Where Philadelphia's park system ranks nationally
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Philly ranks 31st among the 100 largest U.S. cities for its public parks, per the latest report from the Trust for Public Land (TPL), a pro-parks nonprofit.
Why it matters: Parks confer a wealth of benefits — including, as TPL points out in its latest annual report — significant health boosts, per Alex Fitzpatrick and Kavya Beheraj.
How it works: The group rates cities on a variety of metrics, including the percentage of residents who live near a park, the share of city land reserved for parks, parks investment and more; cities are then awarded a "ParkScore.”
By the numbers: Philly scored 93 out of 100 for access, 44 for acreage, 28 for investment, 59 for amenities and 67 for equity.
- 95% of Philly residents live within a half mile of a park, which is above average.
Of note: Residents living in lower-income neighborhoods have access to 43% less nearby park space than those in higher-income areas.
Meanwhile: Washington, D.C., took top honors in TPL's latest ranking largely thanks to its investment and access scores.
The big picture: At a national level, parks spending still hasn't recovered to pre-Great Recession levels, TPL senior director for strategy and innovation Linda Hwang tells Axios.
- But that's largely driven by the country's biggest cities — by contrast, many midsize cities are increasing their parks spending.
- In Philly, total per capita park spending is $80, which is below average.
The big picture: Access remains a troublesome issue across the country, according to Hwang.
- Residents of predominantly nonwhite neighborhoods have access to 43% less park space per person than residents of predominantly white neighborhoods.
- In Philly, residents living in neighborhoods of color have access to 28% less nearby park space than those living in white neighborhoods.
What they’re saying: Cities increasingly view their parks and parks departments through a public health lens, says Howard Frumkin, TPL senior vice president and director of the Land and People Lab.
- “Simply defining parks as part of the public health infrastructure of a community, and then steering some health dollars towards the parks because they're healthy, is a really interesting innovation," Frumkin tells Axios.
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