The types and locations of municipal parks are as varied as those of the people who use them. They include ecological reserves, green spaces, beaches, cement slabs, sports fields and reclaimed factories, ranging in size from a tiny plaza to many acres. Central Park in New York City is perhaps the most famous with its acres of lawns, lakes and forest in the middle of Manhattan. These green parks serve as a relief from busy cities; an escape to the country without going there. Others, like Gas Works Park in Seattle, WA, have converted abandoned industrial sites into urban recreational facilities. On a smaller scale, vest-pocket parks are small green spaces squeezed onto empty lots or between two buildings. Outside cities, metropolitan parks tend to be larger, as they have not had to compete with real-estate interests for land.

Children’s playgrounds are common in all areas, existing by themselves or within larger parks. Standard playground equipment includes swings, jungle gyms, merry-gorounds, see-saws, slides and sandboxes. Safety is a major concern.

Parks’ conditions range from well-maintained lawns and facilities to dismal scenes of broken equipment and struggling plants. Funding has been problematic for many municipalities as limited budgets rank other services above public parks. Many parks, especially those of historic significance, have private community activist groups, who work to make up for shortcomings in municipal funding and maintenance. Safety is another concern as people tend to feel that parks are dangerous after dark, and providing adequate lighting and supervision is expensive and difficult for many cities.

Parks generally serve two main purposes: maintaining open space and providing a place for children and adults to play exercise and spend active time outdoors. They are commonly used as spaces for concerts, festivals, political rallies and other community events. Factors affecting the public’s use of parks include available leisure time, transportation, education and income levels. Quantity of leisure time has had the most impact on recreational activity—as work weeks have become shorter and people have more flexible schedules, many cities have seen a rise in park use.

Parks have changed according to the needs and attitudes of the general public in the century since cities first began to sponsor them. The first public parks were either for children’s active play or adults’ passive promenades. In the second half of the twentieth century many parks included basketball and tennis courts and baseball diamonds as a desire for more active recreation spread among all age groups. Parks face new challenges as recreational preferences continue to change—skateboarding and in-line skating are rough on park equipment. Some municipalities have built skating parks, the latest evolution in public recreation, ramps and jumps specially built for new high-impact, high-energy activities.