http://parkscore.tpl.org/rankings.php (http://parkscore.tpl.org/rankings.php)
"The rating system looked at the percentage of residents living within a 10-minute walk of a park, the proportion of local land dedicated to parks, and the number of playgrounds and spending per capita on systems."
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/23/us-embargoedusa-cities-parks-idUSBRE84M06T20120523 (http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/23/us-embargoedusa-cities-parks-idUSBRE84M06T20120523)
Apparently Mayor Brown will be announcing soon a plan to enhance our parks
I got a good chuckle out of that. The problem with the Jacksonville park system is the population of Jacksonville. Most folks here don't play outside. Cutting the yard or a trip to the beach is their outdoor adventure. There are so many great parks in or around Jacksonville but most of the time they're empty. I think the people here would rather gather together elbow to elbow at RAM than walk through the woods or paddle down a quiet creek.
We use the parks quite a bit and are very impressed with them.
My biggest complaint (as borne out by the ranking) is access. I don't know of any parks within 10 minutes walking distance, so if I want to go to any park at all, I have to get in my car and drive there. The nearest one I know of is a basketball court and playground with rubber underlayment (not a blade of grass on the place). Not much for an adult to do there, and still more than a 10 minute walk. That might be well and good if there was a really unique park for me to go to, but I have yet to find one in Jacksonville that I find worth the drive.
I feel your pain. I temporarily live in a condo complex that makes it absolutely impossible to walk anywhere, let alone to a park, the closest of which is two miles away.
A lot of people just don't seem to care about this. For a lot of them, the beach is their park, whether or not they have to drive to it. I can understand that, but I'd rather have parks I can walk to in addition to the beach.
FWIW the intown neighborhoods are much better with this than the 'burbs.
I can understand that but as spread out as this city is I don't think expecting a quality park within a 10 min. walk is reasonable. Not sure what your preferences are but Tiger Point Preserve is a gem located off Cedar Point Rd. Shelters, tables, grills, small pier and lots of trails. Very shady area usually with a nice breeze. Here's a map of other preservation projects:http://www.coj.net/departments/recreation-and-community-services/waterfront-management-and-programming/preservation-project/map.aspx (http://www.coj.net/departments/recreation-and-community-services/waterfront-management-and-programming/preservation-project/map.aspx)
If Sacramento and Virginia Beach can be top 10, we can do better than 6th from the bottom. Even Phoenix is No. 16, and my mental picture of Phoenix is suburban hellscape.
I think if they would have scored the urbanized area of Jax, our ranking would be MUCH higher. This is still a case of city limits discrepancies.
Given the Jax (Duval) landscape and size, frankly, I think it is very positive to still be ranked as high as we are when compared to the other cities on the list. Jacksonville has no shortage of parks and if you live in the "older" areas of town you are likely within a mile of a park at worst.
And hey, Jax still ranks above Indy and Charlotte.... :)~
wonder if they counted the greenway in Charlotte, many in town can walk to that, but I guess that doesn't count as a park.
The "ranking" doesn't tell the whole story. It's true that Jax is so spread out and that surely hurts. It probably doesn't help that city spending on parks per capita is probably pretty low. I would contend that in terms of nature preserves Jax is probably among the tops in the country, but in terms of "parks" it is not really ahead of any of the city's peers.
I'm not aware of too many preserves in Charlotte and its suburbs are hell compared to Jacksonville's (in terms of traffic, layout, aesthetics), but Charlotte has been ramping up its urban parks front in the past decade to great success and is far far ahead of Jacksonville. Nashville has some great urban parks, some with long history. Birmingham is crushing the urban parks front and is really just turning out to be impressive. Jacksonville has the park-land, it just needs some city attention, perhaps some donors/endowment, and community effort to do the same thing. Neighborhood associations to fund and maintain local city parks (Boone as an example) and endowments devoted to improving and maintaing/running the larger citywide park assets (Emerald Necklace as an example).
Ok, after some time to digest the ranking/site -
http://parkscore.tpl.org/city.php?city=Jacksonville
I quickly compiled the data. Be the judge for yourself.
