Minneapolis received the highest ranking for the national park-scoring comparison, thus naming it as America’s best city for parkland and green spaces.
The Trust for Public Land ranks park systems for the 2016 ParkScore, involving 100 largest US cities. Last year, Minneapolis tied with Saint Paul on the top spot but this year, Saint Paul got the second spot. On third place is Washington DC, followed by Arlington, San Francisco, Portland, New York City, Irvine, Boston, and Cincinnati and Madison, which tied for tenth place.
Minneapolis is known for its parks and lakes since it reserves 14.9% of city area for parkland and 95% of residents live near parks that are merely a ten-minute walk.
It managed to grab the top spot above Saint Paul after counting the number of hoops in basketball courts instead of the number of full-court outdoor basketball courts, Star Tribune reported.
“Everyone in America deserves to live within a ten-minute walk of a park, and ParkScore® helps us measure which cities are meeting that mark,” said Will Rogers, President of The Trust for Public Land, according to Lonely Planet.
The result also revealed that the ParkScore has a positive impact on the attitude of the city in providing green spaces with an increase of $1 spending per person on parks. Meanwhile, NYC increased their park spending to $14 per resident compared to last year.
“Cities are investing in park systems and that’s showing up on the ParkScore® index. It is great news for public health, the environment, and local economies,” said Adrian Benepe, Senior Vice President and Director of City Park Development for The Trust for Public Land, according to South West Journal.
“Parks provide places for children and adults to get exercise, and they serve as local meeting places where friendships are built and a sense of community is strengthened,” he added.
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