Reflections on the Greater & Greener Conference
Austin has parks—big and small, pocket and sprawling, greenways and byways. Some are beautiful and awe-inspiring; others are works in progress, still waiting for their moment. Thirteen hundred people from across the country descended on the city for Greater & Greener, hosted by City Parks Alliance in partnership with Austin Parks and Recreation and The Trail Conservancy. Neal Ramus and Alayza Cervantes from Sonoma Land Trust and I joined park leaders, advocates, and practitioners from around the country to share ideas, network, and learn from one another’s successes and challenges.
Despite the Texas summer heat and humidity, we did get outside. A variety of tours let us learn directly from local hosts about the details of their projects and the agreements with the City of Austin’s Parks Department that made them possible—conversations that felt especially relevant given our own partnership with the City of Santa Rosa. Evening socials brought music, entertainment, and even more networking, and the conference closed with a night under the stars at the stunning Moody Amphitheater in Waterloo Park.
A few takeaways worth carrying home:
- Parks are one of the few public spaces that bring people genuine joy.
- Cities can’t grow well without good parks.
- Parks are essential infrastructure—for physical and mental health, respite from heat, building community, economic growth, and shared experience.
- Strong public/private partnerships are consistently the most common and successful strategy.
- In disruptive times, parks offer real opportunities for civic engagement and positive change.
The central idea that stuck with me: parks are part of the solution to the biggest challenges our cities face. Parks are the answer for climate resilience, equity, and community well-being.
That’s worth remembering as we head into Master Planning workshops for our own Southeast Greenway. Austin reminded me that the most successful parks are the ones shaped by many hands and many voices over time—exactly the kind of process we’re hoping to build here in Santa Rosa.