Park Acreage (a metric that is useless without the other details below)
Houston 49,643
San Diego 47,383
Phoenix 45,020
Jacksonville 44,108
New York 38,060
Virginia Beach 33,677
Albuquerque 32,535
Dallas 29,401
El Paso 29,393
Austin 28,911
Los Angeles 23,938
San Antonio 23,316
Oklahoma City 21,841
Charlotte 18,551
Kansas City 17,272
San Jose 15,982
Louisville 15,939
Milwaukee 15,189
Portland 13,864
Chicago 11,959
Fort Worth 11,312
Columbus 11,274
Indianapolis 11,147
Phildaelphia 10,886
Nashville 10,765
Memphis 9,140
Washington 7,464
Detroit 5,921
Denver 5,902
Seattle 5,476
San Francisco 5,384
Sacramento 5,069
Baltimore 4,905
Boston 4,897
Tucson 3,892
Atlanta 3,882
Long Beach 3,331
Las Vegas 3,072
Mesa 2,244
Fresno 1,511
Parks as % of City Land (a metric that doesn't tell the full story)
San Diego 22.8%
New York 19.6%
Washington 19.1%
Albuquerque 18.8%
El Paso 18.0%
San Francisco 17.9%
Portland 16.2%
Virginia Beach 15.9%
Boston 15.8%
Austin 15.2%
Phoenix 14.2%
Los Angeles 14.1%
San Jose 14.1%
Phildaelphia 13.0%
Houston 12.9%
Dallas 10.7%
Long Beach 10.3%
Seattle 10.2%
Baltimore 9.5%
Milwaukee 9.2%
Jacksonville 9.2%
Kansas City 8.6%
Chicago 8.5%
Columbus 8.1%
Sacramento 8.1%
San Antonio 7.9%
Louisville 6.7%
Denver 6.0%
Nashville 5.9%
Detroit 5.7%
Oklahoma City 5.6%
Atlanta 5.6%
Fort Worth 5.2%
Indianapolis 4.8%
Memphis 4.5%
Charlotte 4.1%
Las Vegas 3.5%
Tucson 2.7%
Mesa 2.6%
Fresno 2.1%
Median Park Size (Acres)...probably a metric that should not be weighted at all
Charlotte 19.87
Phoenix 14.58
Nashville 12.93
San Antonio 11.11
Indianapolis 10.30
Austin 10.00
Memphis 10.00
Las Vegas 7.91
Fort Worth 7.40
Milwaukee 7.30
Louisville 7.30
Dallas 7.20
San Diego 6.70
Oklahoma City 6.70
Los Angeles 6.66
Columbus 6.60
Denver 6.30
Sacramento 5.70
Houston 5.15
Jacksonville 5.00
Fresno 4.90
Portland 4.80
Virginia Beach 4.10
Tucson 4.10
Albuquerque 4.02
El Paso 3.70
San Jose 3.70
Phildaelphia 3.70
Kansas City 3.30
Long Beach 3.20
Mesa 3.15
Atlanta 3.00
Seattle 2.75
Chicago 2.00
Detroit 2.00
San Francisco 1.97
Boston 1.30
New York 1.10
Baltimore 0.83
Washington 0.70
City Spending per Resident (probably a metric that should be weighted more)
Washington $303.45
San Francisco $291.66
Seattle $260.77
Las Vegas $218.93
Portland $162.45
Sacramento $156.62
New York $152.39
Virginia Beach $139.63
San Jose $135.68
Kansas City $135.06
Long Beach $130.54
Phoenix $128.52
Chicago $128.08
Denver $122.38
San Diego $121.47
Dallas $110.03
Boston $105.70
Tucson $100.64
Atlanta $99.39
Nashville $91.33
Charlotte $78.94
Fort Worth $76.16
Austin $71.57
Columbus $68.94
Phildaelphia $65.71
San Antonio $62.79
Baltimore $62.63
Oklahoma City $61.02
Mesa $60.96
Memphis $60.32
Albuquerque $60.11
Milwaukee $59.54
Los Angeles $55.14
Fresno $54.98
Louisville $50.76
Jacksonville $44.82
Indianapolis $43.61
Houston $42.99
El Paso $31.12
Detroit $31.00
Playgrounds per 10,000 residents (probably a metric that should be weighted less)
Virginia Beach 5
Detroit 4.31
Sacramento 3.88
Jacksonville 3.5
Boston 3.44
Phildaelphia 3.34
Baltimore 3.14
Albuquerque 2.78
San Jose 2.65
Denver 2.42
Chicago 2.3
Fort Worth 2.3
Kansas City 2.17
