San Francisco Brainstorms Ways To Cash In On City Parks
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) – San Francisco's Recreation and Parks Department is getting a list of money making recommendations from a prominent civic think tank. The San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association, or SPUR, spent six months preparing the report, which was released Thursday.
SPUR's report notes that San Francisco's Rec and Park Dept. needs at least $30 million more per year to keep up with the maintenance and patrols of the city's 220 parks and other properties. Cory Marshall with the think tank said that the report calls for the city to get more creative in coming up with revenue.
"The example I always like to use is the symphony concerts that you see in Golden Gate Park in the summertime," said Marshall. "You have an amazing venue and amazing natural surroundings, and I think that there is more potential there for sponsorship opportunities."
KCBS' Anna Duckworth Reports:
The report also recommends revisiting the idea of charging for parking in specific parks. The city has proposed in the past installing parking meters at the east end of Golden Gate Park, which has been an understandably unpopular idea with frequent visitors.
Other ideas in the report include the creation of special assessment districts to bring in property tax revenue, along with increasing taxes on cigarettes and soda.
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