America has a park problem. Spending time in the outdoors is essential for healthy, happy communities, but today, 100 million people in this country—a third of us!—don’t have a park within a 10-minute walk of home.

To close our country’s gaps in park access will definitely require the creation of some new parks. But it will also require us to get the most use from the open space we already have, in places like forgotten alleyways, postindustrial waterfronts, and asphalt-covered schoolyards.

On November 3, 2020, voters in Oakland voted yes to help fund this change. Measure Y will provide $735 million to make basic repairs and upgrades to Oakland schools, including $200 million that can be applied to convert empty blacktops into verdant green play spaces.

To learn more, download “Greener Schoolyards for Oakland,” a special report from The Trust for Public Land.

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