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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 »

ASCE Infrastructure Report Card on Parks

Posted on May 10, 2017 by Center for City Park Excellence

Every four years, the American Society of Civil Engineers puts together an National Insfrastructure Report Card assigning individual letter grades on a variety of insfrastructure categories and an overall letter grade on the USA infrastructure overall.

reportcard-graphic

Since 2005, Public Parks and Recreation have been one of the categories evaluated, earning a C- grade for 2005, 2009 and 2013. Sadly, in 2017, it’s gone to a D+, which mirrors the national overall grade. You can read the highlights of the report here and download a full copy here.

asce=parks-grade

A couple of key points here. First, the ASCE considers public parks and recreation as infrastructure, providing a wide variety of environmental and economic services, as we all know.  One example highlighted by the report is the work of the Trust for Public Land in Newark, NJ along the Passaic River, developing the Newark Riverfront Park.

Second, they focus primarily on federal and state reporting of parks – primarily drawing on work done by the National Park Service and supporting non-profit foundations, as well as State park systems. US city park systems aren’t included, but the Trust for Public Land through the Center for City Park Excellence will work to provide that information through our City Park Facts and ParkScore projects.

More importantly, they recommend a number of action items, including one that the Trust for Public Land and the City Parks Alliance are actively advocating for, including the reauthorization and full funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund to support acquisition of land and easements on land at the federal, state, and local levels.  

More of their recommendations are here. 

Questions, comments?  Contact the Center for City Park Excellence at the Trust for Public Land via email at ccpe@tpl.org

 

 

 

Filed under: City Parks, economics, facilities, funding, maintenance/management | Tagged: , , , | Leave a comment »

City park facts: Seattle has five top ten rankings in 2017

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

The Seattle Park Parks and Recreation Department has five top ten rankings in the 2017 edition of City Park Facts.

Seattleparkslogo

The Trust for Public Land’s Center for City Park Excellence works to make cities more successful through the renewal and creation of parks for their social, ecological, and economic benefits to residents and visitors alike. To achieve this mission, we believe that residents, advocates, park professionals, planners, members of the media, decision-makers, and all those who love parks need solid data that elucidates the realities of urban park and recreation systems. Data is knowledge, and knowledge is power.

Seattle is one the 100 largest US cities and ranked number 13 overall in the 2016 edition of Parkscore.  But, more exciting is its individual rankings in five out of the twenty categories that we are tracking:

  • #8 (tie) – 93% of population within a 10-minute walk to a park
  • #4 in spending per resident – $252 total, $204 operating, $47 capital (all per resident)
  • #9-two way tie – 1.3 Beaches per 100,000 residents (9)
  • #5 – 1.7 Community Garden Plots per 1,000 residents (1113)
  • #6 (tie) – 1.6 skateboard parks per 100,000 residents (11)

City Park Facts is a collaboration between the many city, county, state and nonprofit parks agencies and conservancies that work with us to submit their data and we appreciate their continued help and involvement. The staff of the Center for City Park Excellence works to present this information in a thorough yet easy-to-use format, and your feedback is important for future editions. You can contact us at ccpe@tpl.org.

The Trust for Public Land creates parks and protects land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come.  Millions of people live near a Trust for Public Land park, garden, or natural area, and millions more visit these sites every year.  To support The Trust for Public Land and share why nature matters to you, visit www.tpl.org.

Filed under: City Park Facts, facilities | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a comment »

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