Free library program increases access to Minnesota state parks

Larger green spaces may be critical to a city, as they can support more complete ecosystems. In contrast to smaller "parklets," large parks paired with high-density neighborhoods allow for healthier cities.

Poor neighborhoods in the United States lack quality play spaces for children, also known as play deserts. An organization is enabling communities across the nation to build their own playground.

Great minds from Plato to Piaget have recognized the importance of play in healthy child development, but with bullying becoming more prevalent on school playgrounds and increased pressure to maximize school hours to boost performance on standardized tests, schools are struggling to implement meaningful recess. Playworks and other similar non-profit groups provide coaching for adults on how to help structure children's playtime to be healthy, productive, and enjoyable, while allowing children to explore on their own and develop positive relationships.

Obesity is at an all-time high in the United States, and is hard to combat. But urban obesity can be countered with inviting streets to stroll, dramatic staircases to climb, parks to exercise in - it’s called “active design.”

Despite strong evidence that school-based physical activity improves children’s cognitive skills, concentration, and behavior, schools under pressure to produce quantitative results and decrease bullying have drastically cut back on recess in recent years. An Oakland-based nonprofit organization called Playworks is working to make healthy play accessible for more children and show schools how productive recess can be to the whole academic world.

Playgrounds that are accessible for children with special needs can be difficult to find. NPR launched a national crowd-sourced guide called Playgrounds for Everyone, which invited individuals to add playgrounds that are accessible. After the launch, nearly 400 playgrounds have been added to the already 1200 playgrounds on the map that will help families find public places for their children to play.

Even though natural parks are in close proximity to New York City’s metropolitan hub, many are inaccessible and overlooked areas for recreation and sport. Conservation groups, including the Natural Areas Conservancy and the Bronx River Alliance, have worked to restore trails, offer tour opportunities, and protect parks' natural geography, benefitting millions of New Yorkers’ mental and physical health.

As popular music has become digital and immaterial in the twenty-first century, record stores are hard to find and those in business struggle to be commercially viable. Used Kids record store in Columbus, OH has been in business for thirty years and is perhaps even more popular now that it was ten years ago. The current management treat the medium of vinyl not as a museum artifact, but rather as a commodity in demand by selling online, holding private events with collectors, and selling the materiality to young people.

In New Mexico, public libraries are funded by municipalities. That means, if you live in an unincorporated town, there’s no funding stream for a local public library. But, in northern New Mexico, residents in several towns have joined together to create independent libraries that have transformed their communities.

Many families in rural New Mexico still do not have high speed internet access at home. In Farmington, the public school district, a local college, and nonprofits are working to close the gap in the digital divide for students by addressing access to technology and the internet.