The Trust for Public Land's Community Schoolyards™️ projects are a "right now” solution to fix the park equity gap in America. Access to the outdoors is essential for healthy, happy people and communities. But today, 100 million people in America—including 28 million kids—don’t have a park close to home.
Transforming schoolyards into shared public parks is a common-sense, cost-effective solution to America’s park equity problem. If every public schoolyard in America functioned as a shared outdoor space, 20 million more people would have access to a park within a 10-minute walk of home. This single change would solve the problem of outdoor access for one fifth of the people who don't currently have a park close to home.
We’ve worked alongside communities across the country to transform nearly 300 public schoolyards into great public parks — full of trees, shade, and places to exercise, play, and enjoy the outdoors — that stay open to neighbors after school and on weekends. But there is more work to do!
Congress must provide funding for Community Schoolyards™ projects to transform our nation's asphalt schoolyards into vibrant parks and connect 20 million people to the outdoors.
Sign the Pledge: tpl.org/signthepledge Learn more about our Community Schoolyard work across the country here: tpl.org/community-schoolyards