About Recreation and Parks 

Vision

We create community through people, parks and programs.

 Mission

To provide recreational experiences, foster human development, increase cultural unity, protect environmental resources, facilitate community problem solving, strengthen safety and security, promote health and wellness, strengthen community image and sense of place, and support economic development.

Services

The Recreation and Parks Department designs, constructs, operates, and maintains approximately 525 acres of City parks and sports facilities.  We serve as the caretaker for an additional 250 acres of public landscaped areas, undeveloped parks, street medians, and back-on landscaping.

Recreation and Parks maintains approximately 72,000 street and park trees, and a large number of special recreational and historic facilities, including Howarth Park, Luther Burbank Home & Gardens, the Church of One Tree, the Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery, Finley and Steele Lane Community Centers, Santa Rosa Senior Center, Ridgway and Finley Aquatic Centers, and the Bennett Valley Golf Course.  

The department provides recreation programming to 200,000 participants of all ages and abilities annually, and offers 1,600 scheduled classes each year.

With a share of the funding from the Transactions and Use Tax (Measure "O"), the department provides gang prevention and intervention services to youth in Santa Rosa through after-school and summer playground programs, community grants to non-profits providing related services, in-school violence prevention and conflict resolution education, and staff support to the Neighborhood Revitalization Program and the Mayor’s Gang Prevention Task Force Policy and Operational Teams.