Carty Park Play Area
Neighborhoods: Historic Rondo
Amount Needed: $250,000
Project Partners: City of Saint Paul Parks and Recreation, Kaboom!
Carty Park, located in the heart of the historic Rondo neighborhood, is a treasured community space surrounded by over 5,000 young people under the age of 18. In a diverse area where 45.3% of residents are people of color and 18% live below the poverty line, this park plays a critical role in providing a safe, inclusive space for recreation and connection. With well-used basketball and tennis courts, popular BBQ grills, and a picnic area, Carty Park is more than just a green space—it’s a gathering place where families and neighbors come together. However, the large, outdated playground no longer meets the needs of the community. Transforming this space will foster ensure that all children, regardless of background, have access to quality outdoor recreation.
For Carty Park, we are working in partnership with KABOOM!, a national play space creator whose mission is to end play space inequity for good. Kaboom!’s unique Playspace Inequity Prioritization Index (PIPI) combined 21 publicly available data points into a score for every census tract in Saint Paul. This analysis helped underscores why Carty Park is next on the list.
