PF&R services important and why

3.10.i. City Parks/Recreation and Community Centres
Parks and Recreation were listed as separate services but discussed together by most participants
Important and Why
• The City of Toronto's parks, recreation services,
and community centres were identified as an
integral part of the city. The issues of greatest
concern were maintaining these publicly-run
services and ensuring the services and spaces
are kept affordable, accessible, and responsive
to the needs of the community.
• Connected to this are the significant impacts on
quality of life and social well-being that these
services provide. This includes making the city a
great place to live, keeping our population
healthy (and therefore reducing the impact on
health care), making the city beautiful, keeping
the city cleaner and greener, and bringing
people together.
• Many participants noted that the needs of the
most vulnerable should be a priority in these
services areas – for example, youth, seniors, and
low income families.
• This last point was reiterated by a number of
participants who suggested that providing youth
with opportunities to get involved in recreation and
community centre programs reduces the chances
of crime and its associated social and econ
3.10.i. City Parks/Recreation and Community Centres
Parks and Recreation were listed as separate services but discussed together by most participants
Important and Why
• The City of Toronto's parks, recreation services,
and community centres were identified as an
integral part of the city. The issues of greatest
concern were maintaining these publicly-run
services and ensuring the services and spaces
are kept affordable, accessible, and responsive
to the needs of the community.
• Connected to this are the significant impacts on
quality of life and social well-being that these
services provide. This includes making the city a
great place to live, keeping our population
healthy (and therefore reducing the impact on
health care), making the city beautiful, keeping
the city cleaner and greener, and bringing
people together.
• Many participants noted that the needs of the
most vulnerable should be a priority in these
services areas – for example, youth, seniors, and
low income families.
• This last point was reiterated by a number of
participants who suggested that providing youth
with opportunities to get involved in recreation and
community centre programs reduces the chances
of crime and its associated social and economic
costs.
Who Should Provide Service
• Comments on parks, recreation and community
centres focused on the importance of
maintaining the services themselves – there
were fewer comments on exactly who should
deliver those services.
• For many people, it is important that parks,
recreation, and community centre services
continue to be delivered by the City of Toronto
for reasons including maintaining quality and
accessibility.
• A comparable number of participants felt that at
least some activities could be contracted out or
managed by volunteer community groups – this
included parks maintenance and garbage
collection.
• One smaller theme that emerged was the need to
consider community access to Toronto District
School Board pools, and how those partnerships
are managed and paid for. In general, maintaining
or increasing access to these pools was the most
common thread amongst these participants.
How to Pay for Service
• User fees were discussed in light of these
services – a number of participants were against
any user fees for parks or recreation programs
and facilities in order to keep support
accessibility and equality; others felt that user
fees could be introduced or raised in some areas
if they are affordable to the user.
• Other less common suggestions to financially
support these service areas included an increase
in community centre rentals to private groups
and leveraging more development fees/Section
37 funds; only a few participants suggested
sponsorship agreements with private companies or
leasing space in parks to private businesses.
• Numerous participants were comfortable paying
increased property taxes to support these services
because they felt it would help promote the
liveability of the city. A small number of
participants were against this idea.Page | 34
Service Level/Quality or Other
• Of all the comments received on service levels
for parks, recreation, and community centres,
the issue of highest importance was the upkeep
and maintenance of these spaces: litter,
disrepair, and the need for upkeep of green
spaces were very common themes amongst
comments on service levels for these areas.
• Another area of note was the need to maintain
and/or increase facilities including green space,
parks, pools, community gardens, and the
associated programming.
• Included in this category were comments on the
Welcome Policy, which the strong majority of
participants felt needed to be maintained, with any
reviews of this policy going toward increasing the
outreach, accessibility, and efficacy of this
initiative.
• Though not a key item for most participants, some
did express concern over dog parks and whether
the City is directing a disproportionate amount of
resources towards this activity. A smaller number
used their feedback form to share their support for
these spaces.
Participant Quotes
• If we want to compete with New York, London and Paris, then we need to invest in transit, the
waterfront and our parks. People don't visit Paris because it's balanced its budget, people visit to see the
great museums and parks.
• It is very difficult to provide excellent services without increasing revenue - the important part is that the
money be used sensibly and not squandered.
• Our cities parks are a vital resource, as are all our public/outdoor spaces. Waterfront development has
been slow, but the last few years it has been really tremendous - keep it up! The Toronto Island needs
continual investment, same for community recreation. Our ski hills, golf courses, ravines, urban forest -
they all need to be led by city. I think we're doing a good job - I'd like to see us do a great job!
• The Parks and Recreation programme fees are far too low. They surely cannot be recouping costs. I
understand and support keeping programme fees lower for seniors, but others should be able to pay
their way, this is despite the fact that I have 2 young children in city programs.
• Please have "optional services" provided by the city covered by user fees. This includes pools, recreation
centres and fitness classes.