Urban Issues

National study claims Jacksonville's parks need help

June 6, 2013 28 comments Open printer friendly version of this article Print Article

According to the Trust for Public Land, the City of Jacksonville needs significant improvement in providing park access to its residents. Here's a look at the Trust for Public Land's annual ParkScore ranking of the park systems in America's 50 largest cities.



PARKSCORE RANKING OF 50 LARGEST CITIES


Kathryn Abbey Hanna Park



Ranking -- ParkScore -- City name

 1.  81.0  Minneapolis

 2.  73.5  New York

 3.  72.5  Sacramento

 3.  72.5  San Francisco

 3.  72.5  Boston

 6.  71.5  Washington

 7.  71.0  Portland

 8.  70.0  Virginia Beach

 9.  68.5  San Diego

10.  66.5  Seattle

11.  63.5  San Jose

11.  63.5  Albuquerque

11.  63.5  Omaha

14.  63.5  Philadelphia

14.  62.5  Colorado Springs

16.  61.0  Chicago

17.  60.0  Denver

18.  59.0  Oakland

19.  57.5  Milwaukee

20.  55.0  Raleigh

21.  53.5  Baltimore

22.  52.5  Long Beach

23.  51.5  Kansas City

23.  51.5  Phoenix

25.  50.0  Cleveland

26.  48.5  Dallas

26.  48.5  Austin

26.  48.5  Detroit

29.  47.5  Las Vegas

30.  46.0  Arlington

31.  45.0  Tulsa

31.  45.0  Atlanta

33.  44.0  Fort Worth

34.  42.5  Wichita

34.  42.5  Los Angeles

36.  41.5  El Paso

37.  40.0  Columbus

38.  39.0  Houston

38.  39.0  Tucson

38.  39.0  Miami

38.  39.0  Nashville

42.  37.5  Memphis

43.  35.0  Oklahoma City

44.  33.5  Jacksonville

44.  33.5  San Antonio

46.  32.5  Mesa

47.  30.0  Charlotte

47.  30.0  Indianapolis

49.  29.0  Louisville

50.  27.5  Fresno



Methodology Overview


Confederate Park

Cities can earn a maximum ParkScore of 100.

For easy comparison and at-a-glance assessment, each city is also given a rating of zero to five park benches. One bench means the park system needs major improvement, while five benches means the park system is outstanding.

In evaluating park systems, experts at The Trust for Public Land considered land owned by regional, state, and federal agencies within the 50 largest U.S. cities—including school playgrounds open to the public and greenways that function as parks.

Their analysis is based on the three most important characteristics of an effective park system: acreage, services and investment, and access.



Jacksonville-Minneapolis Comparison








Find your community with ParkScore's interactive map: http://parkscore.tpl.org/TPLBeta_ParkScore/map.php

Source: http://parkscore.tpl.org/TPLBeta_ParkScore/rankings.php

Article by Ennis Davis, AICP. Contact Ennis at edavis@moderncities.com


 PREV 1 2

28 Comments so far

Jump into the conversation