This Metropolis Has the Finest Park System within the U.S.

We journey to huge cities to eat good meals, go to museums and monuments, and see the sights — from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Empire State Constructing. En path to the day’s actions, you would possibly dip into the town park for a fast lunch or take a shortcut on a park’s strolling trails. These moments, regardless of how transient, present us with a tiny dose of nature and a reprieve from the neverending sidewalk hustle (one thing that’s surprisingly essential, in keeping with the American Psychological Affiliation).

Along with making a metropolis extra interesting to guests, parks, and greenspaces make dwelling in a metropolis extra fulfilling — from offering locations for youths to play and canine to run to supplying areas for romantic picnics and social occasions. For metropolis dwellers, the standard of the park system can actually make a metropolis roughly livable.

To that finish, the Belief for Public Land launched its annual ParkScore Index, which evaluated the park methods of the nation’s 100 most populous cities. For the fourth consecutive 12 months, Washington, D.C. got here out on high with a rating of 84.8 out of 100.

Town, which has the undisputed finest big-city park system within the nation, has 697 parks and greenspaces, and 99 p.c of the town’s residents reside close to a park. However the metropolis actually stands out with regards to park entry and park fairness. In response to the findings, neighborhoods the place most residents determine as folks of coloration have entry to about the identical quantity of park house as residents of neighborhoods the place most individuals determine as white.

That degree of equality will not be present in most huge US cities. Amongst all ParkScore cities, folks of coloration have entry to a mean of 45 p.c much less park house than residents of predominantly white neighborhoods. The identical 45 p.c disparity applies to folks dwelling in low-income neighborhoods.

In rating the cities’ park methods the index thought-about 5 elements: the share of residents dwelling inside a 10-minute stroll of a park, the disparity in park entry for communities of coloration and low-income neighborhoods, the town’s park acreage, the sum of money residents put money into parks, and the variety of park facilities — from canine parks and playgrounds to senior facilities and bogs.

The belief additionally revealed new analysis that discovered that residents of cities with a excessive ParkScore rating are typically extra socially related and engaged with their neighbors, extra prone to volunteer, and extra prone to type friendships with folks in several socio-economic teams (which might improve financial mobility and scale back inequality). 

A park’s capability to extend social connection — and thereby enhance bodily and psychological well being — is likely one of the research’s main findings. 

“Park leaders are stepping as much as promote group connection and tackle the nationwide epidemic of loneliness and social isolation,” mentioned Diane Regas, president and CEO of Belief for Public Land, in a press launch shared with Journey + Leisure. One instance shared by the belief is that of Sherry Taylor, a 34-year-old single mom in Raleigh, North Carolina, who related with one other single mom by the town’s “Welcome to Raleigh Parks” program. Now, the 2 girls repeatedly assist one another with childcare and carpooling.  

Following Washington, D.C. within the record are the next 9 cities — acknowledged because the highest-ranking big-city park methods within the US:

1. Washington, D.C. 
ParkScore (Max 100): 84.8 

2. Minneapolis
ParkScore: 82.5 

3. St. Paul, Minnesota
ParkScore: 81.6

4. Irvine, California
ParkScore: 80.1

5. Arlington, Virginia 
ParkScore: 79.2 

6. Seattle
ParkScore: 77.4 

7. San Francisco
ParkScore: 76.5 

8. Cincinnati 
ParkScore: 75.8 

9. Portland, Oregon 
ParkScore: 74.0 

10. Chicago
ParkScore: 71.8