
Leslie Knope, a midlevel bureaucrat in an Indiana Parks and Recreation Department, hopes to beautify her town (and boost her own career) by helping local nurse Ann Perkins turn an abandoned construction site into a community park, but what should be a fairly simple project is stymied at every turn by oafish bureaucrats, selfish neighbors, governmental red tape and a myriad of other challenges. Leslie's colleague Tom Haverford, who delights in exploiting his position for personal gain, is as likely to undermine her efforts as to help her, while her boss, Ron Swanson, is adamantly opposed to government in any form, even though he's a bureaucrat himself.

Leslie Knope tries to beautify her town by helping a local nurse turn a construction pit into a community park.

Leslie and her committee try to build support for her park project; Tom uses questionable recruiting tactics.

Leslie asks a reporter to do a story on her project; Tom tries to kiss up to his boss.

Leslie faces a tough ethical choice at a casual get-together; Andy has a surprise for Ann.