Many civic organizations and government agencies have lamented the low levels of physical activity and high levels of obesity that plague American adults and children and have called for stepped up efforts to help citizens become healthier.1 According to a recent NHANES assessment using accelerometry, only 42% of children, 9% of teens, and fewer than 5% of adults meet national recommendations for physical activity.2 Multiple barriers to physical activity have been noted, including large distances between homes, work, and school that require motorized transport, busy streets, lack of destinations to walk to, and insufficient park space. In addition, over the past several decades there have been insufficient investments in updating recreational facilities and many believe that the lack of attractive and safe venues is a primary reason why it is difficult to increase levels of physical activity.3,4
Some localities, however, do manage to allocate funds to renovate and improve public recreational spaces in local neighborhoods. In one city in Southern California, the citizens approved a bond measure which specifically allocated funds for upgrading and acquiring new open spaces for recreation. The plan was broad and was intended to improve more than 300 parks and open spaces. In addition, the bond mandated citizen participation and input in the design of new facilities and improvements. It is commonly believed that community participation in decision making results in improvements that meet local needs and preferences that simultaneously enhance feelings of ownership and local pride, resulting in greater success and better use of facilities.5
An opportunity for a natural experiment to improve local parks using community participation in the design served as the basis of the current study which was aimed at determining the impact of the improvements on park use and the physical activity of park users.
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