Arlington Parks Ranked Among Nation’s Best

Published February 1, 2019

As the weather becomes nicer, more and more people will be spending time outdoors, and Arlington has a lot to offer. In fact, Arlington has “one of the best park systems in the country” according to The Trust for Public Land, a nonprofit group whose website states their mission is “to create parks and protect land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come.” Washington, D.C. is also in the top five.

The nonprofit’s methodology for ranking parks consists of 4 factors according to their website:

Acreage:
- Median park size and park acres as % of city area
Investment
- Spending per resident includes public, private, and monetized volunteer hours
Amenities
- An average of six key park facilities on a per capita basis
Access
- Percentage of the population living within a ten-minute walk of a public park

The top ten parks listed were:

Minneapolis, MN
St. Paul, MN
Washington, D.C.
Arlington, VA
San Francisco, CA
Portland, OR
Cincinnati, OH
Chicago, IL
New York, NY
Irvine, CA

“Park Facts” (from the website) for Arlington include:

Park acreage: 1,767 acres
People served per park acre: 129
Oldest municipal park: Glencarlyn Park, est. 1940
Largest municipal park: Glencarlyn Park, 96 acres
Most-visited municipal park: Long Bridge Park

You can view more stats on the website here.

References:
10 Minute Walk. (2019). The Trust for Public Land. Source: https://www.tpl.org/10minutewalk

Methodology. (2019). Parkscore. Source: http://parkscore.tpl.org/methodology.php

City Profiles: Arlington. (2019). Parkscore. Source: http://parkscore.tpl.org/city.php?city=Arlington