Parks and Recreation Strategic Plan

We're excited to announce that the City of Mountain View has initiated a comprehensive community-wide survey as part of our Parks and Recreation Strategic Plan community input process. This survey is designed to gather insights that will shape our decisions for the next 10-15 years. As a valued member of our community, your input is crucial in helping us understand and address our residents' evolving parks and recreation needs and preferences.

Take the Survey Here, in your language of choice, through April 30, 2024:

• English - https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MVPCommunity
• Spanish - https://es.surveymonkey.com/r/MVPencuestaespanola
• Mandarin - https://zh.surveymonkey.com/r/MVPSurveyMandarin
• Russian - https://ru.surveymonkey.com/r/MVPSurveyRussian

Your participation in this survey will enable us to:

• Identify current priorities and areas for improvement in our parks and recreational facilities.
• Understand the diverse needs and preferences of our community members.
• Plan for the future to ensure that our parks and programs remain vibrant, accessible, and sustainable for generations to come.

Your active participation in this survey and sharing the survey link with your friends, family, neighbors, and colleagues in Mountain View will significantly contribute to developing our Parks and Recreation Strategic Plan.

Thank you for your participation and commitment to making Mountain View an even better place to live, work, and play.

This December, the City will be hosting another pop-up opportunity to provide feedback and will share an update with the Parks and Recreation Commission. Below are details on both opportunities:

Community Tree Lighting Celebration - Pop-up

Monday, Dec. 4 from 5:30-8 p.m. at Civic Center Plaza, 500 Castro Street

Swing by the Parks and Recreation Strategic Plan table to provide your input on future amenities, your vision, and more related to the Plan.

Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting

Wednesday, Dec. 13 at 7 p.m. Hybrid Meeting - in-person in the Plaza Conference Room at City Hall or virtual via Zoom

The Commission will receive an update on the Parks and Recreation Strategic Plan. The agenda packet for this meeting will be posted on the City's website by 5 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 8 at the following link: https://mountainview.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx.

Please join us for the above opportunity and continue to be an MVP in imagining the future of Mountain View's parks and recreation!

We launched a series of community and stakeholder meetings in early August to kick off the Parks and Recreation Strategic Plan project. As we continue to seek community feedback through pop-ups, intercept surveys, and the project website, we are actively working on various tasks in the background. Here’s what’s happening from September through December 2023:

Park Assessments

In late September, the consulting team began completing Park Assessments of Mountain View’s 45 parks. These assessments include inventorying and assessing the existing parks, recreation facilities, trails and open spaces. While the team visits the site, they conduct an evaluation of the park, open space, facility or trail, confirming the number and location of recreation amenities and gaining an understanding of visible conditions, access characteristics and design quality/functionality. Following the assessment, the team will record their findings for each park and facility in a report highlighting key themes and critical issues.

Recreation Program Assessments

Recreation programs and events are the key tools to bringing the community together, activating facilities and determining future spaces, be it parks or recreation facilities/complexes. City staff, in conjunction with the consulting team, is inventorying and assessing Recreation programs to review how well the offerings are aligned with community values, user demographics, program trends, underserved needs and envisions what future service delivery would look like. This process will provide strategies and recommendations for innovative and inclusive program offerings and will help identify any unmet programmatic needs of our diverse community.

Organizational Culture Assessment

As part of the plan development process and for the Community Services Department’s continued commitment to growth and development, staff participated in an IMPACT Culture Assessment. This assessment will deepen our understanding of the Department’s cultural dynamics that define and drive our organization and determine readiness to move forward on key recommendations that could come from the Plan.

What else is next?

We are still in the community input phase and want your continued input for this plan! We hosted a pop-up table at the Celebrate Shoreline event on Sunday, Oct. 15 and Saturday, Oct. 28 at Monster Bash where over 150 people at each event provided feedback on park and recreation features, vision for the future of Mountain View parks and recreation, and weighed in on where more park space is desired in Mountain View. We will be working towards scheduling more pop-ups this fall, and we will post the information on this website once it is available.

Two surveys will also be conducted in early 2024. One is a statistically valid survey that will be sent by mail to a sample of households in Mountain View. This survey will be anonymous and will take about 10 - 15 minutes to complete. If randomly selected, residents are encouraged to take the time to complete the survey and weigh in on the type of new parks, activities and amenities they would like to see. The second survey is an online opportunity for the community to provide input. This will be shared via project website and open to all residents to take.

Following the surveys, the City will host additional community meetings during which the results of the public input will be shared. The meetings will also provide additional opportunities for residents to give feedback on the future of Mountain View’s parks and recreation.

In the meantime, please add your Ideas by clicking on the “Ideas” button next to “Newsfeed” and post your ideas for the future of Mountain View parks and recreation. See an idea you like on the board? Give it a thumbs up.

Keep checking back, and we will post updates on the plan’s progress!

Thank you for helping us #ImagineMVParks

This October, staff from the City and the consulting team will host two pop-ups to foster continued dialogue about the future Parks and Recreation Strategic Plan. We invite you to attend one or both of these events, where you can offer your valuable feedback, share your insights, and play a role in shaping the future of our parks and recreation programs.

Celebrate Shoreline!

Date: Sunday, Oct. 15

Time: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Location: Shoreline at Mountain View
Come visit us in the "Future" Section as we celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Shoreline at Mountain View. For more details about this event, please visit MountainView.gov/CelebrateShoreline.

Monster Bash

Date: Saturday, Oct. 28

Time: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Location: Rengstorff Park
We promise a frightfully fun time at the Monster Bash! While enjoying this spooky event, be sure to drop by our table and share your thoughts. For additional event information, please visit MountainView.gov/Monsterbash.

Mark your calendar and join us at these pop-ups. Together, let's make our community's parks and recreation even better!

Thank you to everyone who attended the Public Meetings in person or virtually on August 21-22.

If you could not attend these meetings, please see the Document section to review the presentation and the results from the Strategic Plan meetings. Recordings of both virtual meetings is available under "Videos".

If you would like to provide input and was unable to through the meetings, please share your input with Recreation Manager Kristine Crosby at Kristine.Crosby@mountainview.gov and Neelay Bhatt, CEO and Founder of Next Practice Partners, at Neelay.Bhatt@benextpractice.com.

Help us imagine the future of Mountain View Parks and Recreation by joining us for one of four Community Meetings to kick off the Parks and Recreation Strategic Plan! All meetings will provide interpretation services in Spanish, Mandarin and Russian. Childcare and Light Refreshments will be available for the in-person meetings.