8.1. SR 07-18-2016 - Laserfiche WebLink

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MARKET ANALYSIS City of Elk River, MN Feasibility Study * Page 46 Recreation Activity and Facility Trends: There continues to be very strong growth in the number of people participating in recreation and leisure activities. It is estimated that one in five Americans over the age of six participates in some form of fitness related activity at least once a week. American Sports Data, Inc. reported that membership in U.S. health clubs has increased by 76.1% between 1987 and 1999, and memberships in health clubs reached an all-time high of 32.8 million in 2010. The greatest increase in membership has occurred in the over 55 age group, followed by the under 18 and 35-54 age categories. Overall membership in the 35-54 age group increased while it actually decreased in the 18-34 age group. Statistics also indicate that approximately 12 out of every 100 people of the U.S. population (or 12%) belong to a health club. On the other side most public recreation centers attract between 20% and 30% of a market area (more than once) during the course of a year. All of this indicates the relative strength of a market for a community recreation facility. However, despite these increases the American population as a whole continues to lead a rather sedentary life with an average of 25% of people across the country reporting that they engage in no physical activity (according to The Center for Disease Control). One of the areas of greatest participant growth over the last 10 years is in fitness related activities such as exercise with equipment, aerobic exercise and group cycling. This is also the most volatile area of growth with specific interest areas soaring in popularity for a couple of years only to be replaced by a new activity for the coming years. Also showing particularly strong growth numbers are ice hockey and running/jogging while swimming participation remains consistently high despite recent drops in overall numbers. It is significant that many of the activities that can take place in an indoor recreation setting are ranked in the top fifteen in overall participation by the National Sporting Goods Association. Of note is that the City of Elk River has a partnership with the YMCA and the YMCA has a significant fitness component. Due to the increasing recreational demands there has been a shortage in most communities of the following spaces.  Gymnasiums  Pools (especially leisure pools)  Ice arenas  Weight/cardiovascular equipment areas  Indoor running/walking tracks  Meeting/multipurpose (general program) space  Community theater and events space  Fieldhouse for turf and hard court sports  Senior’s program space  Pre-school and youth space  Teen use areas APPENDIX B