Raytown has real parks and recreation needs; The current lack of parks and trails affects the health and wellbeing of thousands of Raytown families

Raytown is discussing the renewal of Raytown parks and stormwater sales tax, which is currently set at 1/8 of a cent, and up for renewal soon.

I feel like the discussion is taking place in something of an information vacuum.  So I would like to present some basic information about Raytown Parks, as summarized in the recent Raytown Parks Master Plan, that can help inform citizens and decision-makers as we move forward with this issue.

If you feel that Raytown needs better parks, trails, and outdoor recreation opportunities, please take the time to contact your Raytown Aldermen now.  They need to hear from you!

A high percentage of Raytown residents need access to parks and outdoor recreation

The first thing the Parks Master Plan establishes is have a strong need for outdoor recreation--not just some or a few Raytowners, but the vast majority of the population:

The lack of safe places to walk, bicycle, and enjoy outdoor recreation affects thousands of Raytown citizens, young and old

It is one thing to consider impact of lack of parks facilities in terms of percentages.  But how many people, how many families does this impact?

It turns out--many thousands of Raytown families:

This is a simple but basic fact: Park and recreation facilities in Raytown impact tens of thousands of residents--young and old.  The vast majority of our population!

What happens when our parks and outdoor recreation is insufficient--impacting thousands of families? 

The numbers above simply establish the need. But--thankfully!--Raytown has a long-standing parks department and an extensive parks system and recreational programs that has met many of these needs.

But the Master Plan also identifies a number of key elements in our Parks system that are deficient compared with our peer communities and compared with national standards.

We will talk about those in more detail in a future article, but one summary in the Master Plan identified 10 areas where Raytown parks facilities were deficient, while finding that it met national standards in only 4 areas.

Some of those deficient areas: 

• Trails (less than 25% of recommendation)
• Neighborhood Parks (about 2/3 of recommendation)
• Special Use Parks (about 1/3 of recommendation)
• Multi-purpose fields (about 1/3 of recommendation)
• Basketball courts (about 1/5 of recommendation)
• Playgrounds (about 50% of recommendation)
• Dog parks (none, when a city our size should have one)
• Outdoor pools (none, when a city our size should have one)

Now go through those charts and compare how many thousands of Raytown families need those facilities--how many are impacted?

• Trails needed by 7420 households--but we only have 22% of what we need
• Neighborhood Parks needed by 5907 households--but we are 1/3 below what we need
• Playground equipment needed by 3435 households--but we have just 1/2 of what we need

And so on--you can do the math.

The point is: Raytown Parks and Recreation's annual budget has been slowly declining over the years, while expenses have been rising.

Raytown can afford to invest--in fact, needs to invest--in a modest increase in support for parks and recreation to help us start to meet those very real, very important needs.

The impact of parks, trails, and recreational facilities on young and old

We talk a lot about the impact of streets, police, basic city services. They are important--of course!

But it is worth remembering that parks, recreational facilities, and trails are basic city services as well.

When we don't have enough safe places to walking, bicycle, exercise, and enjoy outdoor recreation, it affects our physical health, our mental health, our emotional health.

It affects our fitness and our wellbeing.

It affects the livability of our community.

And it affects every citizen, from young to old.  But the negative health effects when the city fails to provide basic parks and recreation services to its citizen affect children and retired people most of all.

Parks and recreation are important to everyone--young, old, and in between--and worth the small investment they require.

If you support better parks, trails, and outdoor recreation in Raytown, please contact the Raytown City Council now

If you feel that Raytown needs better parks, trails, and outdoor recreation opportunities, please take the time to contact your Raytown Aldermen now.  They need to hear from you!

Several Aldermen have indicated that they are not hearing from Raytown citizens asking for better parks and recreation facilities.  If we want them to support better parks, trails, and recreation in Raytown, we need to ask!

The link above has more background and helpful hints for contacting the elected officials who represent you, in the most productive way.

The Raytown Board of Aldermen is scheduled Tuesday, May 21st, 2019, 7:00pm to have a first reading on a proposal to continue the Raytown Parks and Storm Water sales tax at current levels.

It will take a few weeks after that to finalize the vote and move forward with the proposal.  So if Raytown residents want to see a different outcome, now is the time to speak up!

Information sources

The information charts above come from the recent Raytown Parks Master Plan and related materials available on the Raytown Parks and Recreation web page (scroll to the bottom).

The Master Plan has several parts:

• Master Plan, approved by the Parks Board
• Parks Implementation Plan
• Master Plan Findings Presentation
• ETC Institute's Findings Report for a Statistically Valid Citizen Survey conducted as part of the Parks Master Plan

The charts above come from the Statistically Valid Citizen Survey, which achieved a statistically valid random sample of 486 households in Raytown, which means that the results have a 95% level of confidence and a precision rate of at least 4.4%.

It is worth remembering that it is expensive and time-consuming to conduct surveys of this type, which go to the trouble to follow best practices, reach a random sampling of the population, and reach enough residents to achieve statistical validity.

But the reason we spend that time and trouble is because the results have a degree and validity and reliability that is important when making wide-reaching decisions affecting our community. 

If you feel that Raytown needs better parks, trails, and outdoor recreation opportunities, please take the time to contact your Raytown Aldermen now.  They need to hear from you!