Parks

PlanCheyenne integrated three distinct planning disciplines into one process: a transportation plan, a community plan, and a parks and recreation plan. Crucial to the plan's success was the intensive marketing of the planning process that included plan presentations, radio appearances, and a special outreach to citizens of typically underrepresented sections of the community.

The Open Space Plan for the Phoenix Mountains, adopted in 1972 and implemented by the Phoenix Mountains Preservation Commission, has focused on desert preservation in development-driven Phoenix. In 1990 the commission lobbied successfully for a sales tax increase that will provide funds to buy thousands of acres of State Trust Land. Attention is now focused on funding the acquisition of an additional 20,000 acres.

The Great Park Plan incorporates principles of sustainable development, including habitat restoration, renewable energy generation, water quality management, and promotion of non-polluting transportation methods. The Great Park Plan acknowledges the Park's history as a military airbase with a historic museum including exhibits, a memorial, and the stories of the men and women who once served there. The park will also create social and transportation connections to the communities throughout the county by integrating riding, hiking, and multiuse trails from all parts of the region.

4:17 minutes (3.93 MB)

A fast train from France to Spain, U.S. city folk get rural, and officials hope to pull people to cities by funding urban parks -- all on this week's Planetizen News Brief, airing weekly on "Smart City". Read, listen or download.