School District of Philadelphia to Develop 20 New Green Schoolyards over 5 Years

In 2010, studies in Philadelphia (13.6% Latino) found that one in eight residents did not have green space within a ten-minute walk from their home.

Part of Mayor Nutter’s Sustainability Plan, the Green2015 initiative aims to make Philadelphia more equitable, livable, and competitive by uniting city government and neighborhood residents to transform empty or underused land, primarily land that is already publicly owned. Parks for the People-Philadelphia is one program under the Green2015 initiative, which aims to create green space within a 10-minute walk of every home in Philadelphia and ultimately add 500 acres of green space to Philadephia.

Mayor Nutter works in partnership with Philadelphia Parks & Recreation, the School District of Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Water Department, The Trust for Public Land, the School Reform Commission, other public partners, and local communities and organizations to focus on underserved areas.

One community that Green2015 worked with to re-design and renovate the green space was a predominately Latino community near the Jose Manuel Collazo Park.

The Green2015 initiative continues to expand.  In October 2015, the School District of Philadelphia announced plans to invest $5 million in capital funding over the next five years to develop 20 additional green schoolyards.

Underserved, Latino communities often lack access to green space and physical activity opportunities compared to white neighborhoods, which leads to health disparities, such as obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. It is important to make city-wide investments in park infrastructure and landscaping to provide children with safe, accessible space to be physically active and to provide families safe and enjoyable space to recreate.