Recreational opportunities, including access to park space, are an important quality-of-life measure. In fact, the COVID-19 epidemic has made them more important than ever. People were deprived of entertainment and exercise options due to lockdowns, capacity limits, and simple caution, and many have been reluctant to return to places such as gyms and movie theaters even now that many restrictions have been lifted.
Visiting city parks can be a particularly agreeable alternative to other activities – and often an easily accessible one. But just as with other civic amenities, parks are more accessible in some places than others.
To identify the major U.S. cities where people have the best access to park space, 24/7 Tempo reviewed The Trust for Public Land’s 2021 ParkServe dataset to determine the percentage of city residents living within a 10-minute walk from a park, the number of parks per 10,000 residents, total park acreage, and total city population. Population per acre of livable land area was also obtained from ParkServe.
San Francisco and Boston are clearly the best cities for would-be park-goers. The two are tied for first place on the list resulting from our review, with 100% of their populations living within a 10-minute walk of a park.
Perhaps it’s no coincidence that both cities are widely regarded as desirable, albeit expensive, places to live; they both have scenic locations, robust economies, populations of comparable size, and strong civic-mindedness. Boston has 5.4 parks per 10,000 residents and around 4,800 acres of parks. San Francisco has fewer parks per capita, but more park acreage. (These are the most visited parks in America’s largest cities.)
New York City; St. Paul, Minnesota; and Arlington, Virginia are tied for the No. 3 spot, with 99% of their populations living within a 10-minute walk of a park. New York City is particularly well-endowed with parkland, with a whopping 40,000 acres of it, compared with fewer than 5,000 acres in St. Paul and fewer than 1,800 in Arlington. (Here are America’s largest city parks.)
Click here to see the major US cities with the best access to parks
24. Cincinnati, OH
> Walkable access, all residents: 87% (tie)
> Parks per 10,000 residents: 8.7 — #3 most
> Total park acres: 6,757 acres — #46 most
> People per acre of livable land area: 6.4 — #48 most
> Population: 309,456
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24. Baltimore, MD
> Walkable access, all residents: 87% (tie)
> Parks per 10,000 residents: 6.9 — #9 most
> Total park acres: 4,921 acres — #58 most
> People per acre of livable land area: 11.9 — #18 most
> Population: 609,422
21. Buffalo, NY
> Walkable access, all residents: 89% (tie)
> Parks per 10,000 residents: 8.3 — #5 most
> Total park acres: 2,382 acres — #84 most
> People per acre of livable land area: 10.3 — #20 most
> Population: 260,357
21. Oakland, CA
> Walkable access, all residents: 89% (tie)
> Parks per 10,000 residents: 4 — #44 most
> Total park acres: 3,866 acres — #67 most
> People per acre of livable land area: 12.6 — #16 most
> Population: 417,040
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21. Irvine, CA
> Walkable access, all residents: 89% (tie)
> Parks per 10,000 residents: 2.9 — #71 most
> Total park acres: 12,195 acres — #29 most
> People per acre of livable land area: 6.6 — #41 most
> Population: 278,739
18. Albuquerque, NM
> Walkable access, all residents: 90% (tie)
> Parks per 10,000 residents: 5.2 — #21 most
> Total park acres: 33,401 acres — #11 most
> People per acre of livable land area: 4.9 — #64 most
> Population: 572,101
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18. Portland, OR
> Walkable access, all residents: 90% (tie)
> Parks per 10,000 residents: 5.1 — #23 most
> Total park acres: 14,660 acres — #26 most
> People per acre of livable land area: 8 — #29 most
> Population: 656,300
18. Denver, CO
> Walkable access, all residents: 90% (tie)
> Parks per 10,000 residents: 4.1 — #43 most
> Total park acres: 6,333 acres — #48 most
> People per acre of livable land area: 9.9 — #22 most
> Population: 741,500
17. Lincoln, NE
> Walkable access, all residents: 91%
> Parks per 10,000 residents: 5 — #26 most
