• Who We Are

    City Parks Blog is a joint effort of the Center for City Park Excellence at the Trust for Public Land and the City Parks Alliance to chronicle the news and issues of the urban park movement. Read more about us.

  • Urban Park Issues

  • Enter your email address to receive notifications of new City Parks Blog posts by email.

  • Archives

  • Urban Green Cover Ad

Greater & Greener in Minneapolis & St. Paul

Posted on June 16, 2017 by Center for City Park Excellence
lighthouse

Not too many park systems have their own lighthouses…

falls

St. Anthony falls on the Mississippi

We’re just six weeks away from the start of the Greater & Greener Urban Parks Conference in Minneapolis and St. Paul and we want to encourage you to attend.  You can register on the website.

realbridge

hike/bike trail footbridge over a stream that empties into the Mississippi.

Recently, the Trust for Public Land held their first all-staff in person meeting in many, many years on the campus of the University of Minnesota and we were able to enjoy a little of these two great park systems. The weather was great and it should be an amazing conference there.  We’re posting a few pictures of what we saw to encourage you to register and join us. (The Trust for Public Land is a sponsor and will be well represented at the Conference. And of course, the City Parks Alliance is the presenter of the Greater & Greener Conference.

bridge

trail and steps leading back to the Grand Rounds trail system

bikecoop

building1

Great architecture can be found in downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Filed under: City Parks, facilities, funding, ParkScore | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a comment »

ParkScore: St. Paul is #2

Posted on May 26, 2017 by Center for City Park Excellence

ParkScore badges_Instagram_2017_2 St. Paul

Repeating their number 2 position again in 2017 is St. Paul Parks & Recreation! Congratulations!  St. Paul has a park within a ten-minute walk of 96 percent of their citizens, with 15 percent of the city as parkland and a median park size of 3.7 acres.  You can check out all of the details here or check out their map here.

You can experience all that St. Paul has to offer in their award winning Parks department by attending the City Parks Alliance Greater & Greener International Urban Parks Conference July 29-August 2. Over 1,000 parks advocates, designers, programmers, planners and professionals will be there and it’s a great way to learn more about what our urban parks are doing.

mears-park-st-paul

Mears Park, downtown St. Paul

And check out The Trust for Public Land’s ParkScore with the 2017 rankings of the 100 largest US city park systems. Questions? contact us at ccpe@tpl.org

st-paul-bikeway

Separated bikway nearing completion in downtown St. Paul.

.

 

Filed under: City Parks, facilities, green infrastructure, ParkScore, transportation | Tagged: , , | Leave a comment »

ParkScore: Minneapolis is #1

Posted on May 25, 2017 by Center for City Park Excellence

ParkScore badges_Instagram_2017_1 Minneapolis

Congratulations to the Minneapolis Parks Board and the City of Minneapolis for being number one for the FIFTH year in a row! Minneapolis has a park within a ten-minute walk of 97 percent of their citizens, with 15 percent of the city as parkland and a median park size of 6.6 acres.  You can check out all of the details here or check out their map here.

Click on the photo to view the Minneapolis ParkScore profile and score results or here.

Better yet, make plans to join 1,000 park advocates, planners, programmers and managers at the Greater & Greener Parks Conference in Minneapolis and St. Paul (#2) July 29-August 2 and see the number 1 and 2 city parks systems for yourself.

Sheridan Memorial Park_Trust for Public Land Event_05-24-2017_61H

Micheal Langley (Greater MSP), Charlie McCabe (The Trust for Public Land), Jayne Miller (Minneapolis Parks Board) and Melvin Tennant (MeetMinneapolis) celebrate the fifth #1 win in a row)

Filed under: 10-minute walk, City Parks, facilities, funding, green infrastructure, ParkScore | Leave a comment »

ParkScore 2017 has arrived!

Posted on May 24, 2017 by Center for City Park Excellence

renditionDownload

The Trust for Public Land is pleased to announce that the 2017 edition of ParkScore is live.  Visit and find out where all of the 100 largest US cities rank.  Minneapolis has once again come out on top, with St. Paul in 2nd place. [And you can can experience them in person through the City Park Alliance Greater & Greener Conference July 29-August 2.]

