While we'd love to learn as much about your ideas for the future of parks, we recognize some of you have less time than others. How would you prefer to participate and provide your feedback about Parks of the Future?
I'd like to fill out the complete survey (approx 10 minutes).
How often does your household use parks, recreation facilities, or programs in a year?
Regularly (9 or more times a year)
What do you feel are the top three functions provided by Montgomery Parks and the Montgomery County Recreation?
Natural areas support a variety of ecological communities, and they form the backbone of our park system. Montgomery Parks recognizes these areas provide respite for park patrons and ecological benefits. The stewardship of these resources is a key component of a successful park system.
Montgomery Parks is dedicated to preserving and interpreting cultural resources for current and future generations including historic buildings, archaeological sites, and other culturally significant places.
Parks are an ideal location for social gatherings with families, friends and neighbors. Montgomery Parks has many amenities to enhance such gatherings including camp grounds, picnic shelters, park activity buildings and play grounds.
How would you rate the agency's parks, facilities and services in meeting the communities needs?
Parks - 4 Excellent
Recreational facilities - 4 Excellent
Recreational programs - 3 Good
Are there any segments of the community that need to be better served by Montgomery Parks and Montgomery County Recreation? If so, who are they and how can they be better served?
Yes. People with disabilities need more park access and more active programs, and the staff to support those programs, to enable people in wheelchairs and with other disabilities to engage in creative projects and to enjoy nature and being outdoors.
What do you believe are the three most important issues / challenges facing Montgomery Parks and Montgomery County Recreation in the next five years?
1) Serving an aging population by enabling access to natural areas at local parks.
2) Serving the highly-diverse immigrant community; connect with diverse cultures while inviting people of all backgrounds to engage with Montgomery's natural and cultural heritage.
3) Protecting, restoring, and increasing the wooded areas at Local and Regional Parks.
Why did you choose these top three functions?
They are the most important needs, now and into the next century. I am especially concerned that our Parks managers and Commissioners feel pressure to develop our parks' natural areas; they've traditionally tagged enjoyment of natural areas as "passive recreation" and given it lower priority. Contrary to this notion, enjoyment of natural areas is an activity that people from all over the world, and of all ages, have as a basic need. This need for woods in local and regional parks grows, as our county continues to urbanize. We need to preserve and restore our park woods and other natural areas, and not see them as "empty space waiting to be built upon." The portion of existing woods that are now at Little Bennett Regional Park and other regional parks must be placed into permanent protected legal status, if it isn't already so protected.
What amenities, programs or experiences are missing that would better support your recreation needs that we should be planning for in the future?
Woodland restoration is ongoing, and, needs to be stepped up county-wide. I realize this means an increase in the Parks budget to fund the staff and other requirements to undertake significant restoration and protection of woods and other natural areas, and I support such Parks budget increases. This includes native plant, tree and soil restoration in parkland natural areas combined with removal of exotic invasives w/o use of pesticides, and ongoing deer management. There are also money-saving changes, such as an increase in no-mow/no-leaf-blow zones, that will enable woods to expand incrementally rather than shrink, and to absorb more runoff, as part of compliance with the Parks' stormwater permit. Rather than mowing and leaf-blowing, the woodland edge zones can be allowed to naturally regenerate (letting the leaves stay where they fall), while weed warrior volunteers and staff provide regular exotics removal. Bare ground that is dried by leaf-blowing is more susceptible to exotic plant colonization.
How would you describe your household? Please check ALL that apply.
Single-family detached house or townhouse / duplex
Use bus or rail public transit for non-work related trips
Lived in current house 15 or more years
White
Please provide your zip code here to help us to determine where facilities and services are needed.
20895
Do you have any additional comments or suggestions to help Montgomery Parks and Montgomery County Recreation staff plan for the County's future parks, recreational facilities or programs?
I am interested in helping with the ongoing care and restoration of the woods at my local neighborhood park, Capitol View-Homewood. I would be willing to meet with the regional park manager, and to volunteer to remove exotic invasives, coupled with planting native trees and shrubs and install deer cages to prevent deer predation. I would also be interested in reaching out to my neighbors, and encourage them to plant native trees in their yards, in part to provide a more-continuous forest corridor that will connect up with our park woods.
