More Information
- Replace the current Parks and Recreation Master Plan (last updated in 2012)
- Create the City’s first Trails Master Plan, as required by the Open Space Charter
- Align with the City’s updated Comprehensive Plan
- Take stock of current land, facilities, programs, and levels of service
- Learn what the community wants and needs—now and in the future
- Identify opportunities, gaps, and challenges
- Recommend ways to manage and prioritize resources
- Reflect public input, local data, and national best practices
- Plan for funding, partnerships, and future projects
- Guide smart, sustainable decision-making
- Support decisions about trail maintenance, development, connections, and design—while balancing amenities with land and resource conservation.
- Provide a design or construction plan for individual amenities
- Include detailed evaluation or recommendation for specific properties or facilities
- Guarantee funding or result in immediate implementation
- Lock in a fixed list of projects—it’s built to evolve as community needs change
- Replace future public input—projects will still follow the City’s budget and engagement processes
- Invest in the places where you walk, bike, play, and connect with others
- Make parks, trails, and programs more inclusive, welcoming, and accessible for all
- Protect and restore natural areas for future generations
- Use resources wisely to support long-term environmental and financial sustainability
- Ensure your voice shapes how parks, recreation, and open spaces grow and change over time
- A flexible, phased approach
- Numerous community engagement and outreach initiatives throughout all project phases, including key milestones and decision points
- Custom communications to reach all types of residents
- Engagement with advisory boards and stakeholders
FAQ's
Why are you doing this project?
The Guidebook will give the PROS Department clear direction for the next 10 years. It helps staff stay responsive to its residents, strengthen quality of life, and make sustainable, community-centered decision. It will:
How is it different than the City's Comprehensive Plan?
The City’s Comprehensive Plan is a broad, community-wide document that guides growth, land use, housing, transportation, and economic development for Louisville as a whole. The PROS Guidebook focuses specifically on parks, recreation, open space, golf, and trails. It provides more detailed direction for how these services and facilities will evolve over the next 10+ years, while aligning with the larger vision of the Comprehensive Plan.
What is the purpose of the Guidebook?
Through City assessments and public input, the Guidebook will:
What won't the Guidebook do?
While the Guidebook will shape the big picture, it’s not intended to make detailed design or funding decisions. It will not:
Why does it matter to me?
This Guidebook is about building the future you want to see in Louisville—one that reflects your priorities and vision for the community. This is the chance to tell us what you want! It will help the City:
What is the process and timeline?
The process will happen in phases beginning in fall of 2025 and is expected to be finalized and adopted by winter 2026.
The process will include