By Okon Ekpenyong

The City of Columbus Recreation and Parks has appealed to residents of the city to strongly participate and contribute their input to play a role in shaping the future of the Columbus Recreation and Parks Department through a public survey.

According to the latest United States Census Bureau report released in May 2024, the City of Columbus, Ohio, is experiencing significant growth. With a population exceeding 905,000, it remains the 14th largest city in the United States. The city’s Parks and Recreation Department aims to enhance its parks and amenities in response to this growth.

As part of this effort, they are starting a comprehensive planning process to develop their next 10-year Vision Plan, the Columbus Recreation & Park Play Book. Therefore, they seek valuable community input through surveys and encourage residents to share their thoughts and ideas.

The survey is available in English, Spanish, and Somali, underlining our unwavering commitment to inclusivity and diversity, ensuring everyone’s voice is heard and valued.

The survey, which takes about ten minutes to complete, covers many topics. It seeks to understand your park visitation habits, your favorite aspects of the parks you visit, and what changes would encourage you to see more often.

It will also explore residents’ interest in various indoor and outdoor activities, including suggestions for new offerings that are not currently available.

“Your feedback is not just important; it’s crucial. It will help shape the future of recreation programming, parks, facilities, trails, and waterways across the city, making you an integral part of this process,” according to Columbus Parks Department.

Residents who complete the 10-minute survey will be entered into a drawing to win a $25 gift code toward classes, sports, camps, or facility rentals. Fifty winners will be randomly selected and notified via email in October. Columbus Recreation and Parks says the selection process is fair and transparent, and they want to ensure the community is confident in it.

The survey also seeks feedback regarding the need for increased unawareness of current activities and how the department can improve its promotion. It also enquires about the maintenance and upkeep of the parks, including nature reserves, reservoirs, dog parks, athletic complexes, skate parks, community centers, golf courses, trails, pools, and more, to identify areas that require improvement and additional attention.

According to the Playbook Columbus website, the initial process will span approximately one year and consist of four phases. The first phase, scheduled for the summer of 2024, will focus on establishing a foundational understanding. The subsequent phase for summer and fall will emphasize assessment and analysis, including identifying opportunities, challenges, and a community survey.

Following this, the winter-spring phase will concentrate on vision planning, emphasizing discovering needs and values. This will involve virtual community meetings, plan framework polling, and neighborhood meetings. In spring-summer 2025, the final phase will include sharing the overall planning process, including drafting plan presentations, pop-up tabling, and neighborhood meetings.

Currently, there are 422 parks located throughout Central Ohio, totaling 14,069 acres of parkland. This includes 230 miles of regional trails, 171 playgrounds, 25 nature reserves, 28 community centers, and eight outdoor pools, as well as an aquatics center, as detailed on the Playbook Columbus website.”

Click on the Direct Link to the Survey: https://www.playbookcolumbus.com/

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