Tucson 2.17
Portland 2.12
Seattle 2.11
El Paso 2.11
New York 2.05
Atlanta 2.02
Oklahoma City 2.02
Las Vegas 1.99
Houston 1.93
Columbus 1.9
Nashville 1.88
Dallas 1.8
San Francisco 1.78
San Diego 1.78
Washington 1.68
Memphis 1.68
Louisville 1.65
Indianapolis 1.6
Long Beach 1.5
Austin 1.48
Fresno 1.35
San Antonio 1.3
Charlotte 1.25
Milwaukee 1.19
Mesa 1.16
Phoenix 1.04
Los Angeles 1
People served per park acre (also probably a metric that should be weighted more)
New York 206
Chicago 203
San Francisco 145
Phildaelphia 127
Boston 122
Mesa 117
Fresno 109
Baltimore 107
Long Beach 97
Seattle 95
Detroit 92
Las Vegas 84
Los Angeles 82
Denver 79
Washington 77
Sacramento 69
Tucson 68
Atlanta 66
San Jose 39
Milwaukee 34
Fort Worth 33
Portland 32
Columbus 31
Memphis 27
Indianapolis 23
Dallas 22
Houston 20
Nashville 20
San Diego 20
San Antonio 18
Kansas City 17
Louisville 14
Phoenix 14
Albuquerque 12
Austin 12
El Paso 10
Charlotte 10
Oklahoma City 9
Virginia Beach 8
Jacksonville 5
Largest Park in the City (this metric is not weighted, but it does tell a little bit of a story)
El Paso 25,631 Franklin Mountains State Park
Phoenix 16,094 South Mountain Preserve
Houston 9,270 Cullen Park
Los Angeles 8,960 Topanga State Park
Jacksonville 7,870 Timucuan Preserve
New York 7,138 Gateway National Recreation Area
San Jose 6,800 Don Edwards Wildlife Refuge
Louisville 6,201 Jefferson Memorial Forest
San Diego 5,840 Mission Trail
Portland 5,157 Forest Park
Indianapolis 4,766 Eagle Creek Park
Albuquerque 4,596 Shooting Range Park
Phildaelphia 4,167 Fairmont Park
Austin 3,715 Walter Long Met Park
Fort Worth 3,662 Fort Worth Nature Center
Dallas 3,643 Mountain Creek Lake Park
Virginia Beach 3,572 False Cape State Park
Memphis 3,200 Shelby Farms Park
Nashville 3,133 The Warner Parks
Kansas City 2,381 Longview Lake Park
Washington 1,754 Rock Creek Park
Sacramento 1,746 American River Parkway
San Francisco 1,491 The Presidio
San Antonio 1,392 Rancho Diana
Chicago 1,216 Lincoln Park
Baltimore 1,200 Gwynns Falls/Leakin Park
Columbus 1,156 Three Creeks Park
Mesa 1,144 Red Mountain Park
Detroit 1,100 Rouge Park
Oklahoma City 988 Stinchcomb Wildlife Refuge
Charlotte 853 Reedy Creek Preserve
Long Beach 850 El Dorado Park
Las Vegas 660 Floyd Lamb Park
Milwaukee 625 Whitnall Park
Boston 567 Stony Brook
Seattle 534 Discovery Park
Tucson 346 Christopher Columbus
Denver 314 City Park
Fresno 300 Woodward Park
Atlanta 268 Chastain
Most Visited Park...which ones have you heard of or been to?
Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta Park
Atlanta Piedmont Park
Austin Park at Lady Bird Lake
Baltimore Fort McHenry Nat'l Monument
Boston Boston Common
Charlotte Park Road Park
Chicago Lincoln Park
Columbus Schiller Park
Dallas Fair Park
Denver City Park
Detroit Belle Isle Park
El Paso Eastwood Park
Fort Worth Trinity Park
Fresno Woodward Park
Houston Hermann Park
Indianapolis White River State Park
Jacksonville Drew Field Which park is this???
Kansas City Swope Park
Las Vegas Floyd Lamb Park
Long Beach El Dorado Park
Los Angeles Griffith Park
Louisville Louisville Waterfront Park
Memphis Overton Park
Mesa N.A.
