The City Parks Forum

We are facing a new era of defining what constitutes a park. No longer seen as simply grass and trees, parks provide a multitude of benefits to their users. In the past, parks brought an element of the country into the city. They provided relief from overcrowded housing conditions and congestion. They later evolved into recreation centers and facilities. These park functions all continue to have value today. Parks, however, have begun to play a more integrated role in our urban environments.

They provide formal and informal gathering places for building community. They help to positively influence property values. They give city dwellers a place to connect to the natural world. They make our urban areas more inviting for living, working, and relaxing.

To understand what the urban parks of the future — and the cities in which they exist — will be, urban leaders need a venue for addressing the challenges of creating and enhancing parks in their cities. The City Parks Forum provides this venue.

The City Parks Forum is about collaboration, sharing information, and exchanging ideas. It's about community. Most of all, it's about creating a new opportunity for mayors to address park issues in ways that improve the quality of life and prosperity of city residents and businesses.

The City Parks Forum Mayoral Program Fellows

Fall 1999 - New Orleans, Louisiana (Founding Fellows)

The Honorable David L. Armstrong, Louisville, Kentucky
The Honorable Sharon Sayles Belton, Minneapolis, Minnesota
The Honorable Marc H. Morial, New Orleans, Louisiana
The Honorable Tom Murphy, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Spring 2000 - Minneapolis, Minnesota

The Honorable Susan J.M. Bauman, Madison, Wisconsin
The Honorable Carleton S. Finkbeiner, Toledo, Ohio
The Honorable William L. Heydt, Allentown, Pennsylvania
The Honorable Carol Marinovich, Kansas City, Kansas

Fall 2000 - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The Honorable Victor H. Ashe, Knoxville, Tennessee
The Honorable William A. Johnson, Rochester, New York
The Honorable John O. Norquist, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Spring 2001 - Louisville, Kentucky

The Honorable Kenneth Barr, Fort Worth, Texas
The Honorable Kerry J. Donley, Alexandria, Virginia
The Honorable C. Jack Ellis, Macon, Georgia
The Honorable Jeff Griffin, Reno, Nevada
The Honorable Don Wesely, Lincoln, Nebraska

Fall 2001 - Chicago, Illinois

The Honorable Ross "Rocky" Anderson, Salt Lake City, Utah
The Honorable Glenda E. Hood, Orlando, Florida
The Honorable Harvey Johnson, Jr., Jackson, Mississippi
The Honorable Bill Purcell, Nashville, Tennessee

Summer 2002 - Reno, Nevada

The Honorable Jeremy Harris, Honolulu, Hawaii
The Honorable Anthony M. Masiello, Buffalo, New York
The Honorable Patrick McCrory, Charlotte, North Carolina
The Honorable Meyera E. Oberndorf, Virginia Beach, Virginia
The Honorable James D. Torrey, Eugene, Oregon

This program has been made possible by a $2.5 million grant from the Wallace Foundation and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. To learn more about The City Parks Forum please click on the links on the left side of this page or send us an e-mail.