About Play At The Park
Play At The Park was formed when a group of parents in the Annex neighborhood attended a community meeting. Some of us felt that some of the challenges in our park were similar to those of other parks and we reached out to parents who use other parks.
We believe it is necessary for parents from parks across the city to band together and help shape public policy. Soon afterward we broadened our mandate to include seniors, responsible dog owners and other park users.
Residential intensification has put a lot of pressure on neighborhoods. There is an urgent need to preserve our green spaces and also to find new ones. It is widely known that childhood obesity is on the rise. This makes it even more important that people get out and engage in year round outdoor play.
There is growing concern about the impact of roaming dogs on the enjoyment of our local parks. Dogs serve as a wonderful companion to many people. Sometimes dog owners are not aware that they have not trained their dog adequately and it interferes with other park users. Off-leash policies need to meet international standards to protect the general public while giving opportunities for dogs to roam freely in a safe manner.
Play At The Park's Goals
- To build connections between residents,neighbourhood organizations, local businesses and Toronto City Hall to organize neighbourhood based recreation opportunities in local parks and to help maintain the ecological health and natural beauty of the parks.
- To advocate for clean and safe parks so that people, particularly children and youth can pursue casual and spontaneous activities both on and off the grass.
- To respond to the needs of dog owners by advocating for more well maintained dog parks and enclosed off-leash areas where dogs can play off leash without conflict with other parks users.
- To work co-operatively with City of Toronto,Toronto Public Health officials, other health care organizations, groups representing the interests of children and youth, recreational and dog owner organizations to develop better Dogs in Parks Policy that respects the heath and safety of all park users particularly children and seniors.
- To advocate for updated park strategies that respond to the intensification of the city by encouraging improved maintenance plans for parks and a parks acquisition strategy that makes better use of underutilized city property.
Play At The Park's Ideals
- Play At The Park is committed to building communities around Toronto's parks. We believe that public parks should be freely enjoyed by people of all ages.
- Public parks are a great resource for the community that should serve as a magnet drawing the residents out of their homes.
- Whether it is to play a game, stretch, read a book, watch the squirrels, make friendships or enjoy a community garden, neighbourhood parks should be the communities' back yard.
- Toronto parks should be clean, safe and well designed so that diverse park users can pursue their leisure time activities both on and off the grass.