Recreate Asheville - Asheville Parks & Recreation Comprehensive Plan

Help unlock the power of our community by building Recreate Asheville: Shaping Our City’s Parks, a road map to guide recreation programs, sports and leisure spaces, and parks for future generations. This is an important opportunity for Ashevillians to create a long-term vision and help inform how projects are prioritized to meet the modern needs of our city – from major improvements to existing parks (beyond just maintenance and repairs) to strategies that use recreation programs to build stronger neighborhoods.

Happening Now

During Phase 1: Community Needs Assessment, community members shared needs, opportunities, and feedback related to the current state of parks and recreation in Asheville through surveys and workshops. That information was combined with anticipated future needs and comparisons to similarly sized cities’ parks and recreation systems to define our community’s needs.

During Phase 2: Drafting Plan Recommendations, we reported back what we heard during Phase 1, shared how it’s driving draft plan ideas and recommendations, and asked for additional community feedback through an online survey, virtual meeting, four in-person community workshops, and neighborhood meetings between March 27-April 15. Information and community feedback from both phases are being used to draft the plan.

Happening Next

Our community will review and comment (tentatively scheduled from May 20-June 2) on a drafted vision plan created using information from Phase 1 and feedback from Phase 2 to create the final plan, Recreate Asheville: Shaping Our City’s Parks.

What is Recreate Asheville: Shaping Our City’s Parks?

Recreate Asheville: Shaping Our City’s Parks is a community-built comprehensive plan to guide long-range planning, address service gaps, and identify opportunities for improvements. It is a visionary document that sets the values and goals for systemwide investments and a framework to guide future investments in recreation programs and spaces.

It is not an operations model or financial budget, though it is a method to inform capital expenditures. The Recreate Asheville plan does not contain detailed design proposals for specific neighborhoods, parks, or facilities.

VISIT RECREATE ASHEVILLE SITE

Where are Asheville’s public parks, greenways, and community centers? Use APR Finder to search based on locations and features.

Background

It’s impossible to imagine Asheville without public spaces like Walton Street Park, Carrier Park, Reed Creek Greenway, Linwood Crump Shiloh Community Center, and Pack Square. The city’s unique parks, greenways, and recreation complexes are where the community connects and makes memories.

Help unlock the power of our community by building Recreate Asheville: Shaping Our City’s Parks, a plan to guide recreation programs, sports and leisure spaces, and parks for future generations. This is an important opportunity for Ashevillians to create a long-term vision and help inform how projects are prioritized to meet the modern needs of our city – from major improvements to existing parks (beyond just maintenance and repairs) to strategies that use recreation programs to build stronger neighborhoods.

Recreate Asheville will serve as a road map for the next 10 years to connect, fix, build, and preserve recreation programs and parkland. Building the plan takes collaboration and community input. There will be plenty of opportunities to share ideas and discuss recommendations with neighbors, so sign up for the APR monthly newsletter to stay in the know.

What is a city park or community center?

Great question! Recreate Asheville provides guidance for APR, a department of the City of Asheville.

While some private parks like Beaver Lake and Botanical Gardens at Asheville allow public access, they’re not managed by APR. Ditto for state and federal lands like Thomas Wolfe Memorial or Bent Creek Experimental Forest, as well as Buncombe County parks inside city limits like Hominy Creek River Park. It also won’t cover private organizations like country clubs or YMCA centers.

Use APR Finder to explore parks, playgrounds, greenways, and open areas in the APR system.

What are Asheville Parks & Recreation’s current programs?

With multiple full-complex recreation centers, sports fields and courts, and parks throughout the city, there are hundreds of wellness, education, and culture enrichment opportunities for people of all ages every month.

Check out the current APR Program Guide and never be bored again.

Community Engagement Events

Community input drives Recreate Asheville, so we want to hear from YOU! Watch for APR team members at festivals, events, and public workshops around the city or stop by a community center to find out more about the process. The list below is not exhaustive.

2023

September 30: Festival of Neighborhoods
October 4: River Arts District Farmers Market
October 5: Drop-in Community Workshop at WNC Nature Center
October 6: Drop-in Community Workshop at Dr. Wesley Grant Sr. Southside Community Center
October 6: East Asheville Tailgate Market
October 7: Burton Street Ag Fair at Burton Street Community Center
October 8: Barktoberfest at French Broad River Park
October 9: Drop-in Community Workshop at Linwood Crump Shiloh Community Center
October 10: West Asheville Tailgate Market
October 12: Drop-in Community Workshop at Carrier Park
October 14: Asheville City Market
October 20: Social Skate Night at Carrier Park
November 3: First Friday on The Block

2024

March 27-April 15: Online survey
March 27: Virtual Meeting
March 28: Drop-in Community Workshop at Stephens-Lee Community Center
March 28: Drop-in Community Workshop at Linwood Crump Shiloh Community Center
April 6: Drop-in Community Workshop at Carrier Park
April 13: Drop-in Community Workshop at Tanger Outlets

Current Project Timeline

2023

March 28: City Council unanimously adopts resolution authorizing City Manager to execute a contract with Design Workshop for development of a comprehensive parks and recreation master plan
May-July: Design Workshop and APR collaborate on community needs assessment process
August: Focus group meetings and stakeholder discussions
September 26-November 20: Citywide survey and public workshops, meetings, and discussions
December 2023-March 2024: Draft plan recommendations

2024

March: Data from statistically valid survey mailed to homes throughout the city, online survey, in-person workshops and engagement events, focus group meetings, and stakeholder discussions share with the community for feedback
April-May: Strategic action plan development
June: Community-created Recreate Asheville: Shaping Our City’s Parks published