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Over a fifth of its land is covered in green spaces.
Washington, D.C., may be the country’s political hub, but it is also our nation’s greenest city, according to a new report by the Trust for Public Land.
The organization ranks park systems in the 100 most populous U.S. cities, and Washington, D.C. came out on top for the sixth consecutive year. The Trust for Public Land assigns each city a park score ranging from zero to 100 points, based on five factors, including park access, park acreage, and amenities.
Washington, D.C., received 85.1 points overall, with a perfect score in the investment category, which measures public and private park spending per resident. It received 99 points for access, with 99 percent of residents living within a 10-minute walk from a park, compared to 76 percent nationwide. Its lowest score, 55 out of 100, was in the acreage category due to the below-average score it received on median park size, just nine out of 100. The organization also found that our nation’s capital has 693 parks, covering 21 percent of its land, six percentage points higher than the national median.
In the amenities category, the city also fared well, receiving perfect scores for the availability of dog parks, senior centers, and splash pads, and a 97 for basketball hoops. Here, its two lowest results were for playgrounds (36/100) and sports fields (29/100).
“Designed green space and natural beauty are ingrained in our DNA as a city, making us one of the most walkable and bike-friendly destinations,” Elliott L. Ferguson, II, president and CEO of Destination DC, the city’s marketing organization, tells Travel+Leisure. “With nearly 700 parks across just 70 square miles, you can stroll from America’s most-visited national park, the National Mall, to America’s oldest urban park, Rock Creek Park, and be wowed by all the stunning gardens and landscapes in between.” Over 30 million people visit the National Mall every year.
Irvine, California, also retained its second place, thanks to “continued progress on its Great Park, one of the most ambitious public park projects in the United States,” the report states. Minneapolis came in at No. 3, with 16 percent of its land used for parks and recreation.
Across the sub-categories, the report highlights Boise, Idaho, as having the best park system for dogs, while Cincinnati scored best for playgrounds, and Boston ranked first for splash pads.
You can see the full report and its findings on tpl.org.
Read the original article on Travel & Leisure
