Indicator PI.5.d Per capita public recreational and park funding

PI.5.d Per capita public recreational and park funding

Download PDF map.

San Francisco Recreation and Parks Service
per capita expenditure
Year Total Recreation and Park expenditures San Francisco population Per capita expenditure per year
2000-2001 $ 125,500,000 780,974 $ 161
2001-2002 $ 142,400,000 786,719 $ 181
2002-2003 $ 112,300,000 790,846 $ 142
2003-2004 $ 106,500,000 791,977 $ 134
2004-2005 $ 104,100,000 791,797 $ 131
2005-2006 $ 172,000,000* 794,850 $ 216
2006-2007 $ 164,332,925 725,179 $ 227
2007-2008 $162,000,000** 725,179 $223
2008-2009 $238,000,000** 725,179 $328
2009-2010 $237,800,000** 725,179 $328
* = Expenditure includes use of one time gift to Recreation and Parks Department
** = Projected 2006-2010 population is based on January 1, 2007 estimates

San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department (SFRPD) Neighborhood Service Area, 2009-2010 maintenance expenditures

Neighborhood Service Area (NSA) SFRPD Expenditures* Total acres Expenditure per acre
1 $3,213,812 165 $19,489
2 $4,851,706 182 $26,628
3 $2,988,890 43 $68,878
4 $4,436,640 42 $106,315
5 $5,018,996 266 $18,839
6 $5,363,590 90 $59,399
7 $5,490,105 587 $9,346
8 $4,408,138 974 $4,526
9** $10,615,215 1,053 $10,080
* Does not include facility maintenance or capital costs.
** Golden Gate Park.

Data Source

Annual Park Expenditures from San Francisco Recreation and Parks Services: http://sfrecpark.org/

NSA Park and Recreation Maintenance Expenditures:2009-2010 from Recreation and Parks Department.

State of California, Department of Finance, California County Population Estimates and Components of Change by Year, July 1, 2000-2007. Sacramento, California, March 2006. Accessed on July 25, 2006: http://www.dof.ca.gov/html/DEMOGRAP/ReportsPapers/Estimates/E2/E-2_2000-07.php

Applied Geographic Solutions, Inc. Spring 2007 Update: Current Year Estimates. Methodology available at: http://www.appliedgeographic.com/library.html.

Explanation and Limitations

Population estimates from CA Department of Finance based on July 1 calculations (i.e., 2000-2001 uses July 1, 2000 population estimates). Population estimate for 2006-2010 are from Applied Geographic Solutions.

Per capita expenditure per year = (Total Recreation and Park Budget Expenditure) / (San Francisco Population)

The SF Recreation and Parks Department is not the only source of funding for public recreation and parks. Other city agencies including the Department of Public Works, the SF Unified School District, the San Francisco Arts Commission, and the Department of Public Health all contribute financially to publicly accessible parks and recreation buildings, programs and maintenance. Additionally, there are some privately owned but publicly accessible recreational and park facilities that are privately funded. Community benefits agreements are sometimes used to privately fund the creation of public facilities.

Funding for all Recreation and Parks Department parks is allocated to each of the nine Neighborhood Service Areas (NSA), rather than setting aside funds for each individual park. The table above describes the maintenance expenditures for parks and recreational facilities, excluding facility maintenance and capital costs. The NSA average maintenance expenditure per acres is calculated by dividing the maintenance expenditures per NSA by the total number of park acres in the NSA. Capital coast and facility costs are not included in the NSA budget. SFRPD budget capital is on a project basis, e.g. the renovation of Sunset Recreation center, as opposed to by NSA or area. They budget facility maintenance into broad pots of funding such as turf, court resurfacing and "general."

Why is this a Community Health Indicator?

The amount of funding invested in parks and recreation impacts quality of facilities and spaces used. Both the number of neighborhood parks in proximity to one's residence and the types of amenities at the park (i.e., lighting, sports fields) predict the duration of physical activity in children.a  Investment in improving the quality of park grounds and facilities can encourage more frequent use. A 2009 study objectively surveyed the number of park visitors in two San Francisco parks both before and after significant renovations to the playfields, landscaping, lighting, and picnic areas. The researchers observed a 5 fold increase in the number of youth visitors and a 7 fold increase in the number of adult and senior visitors after the renovation. Similarly, there was a dramatic increase in the number of moderately and vigorously active park visitors after the renovations compared to before the renovations.b

  1. Cohen DA, Ashwood JS, Scott MM, Overton A, Evenson KR, Staten LK, Porter D, McKenzie TL, Catellier D. Public parks and physical activity among adolescent girls. Pediatrics. 2006;118(5):e1381-1389.

  2. Tester J, Baker R. Making the Playfields Even: Evaluating the impact of an environmental intervention on park use and physical activity. Prev Med. 2009. Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19463491.