Austin Parks Foundation is excited to announce that we are a recipient of a Community Placemaking Grant from Project for Public Spaces, funded by General Motors, to improve Parque Zaragoza.
As part of the grant, Project for Public Spaces and Austin Parks Foundation are teaming up with the City of Austin’s Park and Recreation Department, Ride Bikes Austin and the Amigos de Parque Zaragoza – the “Adopt-A-Park” group that has successfully advocated for several park improvements in the park. Through this Community Placemaking Grant, we will collaborate to transform an unused former driveway next to the park into a safe and exciting gathering place. Austin Parks Foundation’s goal is to work with the local Hispanic community to activate the space with public programs that help to preserve and strengthen Parque Zaragoza’s customs and traditions, while also offering ways for the broader community in East Austin to learn about the area’s history and connect with one another.
In 2024, Amigos de Parque Zaragoza identified an opportunity to transform an underutilized parking lot adjacent to the recreation center into an active community programming space. Project for Public Spaces awarded APF a $100,000 grant to move forward with the project.
Community input sessions showed strong support for a bicycle traffic garden that would serve park users of all ages and abilities. This scaled-down street network, based on an original design by Discover Traffic Gardens, will enable children and new riders to practice biking and road safety in a car-free space. Austin Parks Foundation partnered with the Amigos and PPS to manage the community engagement and design process, while also overseeing construction. To ensure universal access, APF contributed an additional $50,000 to construct an accessible walkway and ramp system, enabling full participation by Therapeutic Recreation Services participants and all park visitors.
The traffic garden was completed in July 2025, with an official ribbon cutting taking place in late August.
Parque Zaragoza was founded in 1931 as the first public park for the city’s Mexican-American community. Since then, the park has grown to include a thriving recreational and cultural center for East Austin’s largely Hispanic community. However, the surrounding neighborhood has also become one of the most rapidly gentrifying in Austin, Texas, and many members of the historic community are facing displacement.
Placemaking is a proven approach in bringing communities and people together around the shared vision of a public space. Not only will the grant allow us to bring our vision to life and create lasting change in our city, but the process of involving the community creates a sense of ownership and investment in Austin and draws residents closer. Through the implementation of a traffic garden,