Open Town Hall is not a certified voting system or ballot box. As with any public comment process, participation in Open Town Hall is voluntary. The responses in this record are not necessarily representative of the whole population, nor do they reflect the opinions of any government agency or elected officials.
Translate
While we'd love to learn as much about your ideas for the future of parks, we recognize some of you have less time than others. How would you prefer to participate and provide your feedback about Parks of the Future?
How often does your household use parks, recreation facilities, or programs in a year?
What do you feel are the top three functions provided by Montgomery Parks and the Montgomery County Recreation?
Natural areas support a variety of ecological communities, and they form the backbone of our park system. Montgomery Parks recognizes these areas provide respite for park patrons and ecological benefits. The stewardship of these resources is a key component of a successful park system.
Montgomery Parks is dedicated to preserving and interpreting cultural resources for current and future generations including historic buildings, archaeological sites, and other culturally significant places.
Parks are an ideal location for social gatherings with families, friends and neighbors. Montgomery Parks has many amenities to enhance such gatherings including camp grounds, picnic shelters, park activity buildings and play grounds.
How would you rate the agency's parks, facilities and services in meeting the communities needs?
Are there any segments of the community that need to be better served by Montgomery Parks and Montgomery County Recreation? If so, who are they and how can they be better served?
Yes. People with disabilities need more park access and more active programs, and the staff to support those programs, to enable people in wheelchairs and with other disabilities to engage in creative projects and to enjoy nature and being outdoors.
What do you believe are the three most important issues / challenges facing Montgomery Parks and Montgomery County Recreation in the next five years?
1) Serving an aging population by enabling access to natural areas at local parks.
2) Serving the highly-diverse immigrant community; connect with diverse cultures while inviting people of all backgrounds to engage with Montgomery's natural and cultural heritage.
3) Protecting, restoring, and increasing the wooded areas at Local and Regional Parks.
Why did you choose these top three functions?
They are the most important needs, now and into the next century. I am especially concerned that our Parks managers and Commissioners feel pressure to develop our parks' natural areas; they've traditionally tagged enjoyment of natural areas as "passive recreation" and given it lower priority. Contrary to this notion, enjoyment of natural areas is an activity that people from all over the world, and of all ages, have as a basic need. This need for woods in local and regional parks grows, as our county continues to urbanize. We need to preserve and restore our park woods and other natural areas, and not see them as "empty space waiting to be built upon." The portion of existing woods that are now at Little Bennett Regional Park and other regional parks must be placed into permanent protected legal status, if it isn't already so protected.
What amenities, programs or experiences are missing that would better support your recreation needs that we should be planning for in the future?
Woodland restoration is ongoing, and, needs to be stepped up county-wide. I realize this means an increase in the Parks budget to fund the staff and other requirements to undertake significant restoration and protection of woods and other natural areas, and I support such Parks budget increases. This includes native plant, tree and soil restoration in parkland natural areas combined with removal of exotic invasives w/o use of pesticides, and ongoing deer management. There are also money-saving changes, such as an increase in no-mow/no-leaf-blow zones, that will enable woods to expand incrementally rather than shrink, and to absorb more runoff, as part of compliance with the Parks' stormwater permit. Rather than mowing and leaf-blowing, the woodland edge zones can be allowed to naturally regenerate (letting the leaves stay where they fall), while weed warrior volunteers and staff provide regular exotics removal. Bare ground that is dried by leaf-blowing is more susceptible to exotic plant colonization.
How would you describe your household? Please check ALL that apply.
Please provide your zip code here to help us to determine where facilities and services are needed.
20895Do you have any additional comments or suggestions to help Montgomery Parks and Montgomery County Recreation staff plan for the County's future parks, recreational facilities or programs?
I am interested in helping with the ongoing care and restoration of the woods at my local neighborhood park, Capitol View-Homewood. I would be willing to meet with the regional park manager, and to volunteer to remove exotic invasives, coupled with planting native trees and shrubs and install deer cages to prevent deer predation. I would also be interested in reaching out to my neighbors, and encourage them to plant native trees in their yards, in part to provide a more-continuous forest corridor that will connect up with our park woods.