City Of Colorado Springs Park Specifications:
In 2000, Parks, Recreation & Cultural Services approved a 10 year Master Plan to help guide the department. The following definintions are taken from the Master Plan:
   Neighborhood Parks:
Neighborhood parks are generally within walking distance of the neighborhood being served, and range between 3.5 and 25 acres in size. These parks are oriented to all age groups, support a wide variety of uses, but with less of an emphasis on the development of structured, heavliy programmed facilities. The city attempts to provide 2.5 acres per every 1,000 residents, and is currently achieving this standard.
   Community Parks:
Community Parks are generally 25 to 100 acres in size, and are intended to serve the needs of several neighborhoods, as well as community-wide needs. Community parks provide active recreational facilities such as athletic fields, swimming pools, community recreation centers and/or other special features that cannot be readily accommodated in neighborhood parks. Typically, community parks also provide large areas for open play, walking, and other non-programmed uses. The city strives to provide 7.5 acres per every 1,000 residents, but is currently only providing 3.1 acres per 1,000 residents. An example of a community park is Memorial Park.
   Regional Parks:
Regional Parks usually include a major natural area or regional landmark and may provide some of the developed facilities found in community parks. Within a regional park, a large portion of the park is retained in a natural state, and therefore contributes to regional open space needs. Regional parks are based on the available natural resources in the area, and serve the entire community. For the most part, regional parks are a minimum of 100 acres in size. An example of a regional park is Garden Of The Gods Park.
   Sports Complexes:
Sports complexes are generally 25 to 100 acres in size, with the focus on developed sports facilities. There is very little acreage devoted to unprogrammed uses. An example of a sports complex is the Gossage Youth Sports Complex.
   Open Space:
Open space areas are parcels of land set aside independent of a community or regional park setting to retain land, water, vegetative, historic, and aesthetic features in their natural state. Open Space areas range in size from small, natural "buffer" zones, to large natural areas (500 or more acres).

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