The Trust for Public Land announced today that Washington, DC, was ranked the best parking system in the country on the organization’s annual ParkScore index. The city was ahead of Saint Paul, MN, closely followed by third-placed Minneapolis, which took the top spot in 2020. The ParkScore index ranks parking systems in the 100 largest US cities and is widely recognized as the gold standard for parking ratings. ALSO READ: 25 Of The Best Arizona Accommodation Deals Among the surrounding cities, Scottsdale’s parking system ranked 66th, Chandler 69th, and Gilbert 75th; Glendale finished 73rd .; Mesa took 96th place; and Phoenix ranked 82nd. Gilbert was inducted into the ParkScore index for the first time this year and was boosted by strong ratings for park investments. The city is investing $ 185 per person in parks, well above the national ParkScore average of $ 96. However, the city’s ParkScore ranking was negatively affected by below-average ratings of the parks. At the national level, the ParkScore index found significant inequalities in parking area and distribution. In all ParkScore cities in the United States, residents of neighborhoods where most people identify as Black, Hispanic and Latino, Indigenous and Native American, or Asian-American and Pacific Islander, have access to 44 percent less parking space per capita than residents in quarters that are predominantly white. Residents of low-income neighborhoods have access to 42 percent less parking space than residents of high-income neighborhoods. Further information on ParkScore ratings for nearby cities is available upon request. CITIES REPORT HIGH PARK POPULARITY AND CREATIVE USE DURING THE PANDEMIC “Parks are always essential to our communities and even more valuable in times of crisis. During this extraordinary pandemic year, people relied more than ever on nearby parks, trails, and open spaces to get exercise and connect with nature. Parks also served as makeshift community centers for emergency services like food distribution, COVID testing, and vaccine supersites, ”said Diane Regas, President and CEO of The Trust for Public Land. According to The Trust for Public Land, 57 of the 100 largest US cities last year used parks for COVID tests, vaccinations, or PSA distribution centers, and 70 offered free meals in parks during the pandemic, underscoring their role as critical civil infrastructure. PARK EQUITY MEASURES ADDED IN 2021 For the first time in the study’s 10-year history, the ParkScore Index 2021 includes measures of park equity. The new justice measures were inspired by the national racial justice awakening and The Trust for Public Land’s longstanding commitment to equitable access and quality of parks. The data showed significant differences in parking space across racial and economic boundaries. “In most ParkScore cities, white neighborhoods and high-income neighborhoods have a disproportionately higher percentage of parking space,” says Linda Hwang, director of innovation and strategy at The Trust for Public Land. “That is not right and not fair. The Trust for Public Land believes there should be a quality park within a 10-minute walk of everyone in America, and we are committed to centering equity as we advocate for parks and open spaces in cities Set up United States. ”To add to its annual rating list, The Trust for Public Land also released a groundbreaking report detailing how parks are working to improve equity and solve other problems cities face. The Parks and an Equitable Recovery report found that there are significant differences in who has access to available parking across the 100 largest cities, and the differences are racial and economic boundaries. The report also found that mayors may underestimate parking inequality in their cities, based on data from the Menino Survey of Mayors 2020, which found that only 52 percent of mayors surveyed believe that the quality of green spaces varies between neighborhoods . The Menino Survey is conducted annually by Boston University’s Initiative on Cities and the Trust for Public Land, with support from the Rockefeller Foundation and Citi. PARKSCORE RANKING FOR 2021 According to the Trust for Public Land’s 10th Annual ParkScore® Index, Washington, DC has the best urban parking system in the country. The city achieved the top spot, among other things, due to its strong performance in the new equity measures of the rating system. Washington residents who identify as Black, Hispanic and Latino, Indigenous and Native American, or Asian-American and Pacific Islander are just as likely as whites to be within a 10-minute walk of a park. The parking space per capita is also almost evenly distributed in Washington. The inclusion of park equity as a valuation factor influenced the rankings of many cities. Baltimore is up 28 places on the ParkScore Index, from 58th in 2020 to 30th this year. Toledo, Ohio is up 27 spots, from 77th in 2020 to 50th this year. Newark, NJ, also jumped 27 spots to 42nd place. Boston in twelfth place and San Francisco in sixth place remain the only ParkScore cities where 100 percent of residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park or other public area. Boise defended its title of best dog parking system with the nation’s top 6.3 dog parks per 100,000 residents, narrowly beating Portland, Oregon. Irvine, California received top marks for basketball hoops and Madison, Wis., Scored best for playgrounds. Boston received top marks for splash pads and other water features, beating 2020 top runner Cleveland. The number of playgrounds per capita in ParkScore cities has increased four percent since last year, largely due to “shared use” agreements that opened schoolyards to neighborhood use after school and on weekends. The number of playgrounds in ParkScore cities has increased 29 percent since 2012 when the ParkScore index began tracking this indicator. The number of dog parks rose by more than two percent, continuing the trend that The Trust for Public Land first reported five years ago. PARK PRESERVES CALL TO DISTRIBUTE PARK BUDGETS The Trust for Public Land warns that the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic will weigh on local budgets and threaten progress in parks. 63 of the 100 most populous cities’ 100 park departments faced budget cuts in 2020 or 2021, and the fiscal environment could worsen this year. “We need parks more than ever, and park attorneys are preparing for a fight,” said Bill Lee, senior vice president for policy, advocacy and government relations at The Trust for Public Land. “The Trust for Public Land helps lead a coalition of more than 300 organizations, companies and community groups that support a significant investment in park capital through the bipartisan federal parks, jobs and equity law, and we urge the private sector to invest $ 50 million through the Equitable Communities Fund to create parks and open spaces in historically marginalized communities. ”PARKSCORE METHODOLOGY AND RANKINGS This year, the ParkScore Index added a park equity metric to the rating system. This new rating factor can help city leaders understand and prioritize fairness when making park decisions. The ParkScore index is now based on five rating factors: Park Equity compares parking spaces per capita in neighborhoods with color and white and in neighborhoods with low and high income. It also compares the 10-minute walk to the park for colored and low-income residents. Parking systems score higher when the disparities are small or nonexistent; Park access measures the percentage of residents who live within a 10-minute walk of a park; The parking area is based on a city’s average park size and the percentage of the city’s area reserved for parks; Park investment measures parking spending per inhabitant; and Park Facilities assesses the availability of six popular park functions: basketball hoops, off-leash dog parks, playgrounds, “splash pads” and other water feature structures, recreation and senior centers, and toilets.
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