MILWAUKEE -- Milwaukee earned three “park benches” on the ParkScore rating system released Wednesday, May 23rd by the nonprofit Trust for Public Land. Milwaukee tied for 16th (with Phoenix and Kansas City) among the 40 largest U.S. cities. No city park system earned a "5 park bench" rating.
ParkScore ratings are based equally on three factors: Park access, which measures the percentage of residents living within a 10-minute walk of a park (approximately ½-mile); Park size, which is based on a city’s median park size and the percentage of total city area dedicated to parks; and Services and Investment, which combines the number of playgrounds per 10,000 city residents and per capita park spending.
With 87 percent of residents living within a 10-minute walk of a park, Milwaukee received high marks for park access. However, the city did not score as well on the services & investment measurement, in part because of the few playgrounds available to residents.
According to The Trust for Public Land, the six-highest ranking city park systems in the United States are:
The six lowest ranking city park systems are:
For more information about ParkScore, visit ParkScore.TPL.org.
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