The Big Green Easy
New Orleans' first-ever community-driven, equitable vision plan for parks and recreation — completed January 2024. Now it's time for the City to formally adopt it.
"New Orleanians have a park and recreation system they love — with a high-quality park in every neighborhood; robust and inclusive programming for individual and community health; a green and blue system of trails and natural lands that connect, protect, and beautify the city."
— The Big Green Easy, January 2024
What Is the Big Green Easy?
The Big Green Easy is New Orleans' first citywide park and recreation vision plan — a comprehensive, community-driven roadmap for making parks equitable, resilient, and excellent for every neighborhood. It was born directly out of the 2019 Parks Millage, which required the city's four major park agencies to coordinate for the first time and produce exactly this kind of plan.
The plan is both visionary and pragmatic: it envisions a park system New Orleanians can be proud to leave to future generations, while using community priorities to narrow the focus to realistic one-year and ten-year actions.
2019 — Voters Pass the Parks Millage
New Orleans voters overwhelmingly approve the 6.31 mill parks tax, creating the first shared funding structure for all four Park Partners and requiring a citywide master plan.
2021 — Planning Grant Secured
The Mayor's Office and NORD Foundation secure a grant from the National Recreation and Park Association to fund development of a citywide plan.
2022–2023 — Over a Year of Community Engagement
Surveys, workshops, focus groups, and Park Ambassadors gather input from New Orleanians in every Council District.
January 2024 — Plan Completed
The Big Green Easy is finalized — a first-of-its-kind, equity-focused plan for parks and recreation covering every corner of the city.
New Orleans Parks Are Not Equitable
For decades, New Orleans has had no coordinated process to prioritize citywide park investment — and the disparities are stark. The Big Green Easy is the city's first plan built to correct that.
26 %
Of citywide park visitors from 2019–2022 were black — in a city that is majority black
16 º
Hotter in the city than nearby rural areas — parks are a critical tool for cooling
31 %
Of New Orleans neighborhoods have no neighborhood park at all
27 %
Of New Orleanians are physically inactive — parks directly improve public health
Built by the Community, for the Community
The Big Green Easy is grounded in six months of listening. The planning team hired eight Park Ambassadors — at least one from every Council District — and reached New Orleanians at second lines, playgrounds, libraries, convenience stores, and more. Feedback was filtered by race, age, income, and disability to ensure the plan reflects the needs of historically underserved communities.
Where there was consensus, feedback was translated directly into the Community Directive for Parks and Recreation — the guiding principles from which all plan recommendations flow.
1,595+
Survey Respondents
26
Stakeholder Conversations
8
Park Ambassadors (1 per District)
8
Workshops Citywide
10
Community Focus Groups
249
Registered Workshop Attendees
The Community Directive for Parks & Recreation
These three principles — drawn directly from community feedback — are the foundation from which every recommendation in the Big Green Easy flows.
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Build Public Trust...
through community-driven project prioritization, transparent design and decision-making, reliable park maintenance, and coordination of efforts and resources across all park providers.
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Make high-quality neighborhood parks...
the backbone of the city's system. Every neighborhood deserves a park designed to meet its specific needs — the bedrock of an equitable park system.
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Recognize parks and recreation centers...
as essential infrastructure — cooling the city, absorbing stormwater, supporting public health, and building community resilience during crises.
What the Plan Envisions
The complete scope of physical projects recommended to realize New Orleanians' vision for a citywide park system they're proud to leave to future generations.
129
Neighborhood Park Reinvestment Projects
+139
New Miles of New Greenway
26
Sports & Recreation Facility Projects
+35
New Neighborhood & Pocket Parks
+83
New Miles of New Blueway
+20
New Destination & Nature Parks
Six strategic priorities that form the backbone of the Big Green Easy's action plan — each grounded in community feedback from across the city.
The Big Moves
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Neighborhood Parks for All
Launch a Neighborhood Park Program with dedicated staff to implement community-driven park designs and establish best practices for empowering residents as park stewards.
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Community Programming
Expand inclusive recreation programs — especially for youth, seniors, and people with disabilities — and build new partnerships to make programs easier to find and access.
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Rethink Park Delivery
Address the fragmented, 16-agency management structure that creates inefficiencies. Build coordination between all park providers, not just the four millage recipients.
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Sustainable Funding
Fix the long-term park funding shortfall through diversified public and private funding, including philanthropic partnerships and new funding sources beyond the millage.
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Resilient & Beautiful System
Use parks to make New Orleans greener, cooler, and more flood-resilient. Implement stormwater management targets, land conservation goals, and "resilience hub" facilities.
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Iconic Parks & Landscapes
Continue investing in New Orleans' beloved destination parks while creating a new generation of iconic parks in underserved areas that celebrate local culture and identity.
The Plan Exists.
Now It Must Be Adopted.
The Big Green Easy was two years in the making, backed by the largest community engagement effort in the city's parks history. It was delivered to the City of New Orleans in January 2024. But a plan without formal adoption is just a document.
Formal adoption by the City Council and Mayor means the Big Green Easy becomes official policy — with a commitment to fund, staff, and implement its recommendations. Without it, the plan risks sitting on a shelf while our parks continue to deteriorate.
Official City Policy
Of citywide park visitors from 2019–2022 were black — in a city that is majority black.
Funding Commitments Made
Short-term deferred maintenance and early-win park projects in Equity Investment Zones are funded through General Fund and available ARPA dollars.
Chief Park Planning Officer Appointed
A dedicated CPPO is appointed to coordinate implementation across all four park agencies — a key one-year action the plan itself calls for.
Accountability to the Community
Park Partners are held to the plan's prioritization model and reporting requirements, ensuring investments go where communities need them most.
Tell the City:
Formally Adopt The Big Green Easy
New Orleans communities showed up. The plan was built. Now we need City Hall to follow through — by formally adopting the Big Green Easy as official city policy and committing to its implementation. Add your name.