Imagine this. Your child’s playground is clean, safe and beautiful. There are no foreign objects in the sand, the swings don’t have missing chains and you are not afraid to take your children to the park anymore. All children deserve a safe and enjoyable place to play.

NPC’s Playground Initiative works with the community to improve unsafe playgrounds by hosting clean-up days and events. With the help of the Recreation and Park Department and local volunteers, the Playground Initiative surveys all the playgrounds in the city to raise awareness on specific parks in need. The 2010 Report Card will be published this spring.

While certain playgrounds face challenges, Neighborhood Parks Council pulled together and  achieved some stunning successes; through our efforts failing play structures at Balboa, Franklin and Rossi parks have been replaced with Dolores and West Sunset parks soon to follow. Hard work, dedication, critical timing, and donations from supporters like you - NPC was able to respond to unparalleled opportunities. 

More updates from our Executive Director, Meredith Thomas:

1. Linden Alley progress: After nearly 4 years of work to green Linden Alley with support from the Community Challenge Grant Program and Supervisor Mirkarimi, the project is getting close to reality. It is a pilot for the city so there were a number of complicated steps to work through.

Now that the Recreation and Park Commission has approved the Department’s plan for accommodating the 30% reduction ($12.4 million) in support from the City’s General Fund, the lengthy process begins for the Mayor’s Office and Board of Supervisors to build out San Francisco’s Budget. Over the next several months, the City will be working to tackle and immense budget shortfall of more than $450 million, and their choices will affect parks. NPC will be engaging in this process and we will keep you in the loop. 

The good news is that there are a number of innovative solutions proposed by the Recreation and Park Department (RPD) that will deal with the budget shortfall, and could change the way that RPD operates for the better.