> Total park acres: 3,839 acres — #68 most
> People per acre of livable land area: 5.5 — #57 most
> Population: 293,761
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15. Pittsburgh, PA
> Walkable access, all residents: 92% (tie)
> Parks per 10,000 residents: 5.2 — #20 most
> Total park acres: 3,686 acres — #70 most
> People per acre of livable land area: 8.7 — #25 most
> Population: 308,432
15. Milwaukee, WI
> Walkable access, all residents: 92% (tie)
> Parks per 10,000 residents: 4.2 — #40 most
> Total park acres: 5,490 acres — #51 most
> People per acre of livable land area: 10 — #21 most
> Population: 588,573
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13. Newark, NJ
> Walkable access, all residents: 94% (tie)
> Parks per 10,000 residents: 3.4 — #55 most
> Total park acres: 847 acres — #97 most
> People per acre of livable land area: 20.2 — #5 most
> Population: 284,074
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13. Jersey City, NJ
> Walkable access, all residents: 94% (tie)
> Parks per 10,000 residents: 2.5 — #77 most
> Total park acres: 1,089 acres — #95 most
> People per acre of livable land area: 30.4 — #2 most
> Population: 281,829
11. Madison, WI
> Walkable access, all residents: 95% (tie)
> Parks per 10,000 residents: 10.8 — #2 most
> Total park acres: 6,853 acres — #45 most
> People per acre of livable land area: 5.6 — #55 most
> Population: 264,742
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11. Philadelphia, PA
> Walkable access, all residents: 95% (tie)
> Parks per 10,000 residents: 2.6 — #75 most
> Total park acres: 10,905 acres — #34 most
> People per acre of livable land area: 19.2 — #9 most
> Population: 1,595,579
10. Seattle, WA
> Walkable access, all residents: 97%
> Parks per 10,000 residents: 6.9 — #10 most
> Total park acres: 6,621 acres — #47 most
> People per acre of livable land area: 14 — #14 most
> Population: 740,227
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6. Washington D.C.
> Walkable access, all residents: 98% (tie)
> Parks per 10,000 residents: 7.2 — #8 most
> Total park acres: 9,379 acres — #37 most
> People per acre of livable land area: 18.1 — #10 most
> Population: 706,137
6. Minneapolis, MN
> Walkable access, all residents: 98% (tie)
> Parks per 10,000 residents: 4.3 — #39 most
> Total park acres: 5,076 acres — #55 most
> People per acre of livable land area: 12.5 — #17 most
> Population: 424,175
6. St. Louis, MO
> Walkable access, all residents: 98% (tie)
> Parks per 10,000 residents: 3.6 — #50 most
> Total park acres: 3,759 acres — #69 most
> People per acre of livable land area: 8 — #30 most
> Population: 313,929
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6. Chicago, IL
> Walkable access, all residents: 98% (tie)
> Parks per 10,000 residents: 2.4 — #83 most
> Total park acres: 13,681 acres — #27 most
> People per acre of livable land area: 20 — #7 most
> Population: 2,740,225
3. Arlington, VA
> Walkable access, all residents: 99% (tie)
> Parks per 10,000 residents: 6.6 — #13 most
> Total park acres: 1,759 acres — #89 most
> People per acre of livable land area: 14.6 — #13 most
> Population: 232,588
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3. St. Paul, MN
> Walkable access, all residents: 99% (tie)
> Parks per 10,000 residents: 6.2 — #15 most
> Total park acres: 4,964 acres — #57 most
> People per acre of livable land area: 9.4 — #23 most
> Population: 304,197
3. New York City, NY
> Walkable access, all residents: 99% (tie)
> Parks per 10,000 residents: 5.1 — #24 most
> Total park acres: 40,090 acres — #6 most
> People per acre of livable land area: 45.2 — #1 most
> Population: 8,502,614
1. Boston, MA
> Walkable access, all residents: 100% (tie)
> Parks per 10,000 residents: 5.4 — #19 most
> Total park acres: 4,797 acres — #59 most
> People per acre of livable land area: 24 — #4 most
> Population: 699,253
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1. San Francisco, CA
> Walkable access, all residents: 100% (tie)
> Parks per 10,000 residents: 3 — #68 most
> Total park acres: 6,145 acres — #49 most
> People per acre of livable land area: 29.4 — #3 most
> Population: 881,791
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