Parkland WA is a unique diverse community currently unincorporated in Pierce County We Want our Own is a student run environmental justice organization local to Parkland. We want a Parkland Where we feel safe, free, like the community is willing to connect with nature, create more greenspace, and invest in the future of our environment and community.
Our campaign is to incorporate Parkland into a city where people are more important than money. A city that prioritizes community safety, climate resilience environmental health, and sustainable resource management.

What are our issues?
Environmental Sustainability and Climate Resilience

Incorporating Parkland would allow us to create local access to needed local resources. Creating access through transit and walkable communities would mean we could reduce trips by car – reducing both carbon emissions, improving our air quality, and keeping streets cool. Research on 15 minute cities, where access to schools, work, recreation, and critical resources like food within 15 minutes of where people live resulted in a 70% increase in ecological and human health than surrounding areas.
We are currently subject to outdated policy and irrelevant Pierce County Policy. This results in consistent loss of greens paces, and tree canopy for business and inaccessible housing, often owned by people outside of Parkland.  An Incorporated parkland could create requirements to maintain and increase tree canopy, and green space, increasing the overall health fo your community. Cities with strong environmental protection have seen an increasing economic, social, and mental health outcomes
We currently have hotter surface temperatures, worse air pollution, and poor environmental and human health compared to surrounding communities. The County government focus on a business friendly community instead of a people centered community. Does Parkland ready need more Parking lots?

An incorporated Parkland could create a mandate that the health and welfare of residents and the environment should come first.

Local Control and self determination:
Parkland is unincorporated. This means our local government is Pierce County. Pierce County is 1807 square miles, with lots of different communities. We are part of district 6, and our elected representative, Council Chair Jani Incorporating would allow us to change the rules about how sidewalks, bike lanes, and public transit happens in our community does a great job representing us, but she is responsible for representing Parkland, Dupont, Steilacoom, Lakewood, JBLM, Anderson, Ketron, and McNeil Islands. All these communities are so different and have different needs.
We deserve local control of our own community, where we can decide our own policies and practices designed for us, by us. The same rules that govern a rural island, or small mountain community, should not apply to an urban, dense community like Parkland.
Local control would mean we could prioritize things that matter to us, like community safety, sidewalks, and the health of our environment
Based off our infrastructure, funding, and support, the county seems solely focused on making Parkland friendly for business and cars, not for people.

Community Safety
Incorporating would allow us to change the rules about how sidewalks, bike lanes, and public transit happens in our community. sidewalks/making parkland a walkable community helps with physical and social health. According to a study from research from Texas A&M studied automobile-oriented communities mostly only use automobiles which causes insufficient bicyclist and pedestrian infrastructure, reduced physical activity, and disconnected street networks. On the other hand, walkable communities with mixed land uses meaning more walking and bike friendly community have more connected street networks, rich physical activity resources, and pedestrian friendly designs to influence physical activity. Another thing is that socially automobile-oriented communities usually rely a lot on automobiles which causes them to ignore the need for pedestrians' needs and limiting social interaction. Studies also suggest walkable communities influence more physical activities which facilitates more social interaction around the neighborhood.