Changing Skyline: City's parks need a green transfusion

Philadelphia spends less on parks than almost any big city in the nation, so it's not surprising that even Center City's jewel, Rittenhouse Square, is increasingly dependent on the kindness of friends. Without those $50 checks from park lovers, not a single impatiens would be planted in the square's borders, the grass would grow to our calves, and the benches would become heaps of broken slats.

These days, however, the support group that keeps the park looking spiffy, the Friends of Rittenhouse Square, is itself in deep trouble. Individual and corporate donations are way down this year, partly because of the weak economy. The square nearly went without Christmas lights in December after the city withdrew its contribution.

Things are so bad that the Friends are weighing what is considered extreme action in these parts: permitting a food concession inside the park and other income-generating activities. There is serious talk of turning the square over to a special services district, similar to the Center City District, and taxing nearby properties.

If the richest neighborhood in Philadelphia is having trouble supporting the park that serves as its front lawn - and the unofficial living room for the entire region - just imagine the situation in other parts of the city.

The blowup in Rittenhouse Square, which prompted 250 people to turn out for a Friends membership meeting last week, has exposed the fragile foundation of Philadelphia's parks policy. For decades, the city has skimped on funding the Fairmount Park system - 63 parks spread over 9,200 acres - and left it to private groups such as the Friends to make up the shortfall. The city, which just incorporated Fairmount Park into the Recreation Department, now plans to add 500 acres in various locations to this overburdened system.

These numbers tell the story: Philadelphia's operating budget for parks this year (which does not include special projects) is $12.6 million. By comparison, Chicago's parks district spends $392 million - about 30 times as much - on 7,200 acres.

Want another shocker? In New York, Bryant Park raises $8 million a year from private sources to keep its four, city-owned acres in top form - two-thirds of what Philadelphia devotes to its entire system. Six-acre Rittenhouse Square gets by on a $410,000 operating budget, with about half of that coming from the Friends.