By KARA HAMMES, guest columnist
Publicly owned land and other public spaces such as trails, paths, parks, schools and streetscapes play a vital role in all of our lives. In fact, more and more research is showing that there is a strong correlation between the built environment, recreational amenities, and the places where people (and subsequently businesses) are moving. So, decisions about how to design and manage public spaces can have long-term impacts on the social, economic and environmental health of our community
You’ve probably heard the statistic before, but about 50 percent of the land in Brown County is publicly owned — whether by local, state or federal governments, or conservation organizations like The Nature Conservancy. This poses some revenue challenges for Brown County, as it reduces the taxable property base. However, it also provides a huge community resource and presents opportunities to local residents, businesses and visitors alike.
According to the Project for Public Spaces, “in addition to driving economic development, high-quality public spaces set the stage for people to experience nature, respite and community.”
And when it comes to determining what makes a public space “great,” research compiled by the Project for Public Spaces shows that, overall, people agree that the best public spaces have four main features: “They are accessible; people are engaged in activities there; the space is comfortable and has a good image; and finally, it is a sociable place: one where people meet each other and take people when they come to visit.”
The concepts of “placemaking” and “quality of place” have gained in popularity in recent years, and studies on the topic have already been completed in Brown County. One such study is the “Brown County Quality of Place and Workforce Attraction Plan” which was developed with funding from the Regional Opportunity Initiative (ROI) and published in February 2019. The findings of this study were extensive, but broad, and require more targeted conversation around the identified target initiatives, including recreational amenities and trails.
Brown County as a ‘recreation county’
The United States Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service (USDA ERS) has a set of data that categorizes a county’s economy by whether it is particularly dependent on specific sectors, such as recreation, manufacturing, mining or government.
The recreation category is determined from three components: the share of employment in entertainment and recreation, accommodations, eating and drinking places, and real estate; the share of personal income from these same categories; and the share of vacant housing units that is for seasonal use.
According to this data, across the United States, only 14 percent of all counties are identified as having “recreation-dependent” economies, and Brown County, Indiana, is included in that group.
According to a report published by Headwaters Economics in January 2019, which analyzed nationwide data from 2010 to 2016:
Households moving into recreation counties have, on average, higher income than households moving into non-recreation counties.
Recreation counties have, on average, lower earnings per job than non-recreation counties; however, earnings per job in rural recreation counties grew six times faster than in non-recreation counties between 2010 and 2016.
Recreation appears to drive varied economic benefits, including short-term support for tourism-related businesses and longer-term support by recruiting new residents who may be business owners, entrepreneurs or workers, supporting growth in earnings per job across a community.
An analysis of geographic variables shows that recreation-dependent counties are significantly correlated with cooler summer temperatures, a larger share of public land and protected public land, and a larger part of the county in lakes, rivers and oceanfront.
Many communities recognize the economic benefits of recreation amenities that attract tourists who spend money at hotels, restaurants and other businesses that cater to visitors. But what is less discussed, and highlighted by the Headwaters Economics report, is that a recreation economy can also bring longer-term economic benefits by attracting new residents, who may first come as tourists or second-home owners.
‘Enhancing the Value of Public Spaces’ program
The Purdue University Extension program, “Enhancing the Value of Public Spaces: Creating Healthy Communities” (EVPS), addresses public spaces and their role in enhancing the quality of place by helping regions, communities and neighborhoods plan and prepare for a sustainable future. The goal of EVPS is to strategically guide policy, systems and environmental changes relevant to the ways in which high-value public spaces promote healthy communities.
The program provides a framework for collecting data on community assets and using that data to design a high-quality plan that can guide impactful improvements on public spaces.
As a result, communities that are prepared with a public spaces action plan can boost economic development, improve the quality of life, and create a healthier place for individuals and families.
A completed, high-quality public spaces action plan can be used to update comprehensive plans; update parks and recreation master plans; and support fundraising initiatives.
To that end, in 2020, Purdue Extension — Brown County, the Brown County Parks & Recreation Department and board, the Nashville Town Parks Commission and Nashville Town Council, and the Brown County YMCA are partnering to provide EVPS in Brown County. When it comes to the development of parks and recreation amenities on a local level, these groups and others are intrinsically linked.
While the EVPS process allows for short-term goals and other “easy wins” to be identified and acted upon quickly, it also facilitates the sort of longer term planning that is necessary to provide a framework to guide future action and understanding what Brown County residents want and need, and which group is best poised to provide, develop and maintain those amenities.
EVPS starts with a fast-paced and interactive education and visioning workshop to kick off the process. We had hoped to host two separate workshops at the end of this month, but due to the rapidly evolving COVID-19 outbreak, we are postponing those events to a later date.
However, the team that will facilitate these workshops is busy analyzing existing studies and reports, as well as gathering GIS and map data on public spaces in Brown County, to ensure the EVPS process can incorporate and build on previous processes, and not simply duplicate those efforts.
We’ll share more details on the workshop sessions once scheduled, as well as the EVPS process as it moves forward, and I look forward to hopefully hearing from and interacting with many of you reading this in the months to come.
As always, feel free to contact the Purdue Extension — Brown County Office with any questions: 812-988-5495 or [email protected].
