Parks, Trails & Recreation Master Plan

SOMALI Somalis had unique comments in the areas of amenities, programming and park location. The amenity they mentioned had a clearly cultural orientation. Since Muslims are required to pray 5 times per day, they asked for an enclosed space to pray so it didn’t have to be done in public since it looks strange to some people. Somali groups specifically mentioned swimming lessons along with an additional swimming pool. They provided a geographically specific park comment - “There are a large number of Somalis who live in the Southbridge neighborhood of Shakopee. The park in the area is called a dog park. This is something that is not appealing to people from our culture. We need a new park there that isn’t a dog park.” Providing more typical park amenities would be beneficial for this group in Southbridge. Basketball would be an low cost amenity in Southbridge that would have a bigger impact to South Asians spoke about unique amenities they were interested in having in the parks in Shakopee that would make their use more appealing. Cricket is a major sport in South Asia and having a cricket field in Shakopee was of great interest, participants mentioned that playing cricket was a favored activity, “but not in Shakopee”. They also mentioned having indoor volleyball courts so it could be played year- round, clearly stated was a desire for more tennis courts because of the wait-time to use them and the placement of emergency phone stations in the parks. the neighborhood. SOUTH ASIAN

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Needs Assessment

SHAKOPEE PARKS, TRAILS, AND RECREATION MASTER PLAN | NEEDS ASSESSMENT 82