School Playgrounds to Parks

More than 40 percent of Dallas residents live within a half-mile of a park, but the school district and the city are working together with nonprofits to improve that figure.

1 minute read

August 19, 2019, 12:00 PM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Dallas, Texas

There's only one Klyde Warren Park. | Trong Nguyen / Shutterstock

The Dallas Morning News editorial board expresses support for a new program in Dallas that is opening school playgrounds to use after school hours and during the summer to provide more open space and play options for families.

The Dallas Independent School District (ISD) and the city of Dallas are teaming up on an effort the editorial board calls good government after a year of quiet work to open and improve five schools in park poor areas in Dallas. The results are also due to the hard work of the Texas Trees Foundation and the Trust for Public Land, according to the editorial.

"An average of 80 trees were added to each campus, from oaks to ornamentals. Updated park equipment was installed, and things like loop trails and embankment slides were constructed," explain the editorial.

The editorial board also congratulates the effort for keeping prices down. "All of the work done to get these five campuses into better shape cost about $1 million, a bargain for such public improvements.  And $750,000 of that money came not from taxpayers but from a generous, albeit anonymous, donor."

Sunday, August 18, 2019 in The Dallas Morning News

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I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

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