CHARLOTTE — The local parks system once again ranks near the bottom in the latest version of a national analysis by the Trust for Public Land released this week, but the lead researcher sees cause for optimism.
Charlotte and Mecklenburg County finished 83rd among the nation’s 100 most-populous cities, according to the new rankings. Trust for Public Land is a San Francisco-based nonprofit that advocates for access to the outdoors.
Criteria include various aspects related to park acreage, access, equity, investment and amenities. Among the criteria are percentage of residents within a 10-minute walk to a park, differences in access for low-income neighborhoods and minority residents, spending per resident and the per-capita number of public playgrounds, senior centers, dog parks and basketball courts.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s overall score was 39.6, or 26% below the national median of 53.2. Charlotte fared best in park acreage and median park size, and worst in park access for residents.
Charlotte is unique because the county government, not the city, develops, owns and maintains parks, the project’s lead researcher said.
“They have some of the highest amount of acreage to maintain and the largest land areas,” Will Klein, Trust for Public Land parks researcher, told CBJ. “And, so, that creates a lot of opportunities for them and what they’ve really done well in the last couple of years is to move from (being ranked in) the 90s to where they are today. They’ve really invested a lot more.”
Klein said few cities in the nation have made larger strides than Charlotte of late. He cited the expanding greenway system as an example. County-owned greenway trails now run more than 60 miles.
Charlotte moved up eight spots from last year in the 2022 rankings.
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(WATCH BELOW: Charlotte parks rank 91 out of 100 US cities, national survey finds)
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