Richmond's pickleball ranking
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Richmond ranks as No. 39 in the country for the number of pickleball courts per capita, according to the Trust for Public Land (TPL), a pro-parks nonprofit.
Why it matters: Cities are in a love-hate relationship with pickleball.
- America's fastest-growing sport is a boon for players who are aging out of tennis — and others who dig its vibe — but it's noisy and draws nonstop complaints from tennis players who've been kicked off their turf.
Zoom in: The city of Richmond has 5.2 pickleball courts for every 100,000 people, according to TPL's list of U.S. cities ranked by pickleball courts per capita.
- Yes, but: TPL puts Richmond's pickleball court count at 12 whereas the city's count is 24, according to parks and recreation.
But, but, but: 🎾 The city has nearly six times the number of tennis courts — 136, which puts Richmond as the No. 1 city for tennis courts per capita, per TPL.
Zoom out: There's been a sixfold increase in the number of public pickleball courts in the 100 biggest U.S. cities since 2017 — from 420 to 2,788.
What's next: The metro area will soon have two new indoor courts.
- 🌭 Bangers and Dinks, the best-named venue ever, is slated to open in early July in Bon Air with eight courts, plus food and drinks for sale.
- 🏬 Performance Pickleball RVA, which says it'll be the largest indoor pickleball facility in the state, is slated to open at the end of the year in the former Macy's at Regency Square with 12 indoor courts and six outdoor courts coming after that.