Blog

Sustaining Success: Former Crime Magnet is Transformed into a Community Recreational and Green Space

The old tennis courts at Homestead Park in Youngstown, Ohio, secluded from other well-lit parts of the park, started attracting illegal activity in the late afternoons and lasting through the night. With no fence to control access, people would drive over the sidewalk and park on the courts to drink and party, with occasional fights and even shootings breaking out. Residents would often wake up to find broken glass, trash, and drug paraphernalia littered around the courts, including on the sidewalk, which connects the park with two nearby elementary schools and a playground.

A New Look for the Safe Routes Partnership

From our early successes in supporting the establishment of the Safe Routes to School movement to our more recent efforts increasing safe and equitable access to parks through Safe Routes to Parks, we know that our bodies were designed to move, yet many of our communities were created with intentional inequities that limit mobility. We believe change is necessary to achieve a vision of safe, active, equitable, and healthy communities – urban, suburban, and rural – for everyone. We have refreshed our identity, and we remain true to our core mission. We will continue to support you in this work every day.