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

We journey to massive 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 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 vital, in accordance with the American Psychological Affiliation).

Along with making a metropolis extra interesting to guests, parks, and greenspaces make residing in a metropolis extra pleasurable — from offering locations for teenagers to play and canines 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 yr, Washington, D.C. got here out on prime with a rating of 84.8 out of 100.

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

That stage of equality shouldn’t be present in most massive US cities. Amongst all ParkScore cities, folks of shade 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 residing in low-income neighborhoods.

In rating the cities’ park methods the index thought-about 5 elements: the proportion of residents residing inside a 10-minute stroll of a park, the disparity in park entry for communities of shade and low-income neighborhoods, town’s park acreage, the sum of money residents spend money on parks, and the variety of park facilities — from canine parks and playgrounds to senior facilities and loos.

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

A park’s potential to extend social connection — and thereby enhance bodily and psychological well being — is without doubt one of the examine’s main findings. 

“Park leaders are stepping as much as promote neighborhood connection and tackle the nationwide epidemic of loneliness and social isolation,” stated 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 way of town’s “Welcome to Raleigh Parks” program. Now, the 2 girls usually 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