Our Parks, Our Places: A Plan for Aurora’s Parks, Recreation and Open Space
Let’s build the future of Aurora together
The city of Aurora is planning the future of its Parks, Recreation and Open Space Department. The purpose of this project is to understand the community's needs now and into the future.
Aurora has 8,000 acres of open space, 99 developed parks, two reservoirs, three nature centers, five golf courses, six recreation centers and 10 community pools.
You are at the heart of this story. Together, let’s create a parks, open spaces and recreation system throughout Aurora which reflects the beauty and diversity of our community.
What do you want your parks, recreation and open space to look like?
Upcoming Events:
- Draft of the master plan available for public review in October 2023. Check back here for the link.
- Review and share your thoughts on the master plan at Fall Into Fun, Saturday, Oct. 14, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m., Aurora Municipal Center, 15151 E. Alameda Parkway
Equitable Access: How do we ensure everyone can enjoy Aurora’s parks, programs, events and facilities?
Community Connections: How can Aurora’s diverse communities be celebrated in our parks, open spaces and recreation?
Healthy and Safety: How do we improve health and safety of ourselves, our community and our environment?
Operational Efficiencies: How can we maintain our parks, open spaces and recreation facilities, both new and old?
Sustainable Growth: How can we grow as a city while protecting the nature around us?
To learn more about this project and feedback opportunities, visit projects.sasaki.com/auroraparks.
Questions? Leave a question below and a staff member will be in touch shortly, or email PROSMasterPlan@AuroraGov.org.
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Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linkedin Email this linkView All Ideasabout 1 year ago
Indoor Tennis Courts
Hi: I love tennis and play on the city of Aurora’s well-maintained courts often in the summer and fall. Unfortunately, my friends and I must discontinue play when the cold weather kicks in. That being said, the cost of indoor, private club play is prohibitive for us, so we simply wait till warm temps come back. Would it be possible to create a rec facility in Aurora, that offers indoor tennis courts? Would it be helpful, if I created a petition and provided signatures from several Aurora tennis players, who feel the same way? Look forward to your response, Christine Maggio
about 1 year ago
Riparian Greenways & Open Space Corridors
Aurora is blessed with many natural streams/creeks that have so much potential to serve as open space corridors and riparian greenways. It would be awesome to see PROS work with entities such as MHFD and others to reimagine these riparian zones. The city would be greatly enhanced if we removed all these antiquated concrete-lined channels and restored some sort of geomorphic and hydrologic functionality to our countless riparian assets. Water resource engineers can explain the shifting paradigm that has occurred since these concrete-lined channels were constructed. There are many superior ways to mitigate flood risk while enhancing the recreational and aesthetic qualities of our riparian corridors. Imagine if, instead of our city being filled with blighted concrete-lined channels just waiting to be defaced with trash and graffiti, Aurora was home to some of the most sought-after greenway trails and riparian corridors. We could finally attract the demographics places like Greenwood Village, Lone Tree, and Highlands Ranch are able to. We could create a beautiful, well-thought-out open space network where natural areas and their connectivity weren't simply afterthoughts or boxes to check, but were the primary purpose of enhancing public access and neighborhood connectivity. We could create a matrix of greenways connecting people and experiences across all of Aurora while enhancing the recreational and aesthetic qualities of our city. Less water running on concrete and more water running on natural bed material. Less blight, more native vegetation and wildlife-filled riparian corridors.
about 1 year ago
Parks for us
The parks are moving into run down phase. Maybe have 3 Community serve parks day to help fix them? Also, Please add dark night lights around parks, maybe with a few video cameras to discourage vandalism. please add more unpaved paths, perhaps bordering the streets, instead of grass. Incrementally replace grass with clover to conserve green with less H2O need. Create a corner community garden in each neighborhood park. Have people caught in vandalism host park cleanups and refurbishing, host story time in parks, host puppet shows. Allow local musicians a small platform in all parks to play in pop up concerts. Thank you!
about 1 year ago
Increase The Abundance Of Native Vegetation & Wildlife
Plan and execute projects to restore and enhance the ecological integrity of our parks and open spaces. Explore potential invasive species eradication and native ecosystem restoration projects. Emphasize the appeal of low-impact development with the Planning and Zoning Division in order to increase the integration of wild and natural spaces within the built environment.
10 months ago
Promote what local restaurants, attractions and businesses you can access by using the open space and park trails.
One thing that I’ve seen help more people enjoy a trail system is by promoting what local restaurants, attractions, breweries and businesses you can access by using the open space and park trails. One example of this is the Swamp Rabbit Trail in Greenville SC (https://discoversouthcarolina.com/articles/explore-the-swamp-rabbit-trail). I recently moved back to Aurora and love all the trails added and can’t wait to explore them.
Videos
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As part of Our Parks, Our Places, the city of Aurora is conducting a dog park study to help create a best practices guide for the future of all dog parks. The guide will define best practices for design and ease of maintenance to create vibrant, usable spaces for dogs and their owners. This presentation covers four topics - overall systems analysis, existing conditions, trend analysis and next steps.