2025 ParkScore: San Antonio slips in national ranking
San Antonio's standing in the ParkScore rankings has slipped this year, falling to 57th place — down four spots from last year.
Why it matters: City parks serve as community meeting spots and civic spaces, offer room for exercise and fresh air, and can draw in new residents — but they require investment, attention and protection.
The big picture: The 2025 ParkScore index, an annual report from the Trust for Public Land (TPL), ranks the 100 most populous U.S. cities' park systems relative to one another based on five categories: acreage, access, amenities, investment and equity.
What they found: San Antonio earned a total ParkScore of 51, below the national median of 53.6.
The city ranks near the bottom in access — 47% of San Antonio residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park — with a score of 26.
For comparison, top-ranked Washington, D.C., scored 99 in this category.
San Antonio did improve from 2024 in terms of equity and amenities, jumping 4 and 5 points, respectively.
Stunning stats: Among the cities analyzed, $12.2 billion was invested in park and recreation systems in 2024, and 76% of residents now live within a 10-minute walk of a park.
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San Francisco Chronicle
a day ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
‘Prepare to be blown away': New national monument near Santa Cruz to open with trails for hiking, biking
Almost a decade ago, former President Barack Obama recognized a 'spectacular' stretch of coastal mountains and prairie near the Santa Cruz County community of Davenport with the prestigious designation of national monument. The public, however, was never allowed in. That will change this summer. After years of unexpected delays preparing the site for visitors, the Bureau of Land Management has scheduled the opening of the 5,800-acre Cotoni-Coast Dairies monument for the afternoon of Aug. 15, a Friday. About a 15-minute drive north of the city of Santa Cruz on Highway 1, the onetime ranch and adjacent lands will debut with its northern reaches opened for hiking, biking and sightseeing. This includes nine of 27 miles of planned multi-use trails. The public will be able to access the full range of landscapes that the site is celebrated for, from broad marine terraces overlooking the Pacific Ocean to steep slopes spanning oak-dotted ridges, stream-lined canyons and redwood forest. Salmon and steelhead swim in the creeks, and jackrabbits, foxes and mountain lions roam the hills. 'When I get out there, I just feel like the place gives me a big hug,' said Zachary Ormsby, Central Coast field manager for the Bureau of Land Management. 'Visitors are going to feel that, too.' The site's name pays homage to both the native Ohlone people, specifically a subgroup called the Cotoni, and its early 1900s history as a Swiss dairy farm. The opening of the national monument to the public marks the end of a decades-long fight to keep the lands free of development. Sitting in the shadow of Davenport's shuttered cement plant, the site was spared from being absorbed by the factory. It also escaped unrelated proposals for oil drilling and a nuclear power plant. Protection came in the late 1990s after plans emerged for the area's bluffs to be lined with luxury estates. The San Francisco-based Trust for Public Land and Save the Redwoods League, among others, raised money to coordinate a roughly $45 million acquisition before any homes were built. About 500 of the original 7,000 acres that were purchased for conservation were conveyed to California State Parks while another portion was retained for agriculture. But the bulk of the property remained idle until a long-term caretaker could be secured. In 2014, 5,843 acres were transferred to the Bureau of Land Management. Shortly after that, the environmental community launched a campaign to upgrade the federal site to a national monument, a status that brings greater safeguards for natural and historical features as well as a higher public profile for the area. 'We see the property as having these superlative conservation and recreation values,' said Sara Barth, executive director of the Sempervirens Fund, the Los Altos-based land trust that helped lead the effort to make the lands a monument. 'It's larger than some of the other protected areas in the region. It's also more ecologically distinct. It has a rich history to it, too.' In January 2017, as one of Obama's final acts in office, the former president designated the federal site part of the California Coastal National Monument. Cotoni-Coast Dairies became the biggest onshore property within the existing monument, which includes a handful of distinguished spots along the Pacific. The Bureau of Land Management had hoped to open Cotoni-Coast Dairies years ago, but concerns about potential crowds caused delay. Neighboring communities worried there was too little parking and too few toilets, while scientists and conservation groups wanted to make sure that sensitive habitat, areas for wildlife and historical points would be preserved. Federal officials worked to address the issues. They've partnered with outside organizations to begin restoring watersheds for endangered coho salmon. Indigenous groups have surveyed culturally important plants on the property. Plans to rebuild an old 'cheese barn' are in the works. Perhaps most visible, the Santa Cruz Mountains Trail Stewardship and its many volunteers have taken the lead on constructing the monument's growing trail network, having recently completed three interconnecting 3-mile loops. The trails will be accessible from a new parking lot just north of Davenport near the junction of Warrenella and Cement Plant roads. Beyond serving hikers and bicyclists, parts of the multi-use trail system are designed for people using adaptive bikes accommodating mobility issues. The Bureau of Land Management hopes to open a second lot south of Davenport, with more trails, in the next few years. More details on the Aug. 15 opening will be provided closer to the date on the Bureau of Land Management's website for the monument. 'We've all been driving by this place for years and years and years,' said Matt De Young, executive director of the Trail Stewardship. 'Prepare to be blown away.'
