Orlando parks are still lacking in acreage, compared to other city park systems across the country. That’s according to the latest ParkScore report, an annual analysis of park systems in the 100 largest U.S. cities published by the Trust for Public Land.
Orlando tied with Memphis for 73rd place this year, dropping down from 64th in the previous three years. The city’s lower ranking this year is primarily due to moves made by other cities, not changes to Orlando’s local park system itself, according to TPL.
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In response to the news of TPL’s report, Orlando spokesperson Ashley Papagni provided details about the city’s ongoing and planned efforts to improve parks and playgrounds, as well as a 25% growth in green space over the last 20 years.
“The city also believes in park accessibility and invests in a number of pocket parks that spread across the city,” Papagni said by email.
Of the 100 largest U.S. cities evaluated on the ParkScore index, seven are in Florida. St. Petersburg just slid into the top 20, ranking at No.19.
What’s a ‘ParkScore,’ anyway?
The nonprofit describes its ParkScore index as “the most complete and in-depth look at U.S. city park systems.” It ranks park systems on five categories: acreage, investment, amenities, access and equity. The analysis is of parks within city limits, so it doesn’t include parks in unincorporated Orange County.
This year’s report focuses on parks’ potential to yield a big return on investment for cities. It comes at a time when, nationally, “park investments are slowing — or even stopping” following a decade of progress, according to TPL. Some of that appears to be due to federal funding cuts, based on responses from 73% of the cities evaluated for the ParkScore index.
“A lot of cities say they can't afford to maintain their parks,” said George Dusenbury, TPL’s vice president for the Southeast.
According to the analysis, though, every dollar invested in parks and recreation produces at least $3 in local economic benefits.
“Being near a park actually increases property values, because people like living near parks. And so that increases revenue for the city,” Dusenbury said. “The easier it is to walk to the park, the more apt people are to use the park, [and] the more apt you are to see the mental and physical health benefits, the social benefits. … You're just building a better quality of life for everybody.”
Digging into Orlando’s data
Orlando scored highest in the park access category, which evaluates the proportion of a city’s residents living within a walkable half-mile of a park. With close to 71% of its population living that close, Orlando scores “about average” for park access, according to TPL. For the 100 most populous U.S. cities, the average proportion is 76%, but it dips to 57% when looking at residents of urban cities and towns more broadly.
Orlando also performs well on the investment metric. The city spends $176 per person annually on publicly-accessible parks and recreation, “well above” the national average of $154, according to TPL.
But Orlando continues to be lacking in park acreage, despite making small gains since last year’s report. About 6.3% of the city is dedicated to parkland now, up slightly from last year’s 5.5%. Across all 100 of the most populous cities, the average is 18%.
The difference shrinks dramatically when comparing Orlando’s park acreage to that of other cities also considered to be growing “very fast.” Among those very fast-growing cities, the average percentage of land dedicated to parks is 7%.
“I think that is the biggest challenge,” Dusenbury said. “If you want to maintain that quality of life, if you want to maintain that access to the outdoors — how do you do that when you see that development pressure?”
It’s a challenge facing many larger cities in the Southeast, Dusenbury said, due in part to historical development patterns.
“Part of that is developing in the age of the automobile,” he said. “We had a little bit of sprawl, and cities just did not make that initial investment in their park system. Now, they're scrambling to catch up.”
By contrast, lots of older, northern cities were designed to be walkable from the outset.
“They are benefiting from decisions made 100 years ago,” Dusenbury said, “Orlando and other large cities in the Southeast do not have that luxury.”
As Orlando becomes more densely populated and developed, investing in park acreage along the way will be critical, he said.
Dusenbury said efforts at the local level are especially key right now because state-level investments in land conservation are on the decline. Florida lawmakers are still trying to land on a budget for the next fiscal year, but the most recent proposals drastically limit funding for the state’s land acquisition program, Florida Forever.
RELATED: Florida Forever is on the verge of getting little funding this year
“The state really has started to disinvest in its state-level funding for land acquisition and park construction,” Dusenbury said. “We really need to work and preserve the land we can before it gets developed.”
Intentional investments
Orlando’s park acreage has grown over time: by 25% in the last two decades, according to Mayor Buddy Dyer’s “state of the city” address last year. Dyer said the city’s green spaces take up 4,600 acres, roughly one-third the size of Manhattan.
The city has 11 park and playground improvements planned over the next two years, including three already completed this year. Reopening ceremonies were recently held to announce renovated playground equipment and other improvements at Signal Hill Park and Poppy Park. And children co-designed a newly-renovated playground at the Hankins Park Neighborhood Center, helping choose the equipment, colors and layout.
Certain park amenities are another bright spot for Orlando, according to the TPL report. The city scores well for the number of senior and recreation centers, as well as park restrooms. Nationwide, the average number of park restrooms per 10,000 residents is 1.6, but Orlando has 2.08.
