• INNOVATION IN ACTION – The department recently partnered with the Texas Rangers to build the only Major League Baseball-branded golf course in the world.

Arlington is the first of five municipalities to complete its portion of a 60-mile hike and bike trail connection that will eventually link Dallas to Fort Worth.

• CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT – 77% of residents visited a park in 2017 (highest among city services), with a 90% satisfaction rating. APRD has allocated $105M in capital projects over the next five years to meet the needs of our diverse community, with a growing list of partnerships (Texas Health, Mission Arlington, UTA, School Districts), programs (Mayor’s Youth Commission), and special events (Aging Well Expo, Cinco De Mayo Festival, MLK Day of Service).

• CONSERVATION – Environmental stewardship is at the forefront of every park design in Arlington. Tierra Verde GC and MLK Sports Complex were the world’s first facilities of their kind to be Audubon Signature Sanctuaries. Arlington completed a 2.5M renovation to River Legacy Science Center’s interactive environmental exhibits, exposing residents to the wonders of nature and their place in it.

• Arlington’s Make-a-Splash and April Pools Day events showcase a partnership with USA Swimming, Red Cross and Fire Department to provide free swim lessons and water safety instruction to at-risk families. We’ve educated 32,000+ residents since 2015.

• Our Youth Service Day brings students from all walks of life together to engage in self-selected community service projects. Last year, more than 4,100 youth participated by cleaning parks and other community improvements.

• Arlington partnered with Wounded Warriors and Mission Continues to assist military members with reintegrating in the community following service. This partnership equips veterans with new skills and networks, while making sustainable transformations through community service.

• We launched EngAGE Arlington in response to community feedback requesting additional events and educational opportunities for active adults ages 40-60. Activities included a Progressive Dinner with successive courses at different parks and an award-winning Yappy Hour dog walk.

• Our Let’s Enhance Arlington’s Forest (LEAF) program helps increase canopy cover by giving approved tree species for free to HOA’s, homeowners, and businesses. Over 22,750 trees have been planted through the program. Using i-Tree Eco software, Arlington determined that its building energy savings from the vegetative structure is $2.8M annually, highlighting the necessity of saving this urban forest.

• PUBLIC SUPPORT: Arlington enjoys unprecedented support from its citizens and brand advocates. This unwavering public support was evident in the passing of recent $105,000,000 parks bond packages, largest in department history, with nearly a 70% passage rate.

• CITIZEN INVOLVEMENT: Volunteers provided 38,495 hours of support in 2017. Arlington citizens are actively involved through Parks Board, Keep Arlington Beautiful, division-based advisory boards, Sculpture Trail committee, citizen-led special interest groups like the Dallas Off-Road Bicycle Association which maintains many of our off-street bike trails and “Friends Of…” groups responsible for assisting in facility creation, park upkeep and special events such as the ever-popular Star Gazing parties. Arlington created an Adopt-a-Spot program, where civic organizations, businesses, teams and families aid in beautification efforts.

• STAFF ENGAGEMENT: Arlington hosted its second Reindeer Games in 2017, with proceeds directed to our Adopt-A-Parks-Family. The event provided $550 in financial assistance and items from the employee’s family Christmas wish list. Employees have chaired city fundraisers for American Heart Association, United Way and Mission Arlington, and regularly serve in leadership roles in professional organizations. 11 employees have earned CPRP certification, while 67% of full-time staff have graduated from Arlington’s leadership development program. Arlington hosts a voluntary Lunch & Learn, where employees are educated on marketing strategies and emerging technologies.

• OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCIES: Arlington utilized the asset management platform Cartegraph to review two years of park maintenance data. Newly adopted workflow efficiencies resulted in labor savings of 18 percent, or 3,358 hours. We received Cartegraph’s “Excellence in Operations Management” award for this project and can now demonstrate the broad scope of daily operations and quantify the impact of special event support and catastrophe response to the public.

• CREATIVE MARKETING: With its new online registration platform, Arlington tracks Facebook and AdWords campaigns through the sales transaction, providing a clear ROI on marketing spend. Through targeted campaigns, performance fund revenue eclipsed $10m for the first time in department history, while cost recovery jumped from 74% to 81% since FY2014. By partnering with publications to write magazine content, the department received $44,500 in in-kind ad value since 2016, while Arlington’s referral revenue (program registrants from external sources) leads all ActiveNet accounts.

• COST RECOVERY: Despite operating with the leanest staff of any DFW parks agency (0.46 full-time employees per 1,000 citizens), Arlington sets a gold standard in satisfying the recreational pursuits of its residents. Arlington ranked 25% above the national average in overall satisfaction with Parks and Recreation in 2016. Arlington’s overall cost recovery was 41% last year, over 12% higher than the median average.

