Reimagining City Services — Blog Series
Edition: Parks, Recreation and Community Services
We are living in extraordinary times. As a community, we are grappling with health, economic, environmental, and social challenges all at the same time. As a City organization, we are evolving to meet your needs.
To build a community where every person can thrive, we have to have the right staff, providing the right services, with the right resources. We are taking a fresh look at what services we provide and how we provide them. We invite your feedback as we reimagine city services.
Through this Blog Series: Reimagining City Services, we will be highlighting how we are reimagining public services in light of evolving community needs and limited financial resources. This post focuses on Parks, Recreation and Community Services. We are fortunate that Redwood City has a diverse and informed community, and we welcome your ideas and innovative spirit. Local government is a place you can make a difference on issues that matter to you. If you missed our Blog posts on Reimagining Public Safety, you can read it here and Reimagining Library Services here!
Why Change?
We are proud of the services we provide — and we also know community needs are changing. We want to be sure we are thinking creatively about services, and that we continue to live within our means. The City has been recognized for over three decades for following financial best practices. This ensures stability in providing City services and reduces taxpayer costs when we borrow funds for capital projects. While the City has been able to maintain essential services during the pandemic largely because of the City’s strong reserve levels and one-time federal funds, we face mounting deficits. Like most public agencies, the pandemic has exacerbated long-term financial challenges.
Reimagining City Parks — Pickleball Anyone?
For both physical and mental health, many of us have craved familiar and new ways to enjoy the outdoors. There is a renewed appreciation for trails, parks, playgrounds and sports, especially after having to shelter-in-place and limit our interactions until it was safe to do so. We missed you! We have seen a significant increase in use of our amenities, which is GREAT but with that also comes higher expectations from our community.
We heard from A LOT of you during the pandemic that there was a new favorite sport in town — pickleball! We have invested in portable nets and put a lot of effort into shared use of tennis courts to maximize space. We also rely heavily on our partnership with the school districts to be able to use fields after school and on the weekends. We know some of the synthetic turf fields are getting to the point of needing renovation; we are looking at how best to tackle this with the least amount of disruption for our athletes. Stay tuned!
Closing the Park Service Gap in Underserved Neighborhoods
There is a national movement led by the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA), the Trust for Public Land (TPL), and the Urban Land Institute (ULI) to ensure there is a great park within a 10-minute walk of every person in the country.
Based on our 2019 Parks Needs Assessment, six Redwood City neighborhoods include significant areas that are undeserved by City parks. These neighborhoods include Eagle Hill, Farmhill, Friendly Acres, Palm, Redwood Oaks, and Woodside Plaza.
We are also exploring how to add WiFi as we renovate our parks to provide an outdoor area for homework support.
Money Doesn’t Grow on Trees (Unfortunately) but We Constantly Seek Funding Opportunities
As we develop strategies to expand parks, we also seek funding opportunities at the federal, state and local levels. It takes significant investment to replace existing equipment and infrastructure, acquire land for new parks, and convert existing land (like a parking lot) to a park.
In 2008, Redwood City implemented a park impact fee designed to finance park and recreation facilities necessary to serve new development projects. Recognizing that Redwood City falls short of the standard 3 acres per 1,000 residents of park space, we will be exploring the option of increasing our current fees. These fees include increasing fees on market-rate housing projects and introducing new non-residential fees. s. A Public Hearing on proposed increases will be held by the City Council on May 23, 2022.
Additionally, funding is available for certain park-related projects from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) through Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) program funds. Projects which advance equity in community services and amenities qualify for federal funding.
On May 9, the City Council adopted the Community Participation Plan and approved the 2022–2023 Action Plan for use of these federal funds, which includes $4.2 million in CDBG funds for Hoover Park improvements. Residents near Hoover Park have expressed growing concerns regarding homeless encampments, drug use, gang activity, fires, and other related issues. To alleviate these issues, we are in the process of contracting with a landscape architect or park planning firm to develop a master plan for Hoover Park. Improvements may include a splash pad, teaching pool, improved parking, park lighting, an inclusive playground, new picnic facility, public art, and/or additional amenities to increase activity at the park. We expect to select a firm this summer and, once onboard, a community engagement process will launch so that you can help develop the design of the project. Approximately $500,000 in Park Impact Fees will pay for the design work and the $4.2 million in CDBG funds will pay for construction.
10 Acres of City Waterfront Property for Future Community Uses
Many in our community are interested in increased access to the City’s waterfront. Good news! In September 2021, our City Council took action to use City-owned property in the Inner Harbor area to advance multiple City priorities. This property will be used to help house homeless residents, improve circulation and public safety, and reserve approximately 10 acres of City waterfront property for future community uses. Share your thoughts on recreation, open space, water access and trail access in the area through community engagement efforts beginning later this summer. To learn more about this exchange of City-owned property located at 1469 Maple Street with the County of San Mateo for property located at 1580 Maple Street, read our Blog post here.
