Our Collective Win: Seattle Park District

Thanks to tireless support and advocacy from the community, the Seattle City Council passed the Seattle Park District Cycle 2 six-year budget plan! Whether you showed up to a meeting, wrote a letter or made a phone call to your Councilmember or the Mayor, our collective action has helped ensure our city leaders recognize that parks are essential to the health and vibrancy of our city.

This collaborative achievement advances our strategic goals:

Equity in Public Spaces

The Equity Fund was doubled in size and will contribute over $3M annually – $20M over the next 6 years – to support many of our community partners. These funds advance community driven projects, ensuring we address long standing historic inequities in public spaces.

Garfield Super Block, Little Brook Park, Rainier Beach Playfield Skatepark, and Be’er Sheva Park will receive over $4M in total to bring their projects to life in the next couple years.

Neighborhood-Based Climate Solutions

As smoke and heat events plague our city, every neighborhood needs a resilience strategy, especially in communities that don’t have access to air conditioning. The $18M in investments in our “climate resilience hubs” at community centers will ensure that our park system plays a role supporting every neighborhood around the city.

Climate mitigation is also critical to the future health of the city. To that end there is now $1M in funding for tree canopy to get to net zero tree loss in our developed parks and greenways.

Activated Parks and Healthy People

The Park District invests in our recreation programs by increasing community center hours, doubling our park ambassador program, investing in the urban parks partnership programs, and growing Rec in the Streets. Youth are central to the mayor’s mission and focus so there is significant growth in youth development and employment programs.

Increased Civic Engagement and Community Building

This win would not have been possible without the incredible partnership of our supporters, community partners, and staff. It takes all of us and lots of “behind the scenes” organizing to ensure our parks get the funding they need.

Thank you for your support for people powered parks and public spaces. And thanks to the Seattle City Council for their investment in the future of the Emerald City!

This work doesn’t happen without your support. If you’re interested in supporting Seattle Parks Foundation’s advocacy work, please donate today.