City-wide Parks

City-wide parks are areas of special significance (i.e. beaches, waterfront trails, boat launches, significant wildlife habitats), offering a wide variety of amenities that attract people from beyond our city boundaries. These parks range in size and in intensity of recreational use.

Some are passive in nature to reflect a significant ecological preserve or active with large crowds for major city events, which attract people from around the world. These city-wide parks have a major impact on our tourism industry resulting in significant economic benefits. They are highly developed or not developed at all depending upon the need they are serving.

Typically waterfront parks have been the highest priority for our citizens and this is expected to continue. They may be as simple as a beach access, a waterfront trail or promenade, or as elaborate as Waterfront Park. As the City continues to urbanize the provision of urban plazas or other private and public open spaces within the Town Centres will become more important.

Urban plazas or pocket parks provide a place of relative tranquility in relation to the surrounding built environment. In addition community desires to protect significant lands from development has also increased. Therefore to meet the diverse needs of our community, natural areas that may have some development potential may be considered for acquisition.