A big thanks to all of the Parks and Recreation agencies in the 100 largest cities. Assembling all of the data, especially the GIS information, is a big job and we couldn’t do it without each city’s help and support.  We truly appreciate it.

We’re also doing a big promotional push and we have a number of media reports published, this update is from Thursday evening, May 25.

Chicago:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-chicago-park-score-ranking-met-20170524-story.html

WGN Radio – Adrian Benepe interview

Washington, D.C.:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/parks-in-dc-and-arlington-lose-ground-to-west-coast-in-ranking-report-says/2017/05/23/731b3f7c-3fe7-11e7-8c25-44d09ff5a4a8_story.html?utm_term=.28647ebfab93

http://wtop.com/dc/2017/05/dog-parks-playgrounds-dcs-green-spaces-measure/

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Washington-Arlington-Rank-in-Top-10-for-Parks-423959033.html

http://dcist.com/2017/05/parkscore_2017.php

http://www.wusa9.com/news/local/dc/dc-va-parks-among-top-in-nation/442557951

Twin Cities:

http://www.startribune.com/minneapolis-parks-named-tops-in-the-nation-and-st-paul-comes-in-second/423970983/

http://www.twincities.com/2017/05/23/twin-cities-have-best-parks-systems-in-nation-says-trust-for-public-land/

http://www.fox9.com/news/256660112-story

http://www.kare11.com/entertainment/television/programs/kare-11-sunrise/twin-cities-earn-top-park-honors-in-the-us/442464085

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2017/05/24/minneapolis-named-nations-best-park-system-again

https://www.minnpost.com/politics-policy/2017/05/why-minneapolis-keeps-topping-rankings-nations-best-park-system

http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2017/05/24/minneapolis-parks-best-in-u-s/

New York:

http://www.amny.com/news/nyc-ranked-7th-for-best-parks-in-the-country-behind-sf-and-portland-1.13658767

WNYC – Interview with Adrian Benepe.

Buffalo:

http://buffalonews.com/2017/05/25/buffalos-park-system-about-average-nationally-group-says/

New Jersey:

http://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/2017/05/in_ranking_100_us_cities_for_parks_jersey_city_is.html

Colorado:

www.denverpost.com/2017/05/23/denver-population-density-open-space/

http://303magazine.com/2017/05/denver-parks-1/

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/open-space-per-resident-shrinks-below-national-average-as-denver-swells-with-new-residents

http://gazette.com/colorado-springs-behind-national-average-in-funding-parks-study-finds/article/1603795

http://www.9news.com/news/local/three-colorado-cities-have-top-park-honors-in-us/442755937

San Francisco

http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/SF-ranks-3rd-among-U-S-cities-for-parks-and-11168321.php

Los Angeles:

http://www.presstelegram.com/lifestyle/20170523/long-beach-one-of-the-best-us-cities-for-access-to-local-parks

http://laist.com/2017/05/24/las_parkscore_drops_to_74.php

http://mynewsla.com/orange-county/2017/05/24/irvine-among-top-10-in-country-for-park-access-la-tumbles-to-74th-in-nation/

Fresno:

http://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article152291507.html

Sacramento:

http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article152476764.html

San Diego:

http://timesofsandiego.com/life/2017/05/24/san-diego-chula-vista-parks-get-high-rankings/

http://fox5sandiego.com/2017/05/24/san-diego-among-top-15-us-park-systems/

Anchorage:

http://www.youralaskalink.com/news/anchorage-ranks-st-earning-park-benches-from-the-release-parkscore/article_6b463f76-40c9-11e7-a979-274e03447378.html

Atlanta:

http://www.ajc.com/news/local-govt–politics/atlanta-parks-system-ranked-50th-among-100-big-cities/KFWQeUUbWRdwyGiQkpiIlO/

http://saportareport.com/trust-public-land-ranks-atlantas-parkscore-stuck-middle/

http://news.wabe.org/post/why-atlanta-ranks-only-50th-public-parks-index

Fort Wayne:

http://www.news-sentinel.com/news/local/fort_wayne_tied_for_last_in_ratings_of_park_systems_in_100_largest_us_cities_20170525&profile=1008

http://wane.com/2017/05/24/study-ranks-fort-wayne-parks-worst-among-large-cities/

