Years ago as a young police officer working here in Foster City on a slow evening I decided to perform a park check of every single park in town and count them all to determine how many we had. I did manage to complete my security check of every park although I lost count.
The point is our small community of merely 4.2 miles of useable land mass has a tremendous amount of parks. What is more is they are pristine. I asked our Director of Parks and Recreation Kevin Miller if there is another town anywhere in America with more parks than Foster City per capita. Kevin thought for a moment and started wondering the same thing.
The point is we are all extremely fortunate to live in a community that boasts direct proximity to a park from any neighborhood in town. You only need to look at our meticulously manicured lawns and park facilities to recognize how lucky we are.
But that is not the end of it. Our recreation system just happens to be the envy of every town I know. I know this to be true because I hear it from other city officials all the time. And just why is this so significant one may wonder? The reason is parks and recreation play a variety of roles in all of our lives.
Recreation activities give us the means to achieve wellness and good health. Our parks increase property values because people are willing to pay more to be nearer to parks. And our park and recreation system even helps prevent mischievous acts. It does so by providing after-school recreation programs for our children who are mentored by positive role models who provide guidance through coaching, counseling and sharing experience and knowledge.
Our young people are not the only beneficiaries. The positive effects of our youth programs extend as benefits to our entire community. We all benefit through juvenile involvement in community, increase in public safety, the unification of neighborhoods and the promotion of community pride as how our town is defined.
As a former Foster City police officer and long term resident of our town I can tell you that this connection of people is important as “no man is an island”. We are all connected as a community regardless of age or the street on which we live.
And yes, this does have a monetary price which happens to be significant. But thanks to our past City Councils that years ago had the foresight to make the initial investment in parks and recreation and thanks to the stewardship of current City Councils, the price we pay is both affordable and manageable.
And of course the pride of our community would not be possible without our Director of Parks and Recreation Kevin Miller and his staff. These are the people who look after our youth, provide programs for our adults and seniors plus keep our parks appearing as a source of pride for our community.
The next time you experience a summer concert or 4th of July celebration at Ryan Park, watch a soccer or baseball game at Sea Cloud Park, take one of the many instructional classes at the recreation center or take comfort in the fact your child has a first class youth facility to go to (after school, during the summer or weekend evenings), you’ll see how much we receive as a return on our investment from our tax dollars and why Foster City is such a desirable place to call home.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve you. John Kiramis can be reached via e-mail jkiramis@fostercity.org
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