San Francisco is well known for its many stunning parks. Golden Gate Park is known for its sprawling size and incredible botanical gardens, while Dolores Park is known for drawing large crowds to lounge and enjoy the sun. Recently, the San Francisco parks system was ranked among the best in the United States by the Trust for Public Land’s ParkScore, which evaluated 100 of the country’s most populous cities and ranked their public parks.
San Francisco’s ParkScore
SF was ranked 6th overall, and notably, 100% of residents live within a 10-minute walk from a park. Additionally, 21% of San Francisco is dedicated to public park space, compared with the national median of 15%.
The ParkScore is determined by evaluating the parks across five categories: acreage, access, investment, amenities, and park space equity. San Francisco scored 100% in both access and investment. Fittingly, SF also scored very well in select amenities categories, including the number of dog parks and bathrooms.
Check out the top 12 cities with the best parks:
- Washington DC
- Irvine, CA
- Minneapolis, MN
- St. Paul, MN
- Cincinnati, OH
- San Francisco, CA
- Arlington, VA
- Seattle, WA
- Portland, OR
- Chicago, IL
- Denver, CO
- Boston, MA
The ranking was created by the Trust for Public Land, an organization that aims to increase public access to the outdoors. The Trust for Public Land was founded in 1972 and has since worked to create thousands of outdoor spaces for the public and preserve millions of acres of land. The organization has numerous projects across the country, creating parks, trails, and school playgrounds, and protecting landscapes.
You can find the full ParkScore report and learn more about the Trust for Public Land here.
