With summer fast approaching, we're already clocking plenty of quality time at our neighborhood parks. But do you ever wonder how your local park system compares to other cities? 

To answer this question, The Trust for Public Land created the ParkScore® Index, the number one tool to measure how well the largest U.S. cities are meeting the need for parks. 

This year, ParkScore expands its count to the 60 largest U.S. cities (up from 50 in 2013).  Minneapolis took top honors for the second year in a row, earning a perfect “5-park bench” rating—the only city park system to earn the coveted 5 bench score. New York, Boston, San Francisco, and Portland (unseating Sacramento) rounded out the top five.

Denver made the biggest upward move in ParkScore rating history, climbing ten places to tie for 7th. For 2014, ParkScore counted the city’s “Learning Landscapes” school playgrounds as park space, because they are open for public use in evenings and on weekends when school is not in session. These “shared use” arrangements are a relatively easy way for cities to increase park and playground access, especially in fully developed urban areas.

Sacramento was the only city to lose its top-five ranking in 2014, as strong population growth strained its park system and limited access to popular playgrounds. The California capital city earned four park benches, dropping to seventh place in 2014, compared to third last year. Fresno repeated as ParkScore’s last place finisher, earning one park bench. 

For more information about ParkScore, visit parkscore.tpl.org and join the discussion on Twitter @TPL_org #ParkScore.