Cleveland Parks Ranked 24th In Annual ParkScore Index

Cleveland's ranking improved significantly in a national nonprofit's annual assessment of park systems in the 100 most populous U.S. cities.

The Trust for Public Land’s ParkScore index report ranks park systems on various metrics such as access, acreage and equity, which was measured for the first time this year.

Cleveland placed 24th, a jump from being No. 29  in last year’s report.

Part of Cleveland’s success was in the new park equity measure, said Sean Terry with the Trust for Public Land, as 83 percent of Cleveland residents are within a 10-minute walk of a park, well above the national average of 75 percent. And Terry said that stat doesn’t change when just looking at minority communities.

“We don’t see a dip in terms of neighborhoods of color or low-income neighborhoods having significantly less park access,” Terry said.

But improvements can still be made to make Cleveland’s parks more equitable, he said, as the size of parks and the amenities they offer are not consistent.

“There’s still some inconsistencies in terms of the size of the park, so just because you can get to a park in a 10-minute walk doesn’t mean it’s a very significantly sized park and then there may be certain areas where we can improve on the amenities offered at those parks,” he said.

The Trust for Public Land is already working to address these issues through pilot programs in underserved communities looking to improve on their park access, Terry said. The group is also hoping to partner with local schools to improve the outdoor community spaces they have.

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