Parks managers share an ultimate objective: to ensure that the parks they manage serve their communities the best way possible. Conducting surveys of park users offers the potential to help managers respond better to community needs, resolve conflicts among groups of park users, and manage park assets more effectively--all keys to maximizing the community benefits of parks. Recently, as part of the Wallace Foundation's Urban Parks Initiative, the Urban Institute designed and conducted usership surveys in four urban parks. Our experience illustrates that usership surveying is a potentially valuable tool for parks managers and suggests ways in which different types of surveys could be helpful. [View the corresponding press release]