Pottstown Play Streets is a seasonal award-winning summer recreation and community development program delivered over a series of seven two hour events on Thursdays from June to August.

The events typically take place on streets near parks or green spaces throughout the Borough of Pottstown. The partners behind the Play Streets program, the Play Streets Coalition, temporarily close a neighborhood block to traffic, set-up tables for partner outreach and activities, and disburse free play equipment to create safe, fun, and healthy public spaces for children, families and neighbors to connect, play, and learn right outside their doors. It gives kids of all ages more space to be active.

Pottstown Play Streets would not be possible without partnership and community. Pottstown Play Streets is led by the Borough of Pottstown Parks and Recreation Department. They are part of the Pottstown Play Streets Coalition convened by the Pottstown Area Health & Wellness Foundation to help provide this program to Pottstown residents.

As of May 18, 2023, Pottstown Play Streets Coalition members include: Be ReZilient, Healing Through The Arts; Borough of Pottstown Parks and Recreation Department; Family Services of Montgomery County; Genesis Housing Corp.; Greater Pottstown Tennis & Learning; Health Partner Plans; Pottstown Area Health & Wellness Foundation; Pottstown Children's Discovery Center; Pottstown Community Arts; Pottstown Cluster of Religious Communities; Pottstown Trauma Informed Community Connection; The JT Dorsey Foundation; and The STRIVE Initiative. These partners will support and attend at least one or more Play Streets events in Summer 2023.

Play Streets has been used throughout the world as a tool to address barriers to outdoor physical play. The first Play Streets in the United States happened in Harlem NYC in 1914. Regular physical activity and play in childhood and adolescence have many benefits, including improving healthy bones and muscles, reducing anxiety and stress, and increasing self-esteem. Despite these benefits, approximately 3 of 4 United States adolescents still do not meet national physical activity guidelines. In several communities across the United States, traffic, violence, and crime are barriers to parents allowing children to play outside. (Examining the Implementation of Play Streets: A Systematic Review of the Grey Literature, Journal of Public Health Management and Practice ; 4 ways cities are embracing and promoting playful learning in their communities, Brookings).

The Foundation's 2018 Tri-County Area Community Health Needs Assessment found that nearly half (48%) of Pottstown adults reported that they do not have a park or green space that they are comfortable visiting. In comparison, 20% of adults living within the Spring-Ford school district report that they do not have a park or green space that they are comfortable visiting during the day.