Title
Parks and Recreation Master Plan Update - Citywide
Description
This report provides the Transportation, Infrastructure and Planning Subcommittee an update on the Parks and Recreation Master Plan.
THIS ITEM IS FOR INFORMATION AND DISCUSSION.
Report
Summary
The Parks and Recreation Department is developing a Parks Master Plan to guide the long-term growth, sustainability, and management of the City’s park system. This plan will identify strategies for enhancing existing parks, improving recreational facilities, and developing currently undeveloped parklands. It will also evaluate opportunities to introduce new amenities and programs that align with the evolving needs of the community. In addition, the Master Plan will incorporate water conservation practices and crime-prevention strategies, while maintaining a strong commitment to equity and inclusivity across all parks citywide. The City’s last comprehensive Parks Master Plan was completed in 1988.
The Parks Master Plan is assessing how Phoenix can sustain and strengthen its parks and recreation system over the next 10 years. Early findings point to a practical path forward: protect what is working well, reinvest in areas that need renewal, optimize the existing network, and expand where clear community demand supports growth. The City of Phoenix is beginning this process from a position of strength. In recent surveys, 78 percent of residents reported using a City park or recreation facility, 70 percent rated the condition of parks and facilities as good or excellent, and 86 percent of program participants rated program quality as good or excellent.
At the same time, residents consistently highlighted the importance of essential needs, safe, clean, shaded, and functional parks and facilities. Improved maintenance, enhanced walking paths, and upgraded restrooms emerged as some of the highest priorities identified through public input.
The Master Plan is now aligning those community priorities and operational insights with geographic Level of Service mapping to understand how access to parks and recreation varies across the City of Phoenix and to identify where additional analysis and investment should be focused.
Level of Service Maps
The Level of Service Maps examine travel-based access to different types of parks, facilities and amenities. The maps help the City understand how parks and recreation facilities are distributed across Phoenix; their approximate network-based proximity to various services; where service areas overlap; where geographic access is limited; how other public providers may supplement City-owned parks; how changes to facilities could shift geographic coverage; and where additional analysis is needed. An important finding is that access is not defined by a single factor. General access to a City park differs from access to a community center, recreation center, pool, splash pad, or other specialized amenities. A resident may live close to a park yet still have less convenient access to a specific recreation experience. The maps also highlight that geographic proximity alone does not determine whether an asset is fully accessible or usable. Factors such as condition, shade, pedestrian connections, amenities, safety, operating hours, programming, and facility capacity all influence how effectively residents can use the resources available to them.
Protecting Existing Access
The combined City park mapping shows that much of Phoenix’s established urban area is already supported by an extensive network of parks. This is an important consideration for the next 10 years of planning. The Master Plan should not focus solely on creating new access; it must also protect the value of the access Phoenix already provides. In areas where residents already have geographic access, reinvesting in existing parks may offer greater public benefit than building additional facilities nearby. Elements such as maintenance, shade, restrooms, lighting, safety, accessibility, and lifecycle renewal all play a critical role in ensuring that these parks continue to meet community needs. The planning implication is clear: protect and renew the existing service network before assuming that every need requires the construction of a new facility.
Optimize the Full Public Network
The mapping also shows that the recreation system residents experience extends beyond parks owned by the Parks and Recreation Department. Active open spaces not managed by the Parks and Recreation Department can supplement park access in parts of Phoenix. As the Master Plan moves forward, these opportunities need to be evaluated based on their actual public availability, function, hours, reliability, and long-term accessibility. This insight introduces another potential 10-year strategy: optimize the existing system before automatically pursuing expansion. When an access need is identified, the most effective response may not always be building a new facility. It could involve making better use of an existing City site, adding an amenity to a current park, improving connections to facilities that already exist, or exploring partnerships and shared-use opportunities. Only when existing resources cannot meet the need should constructing a new facility be considered. Not every need requires additional City ownership; thoughtful optimization can often provide the best value for the community.
Expand Where Need and Access Gaps Align
The maps highlight areas with comparatively limited geographic access, especially for certain specialized facilities and amenities. However, an unserved area on a map does not automatically indicate the need for a new facility. Some gaps reflect natural preserves, state or federal lands, industrial zones, undeveloped properties, or other locations with minimal residential population.
Before recommending any expansion, the Master Plan must consider several key questions:
- Who lives outside the service area? Population and household characteristics should be evaluated, rather than relying solely on land area.
- How will Phoenix change? Future population growth and development patterns over the 10-year planning horizon need to be incorporated.
- What type of experience is lacking? The need for a neighborhood park differs from the need for aquatics, indoor recreation, or a specialized amenity.
- Can the existing network meet the need? Capacity, facility condition, partnerships, and reinvestment opportunities should be assessed before proposing new assets.
The maps identify where further investigation is warranted, not where new facilities should automatically be built.
A 10-Year Direction
The work completed to date supports four complementary planning directions:
Protect: Preserve existing access and keep the current service network working.
Renew: Reinvest where condition, functionality or lifecycle needs limit public value.
Optimize: Get more value from existing assets, partnerships, connections and operating practices.
Expand: Add facilities or services where geographic gaps, community need, future growth and sustainable operating capacity align.
These directions are not mutually exclusive, and their relevance will vary across different areas of Phoenix. Using evidence, the Master Plan will determine where each approach can deliver the greatest sustainable public value.
Next Steps
The Level of Service Maps provide an essential geographic foundation, but they are not the final determination of Level of Service.
The next phase of analysis will:
- Complete final Quality Assurance and Quality Control of the mapping and service
standards;
- Calculate population and households located inside and outside each service area;
- Distinguish meaningful residential gaps from nonresidential land;
- Evaluate population growth and shifting demand over the 10-year horizon;
- Integrate geographic access with facility condition and capacity assessments;
- Assess community need and equity considerations;
- Clarify the role of non-City facilities and partnerships; and
- Translate these findings into prioritized recommendations across Protect, Renew,
Optimize, and Expand strategies.
This work will help the Master Plan evolve from simply identifying where facilities are located to determining where strategic investment can create the greatest and most lasting public value.
Additionally, the Parks and Recreation Department is hosting a total of eight community meetings to present the key findings in Parks Master Plan Process. These meetings are being conducted throughout September and October 2026.
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Deputy City Manager David Mathews and the Parks and Recreation Department.