Louisville:

http://www.courier-journal.com/story/life/2017/05/25/louisvilles-parks-among-nations-worst/343970001/

New Orleans:

http://www.nola.com/living/index.ssf/2017/05/parks_score_new_orleans_37th_1.html

Jacksonville:

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2017-05-24/report-ranks-jacksonville-s-parks-90th-nation-out-100-biggest-citieshttp:/jacksonville.com/news/metro/2017-05-24/report-ranks-jacksonville-s-parks-90th-nation-out-100-biggest-cities

Cleveland/Toledo:

http://wksu.org/post/cleveland-parks-score-middle-pack-according-new-study#stream/0

http://www.wtol.com/story/35507883/toledo-parks-rank-63rd-out-of-100-most-populous-cities-in-the-us

http://www.wtol.com/story/35507883/toledo-parks-rank-63rd-out-of-100-most-populous-cities-in-the-us

Philadelphia:

https://philly.curbed.com/2017/5/24/15681708/philadelphia-parks-statistics-cities-comparison

Texas: (Austin and Dallas)

http://kuow.org/post/many-austinites-city-parks-remain-out-reach

http://keranews.org/post/plano-again-tops-north-texas-cities-parkscore-index-others-slip

http://fitness.blog.mystatesman.com/2017/05/24/how-does-austins-park-system-compare-to-other-u-s-cities/

St. Louis:

http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/columns/joe-holleman/st-louis-finishes-in-top-for-urban-park-space/article_807c5c09-1284-5d82-a453-fbae1261fd5a.html

Honolulu:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/news/2017/05/24/honolulu-parks-in-the-top-third-of-annual-rating.html

Las Vegas:

http://www.ktnv.com/positivelylv/las-vegas-improves-on-park-ratings

Madison:

http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/madison-parks-ranked-ninth-best-in-the-country/article_fae6f9e0-c642-5043-9f8f-4f7e3c93e371.html

Charlotte:

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article152364862.html

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/article152568749.html

http://www.wbt.com/articles/low-rankings-charlottes-park-system

Greensboro:

http://www.bizjournals.com/triad/news/2017/05/25/why-triad-parks-dont-place-higher-on-national.html

Next City:

https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/parkscore-2017-park-systems-ranked

Filed under: 10-minute walk, City Parks, facilities, funding, ParkScore | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a comment »

More on golf courses and their conversion to parks…

Posted on May 16, 2017 by Center for City Park Excellence
rancho-canada-carmel

Rancho Canada, Carmel, California

Back in March, we put out a call for news and stories on golf courses and their conversion to parks.  We also did more research and received a few tips and here’s an update to what we’ve found thus far…

  • Golf courses continue to decline from a peak of 16,052 courses in the US in 2005 to 15,372 in 2015. (Data from “The World of Golf” published by R & A, the global governing body for Golf, in 2015.)
  • The number of golfers are also declining in US, from a peak of 29.42 M in 2009 to 25.1 M in 2016.
  • There are 413 publicly owned golf courses in the 100 largest US cities, which is 2.69 percent of the total number of 15,372 courses.

While we have not seen many examples of public golf courses being converted to parks, we do find 14 private golf courses being purchased and converted to public parks in the past 12 years. The Trust for Public Land has been an integral part of the latter effort, working on 8 of the 14 in the past 12 years.

8 of those were projects of the Trust for Public Land, including 3 courses that we helped purchase in 2016 alone, including Applewood in Golden, Colorado and Rancho Canada in Carmel, California. Many more have been considered (and are being considered) but have not been successful due to price, funding or similar issues. 2 of the 14 are in the 100 largest US cities.

We’re continuing to follow this story and if you have additional information, examples or suggestions, please contact us at ccpe@tpl.org.

applewood-golfcourse

Applewood golf course, Golden, Colorado

Filed under: City Parks, facilities, funding, renewal | Tagged: , , , | 1 Comment »

« Previous Page — Next Page »