Cities

In the summer of 2016, as the Fishtown Recreation Center was down to its final swing and the jungle gym was rusted and broken, the Trust for Public Land called a community meeting at the playground.

Do you remember your favorite childhood field trip or summer break excursion? Perhaps you lived for jumping in the lake and enjoying Fourth of July fireworks and cookouts. Did you sit around a fire pit singing songs at camp, explore the beach with family and friends, or lazily tube down the river during the dog days of summer? Would you be as healthy or active today without those experiences? Would you have the same appreciation for the world around you?

Every Bostonian lives within a 10-minute walk—or roughly a half-mile—of a public park, according to the 2019 ParkScore index from the Trust for Public Land.