Allocation of Parks and Recreation Facilities

Facilities planning at the local government level is often very ad hoc. Routinized procedures are resisted because of the particular needs of different interest groups. The result is that allocation and utilization of facilities and services within relatively small geographic areas tends to be irregular. In this study we utilized a variant of the Hess-Weaver redisricting algorithm to develop a set of planning districts for a country parks and recreation department. County officials could then select one of the solutions to fill their immediate and future planning needs. The procedure did not interfere within their traditional planning strategy, and even facilitated gerrymandering where it was desired. An extension of the analysis treated differential facility use by age groups. Officials adopted the solution set procedure to develop an inclusive construction plan for the country, but were unable to obtain voter approval.