Axios
13-06-2025
- Axios
Indy's new and improved park system
If you haven't hit a local trail or been to a pool in a while, there's a chance your favorite park has gotten a facelift since your last visit. Why it matters: A multiyear, multimillion-dollar plan to strengthen Indy's parks is bearing fruit across the Circle City this summer as new and improved facilities debut. State of play: Last month's grand opening of the Grassy Creek Environmental Community Center on the east side marks the end of the $45 million Circle City Forward initiative announced in 2021 to improve our parks. It also included the Riverside Adventure Park, which opened May 1; the Frederick Douglass Park Family Center, which opened in May 2024; the renovated Krannert Park Family Center, which opened in January 2024; and the Riverside Promenade, which opened in October 2023. Yes, but: Circle City Forward was just one piece of a more than $140 million parks investment puzzle that also includes the city's $16 million American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding and an $80 million Lilly Endowment grant to pay for improvements across 42 parks. Zoom in: The ARPA projects will transform 28 playgrounds in 26 parks by the end of this year. Seventeen of those projects are done. In addition, ARPA funding covered the cost of the Wes Montgomery Basketball Pavilion, which opened late last year. Lilly grant projects currently under construction include Tarkington Park, Holliday Park, Washington Park and Garfield Park. Stunning stat: The funding will allow Indy Parks and Recreation to replace more than 40% of the city's 132 playgrounds, according to Indy Parks spokesperson Alex Cortwright. Flashback: The city's post-pandemic push to make our parks better came years after falling to the bottom of the annual ParkScore Index rankings alongside Fort Wayne in 2017. The two cities have since opted out of participating in ParkScore, according to a spokesman for the Trust for Public Land, a pro-park nonprofit that compiles the rankings. While Indy isn't part of the rankings, the nonprofit's assessment of the city found that just 4% of its land is used for parks and recreation, well below the national median of 15%. Meanwhile, the nonprofit says, 35% of Indianapolis residents live within a 10-minute walk of one of our more than 220 parks. That's a far cry from the national average of 76% among the 100 most populous U.S. cities, and 57% among all urban communities. Between the lines: Cortwright said that scoring is affected in part by our city's history. Many of our parks were established before the " Unigov" legislation that merged city and county governments in 1970, expanding the city's territorial jurisdiction from 82 to 402 square miles. The majority of our parks are within the old city boundaries, he said. What they're saying: "That's where you see a lot of those empty areas, and where we're looking to establish more parks. That's why things like what we're working on in Decatur Township where we acquired some land last year are really so important," Cortwright said.
Axios
10-06-2025
- Axios
2025 ParkScore: San Antonio slips in national ranking
San Antonio's standing in the ParkScore rankings has slipped this year, falling to 57th place — down four spots from last year. Why it matters: City parks serve as community meeting spots and civic spaces, offer room for exercise and fresh air, and can draw in new residents — but they require investment, attention and protection. The big picture: The 2025 ParkScore index, an annual report from the Trust for Public Land (TPL), ranks the 100 most populous U.S. cities' park systems relative to one another based on five categories: acreage, access, amenities, investment and equity. What they found: San Antonio earned a total ParkScore of 51, below the national median of 53.6. The city ranks near the bottom in access — 47% of San Antonio residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park — with a score of 26. For comparison, top-ranked Washington, D.C., scored 99 in this category. San Antonio did improve from 2024 in terms of equity and amenities, jumping 4 and 5 points, respectively. Stunning stats: Among the cities analyzed, $12.2 billion was invested in park and recreation systems in 2024, and 76% of residents now live within a 10-minute walk of a park.
