City of Sarasota Parks and Recreation Master Plan

Sarasota’s natural beauty, thriving arts scene, and reinvigorated downtown have been getting noticed: within the past

year, it has ranked near the top of the list of the “Best Small Cities in America”; one of the “Top 100 Best Places to Live 2018”; among “The South’s Best Cities,” and one of its “Prettiest Cities”.

However, City’s glittering reputation and amenities belie the existence of a population that is struggling. Homelessness continues to be a major challenge, safety concerns in some of the City’s poorer neighborhoods make certain recreation prohibitive, and many of the City's parks and recreation facilities are need of improvements. While a Parks and Recreation Master Plan is not a panacea for all the issues facing the City, it can help create a “framework” for a more livable, sustainable, and resilient community that leads to a degree of societal change as well as improving the quality of everyday life for Sarasota’s residents.

Perez Planning + Design, LLC served as the Project Manager and Parks Planner with David Barth serving as the Principal-In-Charge. The planning process consisted of four phases, including an evaluation of the existing system, a needs assessment, the development of a long-range vision, and an implementation strategy. The Parks and Recreation Master Plan led to the development of the first Parks District in the State of Florida.

The City of Sarasota has worked with David Barth, Carlos Perez, and their Team for the past year on a Parks and Recreation Master Plan. I can attest that the level of services provided is of the highest quality.

The Team was timely in their work and have been readily available and easy to contact to answer our questions. They are also very knowledgeable, professional, and personable. I highly recommend the exemplary service of the Team.

- Jerry Fogle, Director