Why is This Important?

Parks and open space enrich a community’s quality of life. Access to and use of parks and open space can improve public health and increase values of nearby property. Parks and open space bring the natural environment closer to each citizen and are also public gathering places that bring people together and build a sense of community. Open space attracts tourism, and safeguards clean air, habitat, and drinking water.

What is a Sustainable State?

A sustainable state is one where parks and open space are abundant, of good quality, and readily accessible to all residents.

How Are We Doing?

Open Space
· According to the Bay Area Open Space Council, there were 113,000 acres of protected open space in San Mateo County in 2010. (Protected open space is defined as land restricted from new development and construction.) Over 79 percent of this land is available for public use, either through free access, or daily fee access.

· In total, protected open space comprises about 40 percent of the total area of San Mateo County. By comparison, 29 percent of Santa Clara County is protected and 60 percent of Marin County is protected.

· Significant landholdings in the county include watershed lands managed by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), land owned by the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District and the Peninsula Open Space Trust, state parks, and San Mateo County parks. The remaining protected lands are owned by cities, the federal government, state agencies, and nonprofit organizations.

· The total amount of protected land has increased approximately by about 7,000 acres since 2002, an increase of about 6.5 percent. Much of this additional protected land was created by the Mid Peninsula Open Space District and Peninsula Open Space Trust. City governments added about 1,800 acres of new protected open space over that same time period.

City Parks
As in past years, SSMC asked local government officials to complete a survey on their city-owned parks. Of note, these results do not include school-owned facilities within a jurisdiction, or parks and open space owned by other organizations. The results are self-reported.

· In aggregate, there were 3.4 acres of city-owned parks per 1,000 residents in those same cities. Park creation over the past four years has increased the total acreage of city parks per 1,000 residents by about 40 percent.

· San Mateo County reported 15,680 acres of county parks and open space in 2010.