Measuring the Change in Urban Recreation Service Distribution: The Case of Oakland, California, 1960–1974

The goal of this paper is to examine changes in the distribution of recreation services in Oakland, California, over the period 1960 to 1974. Two measures of recreation capital stock are developed and analyzed in the context of a model of the intra-city distribution of local public expenditure. The units of analysis are Oakland's elementary school neighborhoods adjusted to correspond to whole census tracts. The capital stock measures have been adjusted to allow for service spillovers into adjacent neighborhoods. Hypotheses about the existence of discrimination against minority and low-income groups in the provision of recreation capital stock are tested and the impact of various institutional constraints is evaluated. The empirical evidence provides little support for the hypothesis of discrimination against minority groups in the provision of recreation capital stock. Furthermore, the statistical analysis provides little evidence indicating any change in decision-making over the period. This outcome can be explained in terms of both the city's internal bureaucratic structure and the city's involvement with external federal recreation grant programs.