• ART IN THE PARKS – Arlington’s Entertainment District Sculpture Trail (EDST) was conceptualized to provide a natural respite from the built environment through art, and a way for 7 million annual visitors to appreciate the Entertainment District in a different context than inside neighboring stadiums of the Dallas Cowboys or Texas Rangers. The Sculpture Trail weaves through a linear trail adjacent to both stadiums, highlighting the works of local and national artists, and showcases between 15 and 20 sculptures at any one time as pieces are leased or sold. The parks department earns a commission if any sculptures sell while on display.

• FEEDING FRENZY – Arlington put a creative twist on the growing Food Truck Park trend by introducing FoodTruck Fridays, where the food truck lineup AND the location changed often, to get foodies familiar with our parks system. The series created a new revenue stream for the department, which collected 10% of gross sales from each food truck. Over 37% of survey participants were first-time visitors to that park location.

• INNOVATIVE TRANSPORTATION PILOT PROGRAM – Visitors to Arlington’s Entertainment District are able to catch a free ride on an autonomous vehicle through our trail system and be part of the U.S.’ first autonomous shuttle program open to the public. Milo is programmed to shuttle riders through two of our linear parks to all Texas Rangers and Dallas Cowboys games, as well as other large events at either venue.

• Our Build-a-Dream program has provided $216,000 in scholarships to over 4,500 children, ensuring all youth have access to programs and leagues.

• The department unveiled Camp Dream in 2017, which provided a 100% scholarship for summer camps to at-risk youth that came from the Arlington school district’s Office of Families in Transition.

• Arlington conducted a comprehensive public input process that focused on underserved communities after passing $105M in park bonds. Over 77% of the bond is directed to underserved communities, including an innovative rec center/library co-op.

• Arlington strives to increase opportunities for disadvantaged, minority and women-owned businesses to be awarded contracts for goods and services. The department has adopted a goal of 25% of contracts to be awarded to MWBE businesses.

• Arlington introduced a community health and wellness campaign called “Unplug-&-Connect” to get residents excited about unplugging from stressful daily demands and connecting with nature, fitness and wellness.

• Arlington earned a $60,000 grant to build senior exercise stations in two parks, providing convenient and free rehab locations and encouraging socialization for seniors among peers and younger generations.

• Our Walk & Talk town hall meetings pair a brisk stroll in the park with active community conversation between council members and residents. This led to the creation of the AgingWell health expo, attended by over 2,000 seniors.

• Staff partnered with UT-Arlington for an on-campus community garden to provide access to nutritionally rich foods. A portion of harvest is donated to local food banks.

• Arlington features the world’s first Audubon Signature Sanctuary municipal golf course and acquired equipment that converts used cooking oil into biodiesel to power mowers at $0.97/gallon, resulting in significant fuel cost savings and waste reduction. Biodiesel usage results in lower greenhouse emissions and reduced reliance on fossil fuels.

• Our IRRINet smart-water monitoring system allows staff to make immediate adjustments to irrigation practices by monitoring weather conditions, water usage patterns and remotely detecting leaks. This technology results in $53,000 in irrigation savings annually.

• Every Arlington 3rd-grade student (4,200 students annually) attends our conservation class at River Legacy Science Center.

• Through the Mayors’ Monarch Pledge, Arlington is committed to restoring habitat through way-stations in our parks and educating citizens on Monarch sustainability.

• A devastating flood destroyed 100 apartments and 25 houses, but created an unanticipated opportunity to re-purpose 87 acres of property. Amenities of the new Rush Creek corridor include hike and bike trails, playground equipment, exercise stations and Arlington’s second dog park. Arlington also used federal funding to purchase and raze more than 100 flood-prone homes along Johnson Creek, located adjacent to the UTA campus. That site is now Julia Burgen Park, a 66-acre linear park that offers a hike and bike trail, covered playgrounds and pavilion.

• In 2016, Mayor and Council requested a comprehensive city-wide health & wellness forum for Arlington seniors, but there was not a line item in the budget for such an event. The department was able to offset all event costs by raising $45,000 in sponsorship and vendor fees. The Aging Well Expo included over 125 vendor booths and featured health screenings, fitness demonstrations and educational sessions for over 2,000 in attendance.

• Since the inception of its “Pay to Play” initiative, the parks department has operated with a keen focus on cost recovery. Arlington maintains a superior cost recovery record, including 81%+ recovery in the parks performance fund, nearly three times industry average. To combat cost-recovery challenges, Arlington has generated $565,000 in sponsorship revenue since 2015.