Kudos to the Swiftian genius who infiltrated the City of Salem website and posted this razor-sharp satirical attack on the city that lavishes money and attention on people in cars, giving the back of the hand and worse to people who want or must walk, bike, or depend on transit.
This is the city that put the Kroc Center behind an impenetrable moat of high speed asphalt, and that offers no transit to help kids reach anything, anywhere, on weekends, the same city where no sane adult uses many of the roads for bicycling, much less a kid.
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City of Salem Designated 2014 Playful City USA //
City of Salem KaBOOM! and Humana Foundation Unveil 2014 Playful City USA Communities
Recognized for Prioritizing Play
Salem, Oregon/Washington, D.C. - On May 13, 2014, KaBOOM!, in partnership with the Humana Foundation, announced 212 cities and towns across the United States as 2014 Playful City USA honorees. These communities are leaders in playability - the extent to which a city makes it easy for kids to get balanced and active play - and are making play part of the solution that can move the needle on countless urban challenges.
The City of Salem was honored with a 2014 Playful City USA designation for the first time. The City of Salem has established programs centered on improving park playgrounds by offering matching grants to neighborhood associations wishing to make park improvements at local parks. The City also partners with the Salem Parks Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to promote, develop, facilitate, and sustain stewardship dedicated to the enhancement of parks if the city of Salem. Additionally, the City has many volunteer groups who participate in maintaining parks, building playgrounds, and helping to ensure our parks are safe. All of these combined efforts along with the support of the Salem Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, has resulted in the Playful City USA designation.
"The City of Salem will strive to provide a balance of active play, especially outdoor play in our city parks. We acknowledge that play provides an unlimited opportunity for growth, learning, and healthy lives. I'd like to affirm our commitment, at City of Salem, to provide every child in our community a healthy, safe, and playful childhood."
Mayor Anna Peterson
The KaBOOM! Playful City USA program, sponsored by the Humana Foundation, honors cities, towns, and communities across America that are taking bold steps to ensure all children, especially the 16 million American kids living in poverty, have easy access to balanced and active play in their communities. Cities being recognized span every region of the country, and include Washington, D.C.; Chicago; Nashville; Austin; Providence; San Francisco; New York City; and 205 others.
To advance the national dialogue on playability, KaBOOM! and City of Salem invites interest, expertise, and voices from members of the Salem community to get involved (and get playful!) in thinking about how play can create more family-friendly cities. Join the Twitter conversation and encourage action:
* Participate on Twitter (@kaboom) and provide your point of view and forward-looking insights on playability in cities using the hashtags #playability and #playmatters.
"With the tremendous support of our friends at Humana Foundation, we are thrilled to recognize all of these communities that are working to ensure all kids, particularly the 16 million that live in poverty, get the play they need to thrive," says KaBOOM! CEO and Founder Darell Hammond.
Humana President and CEO Bruce Broussard added, "We're excited about our journey with KaBOOM! and we appreciate the shared values that Humana, the Humana Foundation, and the KaBOOM! organization can rally around. Making it easy for families to play, be healthy and thrive together is a part of Humana's dream, and it's a commitment that all of us at Humana enjoy sharing with KaBOOM!."
The Playful City USA honorees range in size from eight-time honorees such as San Francisco and Shirley, Mass., to first time recipients Washington, D.C. and Plantersville, Miss. (population: 1,174). These Playful City USA communities are making a commitment to transform their communities to become more playable by developing unique local action plans to increase the quantity and quality of play in their community. Other city initiatives include:
* Increasing City Playability for All Kids: Chicago, IL has made a goal for every child living in the city to be within a seven-minute walk of a new park or playground.
* Encouraging Play Everywhere: San Antonio, TX partnered with SA Sports in the SPARK Park program, which turns elementary and middle school properties into playspaces outside school hours, reinforcing that kids want and need play everywhere.
* Creating a Competitive Advantage through Play: Bloomington, IN sees playability as the third piece to complement walkability and bikeability and boost the city's competitive advantage. The city plans to increase accessibility and availability of safe sidewalks, parks and play infrastructure.
* Promoting a Balance of All Types of Play: Orlando, FL is developing The Vision for Play in the City of Orlando initiative that will guide actions and investments over the next 20 years to provide a healthy urban play environment that promotes all types of play for all kids, which is critical to cognitive, creative, social, emotional, and physical development.
* Inspiring Family-Centric Play: Missoula, MT is installing fun, creative programs so children can play in a safe, fun and nurturing family and community-centric environment. To encourage more play opportunities for families and communities to enjoy, the city has designated an annual Play Day, a KidsFest celebration in the fall, as well as youth summer camps to keep kids engaged in active play.
* Using Play to Help Address Toxic Stress: Washington, D.C. recognizes its underserved youth are faced with physical, social, and mental health challenges that directly impact their quality of life and their ability to cope with adversity. Kids growing up in the face of significant adversity are at risk of toxic stress, which hinders healthy brain development. Through the Play DC and Parks and Recreation Master Plan initiatives, the city is redefining playgrounds as community spaces where youth can find release from everyday stress and build resilience.
* Fostering 21st Century Skills through Play: Pittsburgh, PA realizes play is critical to developing kids into healthy and successful adults, including preparing kids to be innovators, collaborators, and problem-solvers. The city plans to consider play in every educational and community decision that is made to ensure all Pittsburgh kids are prepared to succeed.
To see the full list of the 212 communities named 2014 Playful City USA honorees, or for more information on the Playful City USA program, visit
www.playfulcityusa.org.
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KaBOOM!
KaBOOM! is the national non-profit dedicated to the bold goal of ensuring that all children, particularly the 16 million American children living in poverty, get the active play they need to become healthy and successful adults. KaBOOM! has been a powerful champion for play since its founding in 1996, working with partners to build, improve, and open more than 15,000 playgrounds, engage more than 1,000,000 volunteers and serve more than 6,600,00 children nationwide. KaBOOM! creates and promotes great places to play; inspires, empowers and leads play advocates; and elevates the societal conversation about the importance of play in children's lives. For more information, visit
www.kaboom.org/act or follow the conversation on why #playmatters at
www.twitter.com/kaboom or
www.facebook.com/kaboom.
About the Humana Foundation
The Humana Foundation was established in 1981 as the philanthropic arm of Humana Inc., one of the nation's leading health care companies. Located in Louisville, Ky., the site of Humana's corporate headquarters, the Foundation promotes healthy behaviors and healthy relationships. The Foundation's key funding priorities are childhood health, intergenerational health, and active lifestyles. For more information, visit
www.humanafoundation.org.
Humana and the Humana Foundation are dedicated to Corporate Social Responsibility. Our goal is to ensure that every business decision we make reflects our commitment to improving the health and well-being of our members, our associates, the communities we serve, and our planet.
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