollution removal by forests. The study did not, ' parks have a positive impact on <br /> however, include how investments in land conserva- i°`---,�-.___ the value of properties located <br /> tion benefit the economy through jobs, taxes, H�M�! close by. Studies further demon- <br /> tourism,and other revenue., FOR strate that many people will pay <br /> Locally, a comprehensive review of those benefits ,SAL more for a home that is located <br /> was conducted for Orange County by a team of near a park, a nature preserve, <br /> researchers from the University of North Carolina at or community open space. Economists call this influ- <br /> Greensboro. Their findings, as well as the national ence hedonic value while real estate agents and <br /> research mentioned previously, support the idea homebuilders call it 'location, location, location.' <br /> that although county budgets need to be cut during Determining the correlation between parks and <br /> economic downturns, "...preserving parks and property values is not a recent phenomenon. Ac- <br /> recreation funds can actually reduce the need to cording to a report of the American Planning Associ- <br /> allocate funding to other public departments.iz ation, "From 1856 to 1873 he [Frederick Law <br /> Olmsted] tracked the value of property adjacent to <br /> The benefits that parks, recreation, and open space Central Park, in order to justify the$13 million spent <br /> have on individuals and communities are well on its creation. He found that over the 17-year <br /> documented. Numerous studies have examined the period there was a $209 million dollar increase in <br /> positive impacts that parks and recreation participa- the value of property impacted by the park.i4 <br /> lion has on a person's physical and psychological <br /> 8-1 <br />