Milwaukee Veterans Park
Nashville Centennial Park
New York Central Park
Oklahoma City Myriad Botanical Gardens
Phildaelphia Fairmont Park
Phoenix Encanto Park
Portland N.A.
Sacramento Old Sacramento State Park
San Antonio SA Missions National Park
San Diego Mission Bay Park
San Francisco Golden Gate Park
San Jose N.A.
Seattle Green Lake Park
Tucson Gene C. Reid Park
Virginia Beach First Landing State Park
Washington National Mall
The statistics cannot possibly be accurate. I'll bet a bunch they failed to include the Shipyards Park, the Southside Generating Station Park, and the Olde Ruins (a/k/a Laura Street Trio).
It's no secret that we have a very large, but largely neglected park system. Especially considering our small population, our park acreage per resident is huge. That means even at a decent funding level relative to other cities, we just wouldn't have an adequate pool of funds to properly maintain our huge park system. We need to focus on a few of our jewels and really make them shine (Hogan's creek greenway). Alvin Brown recently alluded to this and I trust that he will make it happen or at least die trying.
Here's what an inner suburb of Chicago looks like:
http://g.co/maps/7udhu (http://g.co/maps/7udhu)
Here's what an inner suburb of Jacksonville looks like:
http://g.co/maps/2swfc (http://g.co/maps/2swfc)
Hard to see Jax's acreage advantage this way. I'm curious how much acreage Jax has if you don't count preserves (Chicago/Cook County doesn't, and it has 68,000 acres of forest preserve). Also, found what might be Drew Field: http://g.co/maps/j3ebq (http://g.co/maps/j3ebq)
^The more I look at this the more off it looks. And a comparison to Chicago is certainly not apples-to-apples. The vast majority of the Cook County Preserve is outside of the city of Chicago. In Duval County clearly most of the park land is within Jacksonville. In this metric anyway, preserve land within Chicago is being counted as inside Chicago as you can see here (http://cityparksurvey.tpl.org/reports/report_display.asp?rid=2).
Additionally, the numbers are wrong. In Duval, including the preserves the total acreage is more like 70-80 K, not 44,108. The vast majority of this is under the care of the COJ; it's not split between different governments, and there are a ton fewer taxpayers to split the cost. And of course these numbers leave out the vast majority of the beach, which is both well used and maintained at taxpayer cost.
In terms of park locations, interior areas of Jax compare better than San Marco, from impoverished neighborhoods like the Eastside (http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=Q8s&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&q=eastside+Jacksonville+zipcode&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1147&bih=541&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl) to wealthy Avondale (http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=Q8s&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&q=eastside+Jacksonville+zipcode&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1147&bih=541&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl).
IMO our issues are the upkeep of the parks we do have, the lack of a major downtown park (ie Hogan's Creek/Confederate Park), and the lack of park access in some areas. These are things an effective administration could help with. Our strengths are an enviable amount of preserve land, of which several thousand acres are accessible, quality state parks, some quality neighborhood parks in the old city and scattered around in the suburbs, and of course the beach, which functions as a park for the entire metro area.
Drew Park is a baseball/softball field(s) off of Parental Home Road.
Kltuho park system on Hogan creek. Do it.
I visited Memorial Park a week or so ago - well after the storm blew through. It was full of trash and debris - some that must have been there long before the storm. Hello jobs! Hire folks to clean it up - after all, it's probably the City's most recognizable park - a potential gem that the City chooses to treat like plastic costume jewelry.
Want to enhance attendance at some of the most centrally located parks? Let some of those food trucks find an unobtrusive spot to park on the weekends.
Quote from: JFman00 on May 24, 2012, 12:56:25 AM
Here's what an inner suburb of Chicago looks like:
http://g.co/maps/7udhu (http://g.co/maps/7udhu)
Here's what an inner suburb of Jacksonville looks like:
http://g.co/maps/2swfc (http://g.co/maps/2swfc)
Hard to see Jax's acreage advantage this way. I'm curious how much acreage Jax has if you don't count preserves (Chicago/Cook County doesn't, and it has 68,000 acres of forest preserve). Also, found what might be Drew Field: http://g.co/maps/j3ebq (http://g.co/maps/j3ebq)
That map of San Marco / 32207 is missing a bunch of parks.