From Parking Lots to Parks: Community Outreach Shapes Future Plans for Converting Library Parking Lot A to a Park
We want all residents to have ready access to quality parks. But where? In a built-out urban environment, sometimes the only option is to replace existing land uses such as parking lots. Following a 2018 study of six City-owned sites downtown, the City Council voted to convert three downtown sites to parks and begin a project to design those spaces. While the decision to convert parking lots to parks is not easy, the latest parking survey concludes that there is enough parking in the whole of downtown to meet current and future parking needs. Based on this analysis, the City has decided to use these properties for residents’ health and recreation rather than for storing vehicles.
Over the next several months, you can provide input on the design for the Downtown Parks and Bay Connectivity Project (DPBC). Planned activities include community meetings and workshops for stakeholders and neighborhoods, surveys, booths at city events, pop-up parks and more. Recently, City staff and the City’s consultant, RRM Design Group, held two online stakeholder meetings for property owners, business owners, and library staff. In addition, the design team held a bilingual community workshop for the Library Lot A/Rosselli site. The workshop included several activities for the participants such as walking tours, “Dot” Photo Preferences Board, and a “Design Your Park” workstation. Over 2,000 immediate neighbors were invited to share feedback at the workshop regarding the site and potential design, and we had approximately 60 people in attendance. Many opportunities for input and feedback will be available this Spring/Summer. We want to hear from you!
Taking Our Show on the Road
As we mentioned in our Reimagining City Services: Library Edition, our partnership with the Library in bringing outdoor programming has been wildly popular. At Magical Bridge Playground, we are excited to continue to offer outdoor storytimes, free senior days (shout-out to our partner Adaptive PE), monthly theatre shows and biweekly activities (shout-out to our partner, Casa Circulo Cultural) and supporting an inclusive place for people of all abilities to play (shout-out to all Parks & Arts Foundation volunteers).
We are also exploring opportunities to expand our Mobile Rec program, and hope to see you this summer as we plan different free events throughout the City at our parks!
Beautifying the City through Public Art
In Redwood City, our City Council has committed to public art as a means for promoting vibrancy, defining cultural uniqueness, building community, improving the quality of life, and making Redwood City THE arts, culture, and entertainment destination on the Peninsula. Vibrant and engaging public art can transform listless or ho-hum community spaces into thriving public destinations. Public art marks a respect for the humanity and individuality of its community members by offering something beautiful or thought provoking that has a non-commercial purpose.
We hope that you will visit the newly unveiled Commercial Way Mural Corridor along Commercial Way in Downtown. The interest from the community on this project helped gather momentum for these murals in the alley. The enthusiasm from the business owners along Commercial Way, and their interest in having murals also helped moved additional mural projects for Commercial Way forward. We thank you for your support and engagement, and look forward to seeing selfies on social media!
Next up will be the completion of a new Racial Equity Mural at the Jefferson underpass. In April, the City Council selected artist Rachel Wolfe-Goldsmith to complete the mural, which includes many references to the Ramaytush Ohlone, the Indigenous people of San Mateo County, as well as Mexican rancheros, Japanese immigrants and modern-day protestors. Rachel intends to hold community meetings and have conversations with residents so that she can gain a deeper understanding of the community and how our story should be told.
Existing Facilities By the Numbers
• Redwood City has 229.95 total acres of active parkland across 52 parks
○ The City owns and maintains 38 parks totaling 185.56 acres
○ The remaining 14 parks and 44.39 acres are “school parks,” which include sports fields and play areas
• Redwood City enjoys an additional 701.59 acres of open space provided by other government agencies
Looking for a Summer Job?
With summer right around the corner and we want to celebrate the sunshine with you! We are recruiting for about 80 staff for our summer programming. View our latest job openings here.
Your Feedback is Welcome!
There are many ways you can share your thoughts on Parks, Recreation and Community Services. You can participate in City Council meetings, particularly the annual budget study session on June 13 (go here for information about City Council agendas). You can email us at recreation@redwoodcity.org, call us at (650) 780–7311, or come visit us at one of our centers or events! Don’t forget to connect with us on social media!
We support innovation and welcome new ideas. We believe that professionalism, communication, technology, and team work serve as the foundation for great customer service and a productive workplace. Our Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department Team believes in Excellence, Integrity, Creativity, and Service. Our most important task is to provide people of all ages in our community great public spaces and outstanding programs that give you reasons to stay and play for a lifetime.
