South Florida's green spaces got some serious green from voters Tuesday.
A half dozen municipalities across South Florida asked voters to weigh in on bond items that would help pay for parks and recreation initiatives. The projects involved everything from improving lighting and walkways to creating entirely new parks.
With little exception, the cities that asked for bonds to fund parks and rec, got them. And there were a lot of places asking:
- Approved: Doral - $150 million
- Approved: Miami Beach - $169 million
- Rejected: Cooper City - $12 million
- Approved: Lighthouse Point - $16.5 million
- Approved: Margate - $10 million
- Approved: Oakland Park - $40 million
"It's great to see more measures on the ballot in Florida," said Will Abberger with the Trust for Public Land, which tracks ballot items that would pay for park development.
Abberger says this year saw some of the most parkland bond items since the recession.
"That's due in part to the $100 million appropriation that the legislature made for Florida Forever in last year's budget," Abberger said. "Many of the state programs require a local match so having local funding allows voters … to leverage those funds that they approve with state matching funds."
