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City Parks: Facts and Figures

Photo: Tom Norquist

City park systems offer residents a wide range of places to play: natural areas and playgrounds, flower gardens and paved plazas, and sports fields and bike trails. A recent poll conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of The Trust for Public Land suggests that parks and playgrounds close to home are particularly important when people have less money to spend on travel. The study revealed that one third of families with children have increased their visits to local parks and playgrounds during this recent period of economic difficulty. (See also "Conservation in Hard Times.")

This study coincides with the release of this year's City Park Facts, an annual report published by TPL's Center for City Park Excellence. The report offers park advocates a comprehensive set of data on national, state, county, regional, and municipal parks, and includes surprising and fun facts for the casual user, as well. (Did you know, for example, that Cincinnati park swimming pools are twice as numerous as those in Tucson; 11.1 per 100K residents vs. 4.8?)

To learn more about the report and the study, you can read a complete press release here.

To view the complete report, you can download a pdf here.

To see the complete results of the poll, you can download a pdf here.

The report was supported through a grant from PlayCore, a Chattanooga based company that promotes the value of play through a variety of educational programs. PlayCore is a leading designer, manufacturer, and marketer of a broad range of commercial and consumer playground and park equipment, surfacing, site amenity, fitness and related play products and programs. To learn more visit www.PlayCore.com.

Posted 8/2009