U.S. cities graded on quality of life for children

Mathis Winkler

Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2001 | 11:04 a.m.

Population growth and a lack of park space got the Las Vegas Valley's major cities less-than-sterling grades in kid friendliness, according to a study released today.

The Kid-Friendly Cities Report Card 2001 gave Las Vegas a B- and ranked it 97th compared with 140 other cities of its size. Henderson received a B and came in 37th among 74 suburban cities around the country, and North Las Vegas trailed behind with a C at No. 62. The lowest grade is C-.

The Washington, D.C.-based, 33-year-old environmental group Zero Population Growth sponsored the eighth study of 239 U.S. cities. The report card comes out every two years.

The study tries to give residents a chance to compare their cities with others of similar size, said Radhika Sarin, who was in charge of research for the report cards.

Henderson and North Las Vegas made the honor roll for air quality compared with other suburbs, while Las Vegas, which has the same air, got a C compared with its peers, Sarin said.

Las Vegas and Henderson improved their grades for population growth since the last report card in 1999 -- North Las Vegas was not included in that study. But all three cities still received Cs in that category because of a steady increase in valley residents.

"Too often, a city's rapid population growth is not matched by equal growth in hospitals, schools recreational areas and other vital service sectors," the report noted.

"Both rapid population growth and rapid population decline were considered to be negative characteristics, because the stability of the community is essential for meeting the needs of residents, especially children."

Scarce park space also dragged the three cities down the list. With 1.3 park acres per 1,000 residents, Las Vegas stayed far behind cities such as Austin, Texas, which has 37 acres per 1,000 residents.

Despite the low ranking, Erik Pappa, Las Vegas city spokesman, said parks remain a priority for the city. In June the Las Vegas City Council budgeted $28.8 million for new parks and improvements to existing parks throughout the city.

Henderson and North Las Vegas fared slightly better on parks, with 3.6 acres and 2.3 acres of park space per 1,000 residents respectively. But they still didn't come close to cities such as Scottsdale, Ariz., which has 62.2 acres per 1,000 residents and ranked fourth among the nation's suburbs overall.

In North Las Vegas, Ken Albright, the city's parks and recreation director, said more parks are needed.

"Everybody needs more," he said. "You don't have quality of life if you don't have a strong parks and recreation department."

While taxes from residential construction cover only a quarter of the cost for a new park, Albright said, voters approved additional spending on parks in June.

"I fully expect to have a couple of more parks within two years," when the next report card is due, Albright said.

Henderson Assistant Parks and Recreation Director Dirk Richwine said two years from now, his city would also have more parks because of a 1997 bond measure.

He added that the city's goal was to have parks within a one-mile radius of every home, and noted that different definitions of park land might have skewed the comparison with other cities.

"What is park land and what isn't -- that is a traditional concern" for people in his field, Richwine said.

The top grades in the survey went to Portland, Ore., among cities in metropolitan areas with at least 2 million residents; to Burlington, Vt., in smaller cities, such as Las Vegas; and to Overland Park, Kan., among suburbs such as Henderson and North Las Vegas.

The study grades cities in air quality, community life, such as parks, library use and children's programs, crime rates, health, population growth and unemployment rate.

Kids Count, another nationwide study that looks at the welfare of children, collects information on states but not specific cities. Nevada ranked 40th in the 2001 Kids Count report, which was released in May.