Considering the national obesity rate and the health benefits of playing outdoors, parents have every incentive to encourage their children to get off the couch and under the sun.

Influential voices on urban planning from the 1970s should be used for context when we talk about reshaping San Jose’s parks—especially St. James Park.

There are currently at least three efforts to change the landscape and ambiance of St. James Park.

We owe a huge debt of gratitude to volunteer leaders and a few hundred citizens who have been cleaning our creeks, clearing our trails and preserving our parks while the City Council debates how to allocate its limited resources.

San Jose Parks Foundations and similar organizations across the country all have public events to celebrate the wonder and beauty of our public parks. It occurred to us that we need something, too, so ordinary citizens can gather together.

I believe that of all the aspects of city government people encounter most frequently in their daily lives, parks top the list. So what do they think about the importance of our parks and trails?

More than 100 volunteers, including the highly-energized San Jose Sharks Foundation, recently came out to help build a playground in one pleasant day of sweaty grunt work.

The City Parks Alliance website has two very interesting video from two very different mayors: Betsy Price, a Republican from Ft. Worth, Texas, and Michael B. Hancock, a Democrat from Denver. These two mayors co-chair the newly formed group Mayors for Parks. This is a significant development, because the mayor of a city can make a huge difference in the success of developing, constructing and maintaining great parks and trails systems.

In 1959, Mildred Overfelt, daughter of these San Jose farmers, wanted to preserve the farm in one piece as a garden park in memory of her parents. She made a donation of this property to the city of San Jose with the proviso that it be a public park. In 1971, a neighborhood couple created a six-acre garden within Overfelt Gardens Park. The result is one of the most beautiful and peaceful settings in all of San Jose.

I first heard of KaBOOM! a few years ago, when I began the San Jose Parks Foundation. The nonprofit works to ensure kids get the play they need to become healthy and successful adults. KaBOOM! elevates the conversation about the importance of play in children’s lives, while also creating great spaces. And with the nonprofit’s help, a new project should be coming to San Jose.