Seattle ranks among top 10 park systems in the country

Seattle’s parks may have already been among the dearest in our hearts, and a recent ranking shows they’re also among the best in the country.

Seattle’s public park system was named eighth-best in the country by the nonprofit Trust for Public Land.

The study compared park systems across the 100 most populous cities in the United States, analyzing them across five categories: access, investment, amenities, acreage and equity. 

Seattle Parks and Recreation, with over 489 parks, climbed from the ninth spot last year. The park system is the largest landowner in Seattle, and contains one of the few complete Olmsted park systems — named after the son of an early pioneer of modern landscape design — in the country, said spokesperson Rachel Schulkin. John Charles Olmsted, Frederick Law Olmsted’s stepson, was the primary visionary of the Seattle park system.

Seattle’s ranking is “a recognition that our parks are unique and truly impactful assets for our city,” said Mayor Bruce Harrell in a news release. “Seattle is a city of natural beauty, made even more special by the dedicated work of park partners and professionals.”

Within the study’s top 25 cities, residents were 9% less likely to have poor mental health and 21% less likely to be physically inactive than those in lower-ranked cities, according to Trust for Public Land.

Seattle scored highest (100 out of 100 points) in the investment category, which analyzed spending across all of a park system’s agencies and organizations.

Seattle Parks and Recreation spends $329 per Seattle resident each year on public parks and recreation, which is more than triple the national median spending of $108 per resident, according to the Trust for Public Land.

Some of Seattle Parks and Recreation’s biggest investments in the past year include projects to renovate the Fairmount Park play area and Jefferson Community Center, said Schulkin, which cost over $2.6 million combined.

The system’s largest expense is park and facility maintenance — $86 million per year — which includes staffing, utilities and equipment, Schulkin added.

The 100 most populous cities invested a total of over $9 billion in their parks, with San Francisco leading the pack at $480 per resident, according to the Trust for Public Land.

Seattle’s park system also ranked high in the access category, which analyzed how many residents live within a 10-minute (or half-mile) walk of a park. With 99% of Seattle’s population living this close to a park, the Emerald City scores among the highest in this category, with a score of 98 out of 100 points.

Parks and green spaces have “public health superpowers,” said Dr. Howard Frumkin, a senior vice president at Trust for Public Land.

They can deliver cardiovascular benefits, fight loneliness, combat osteoporosis, counter stress and anxiety and more — “and they do those things without adverse side effects and at minimal cost,” said Frumkin, who is also a former dean of the University of Washington School of Public Health and a past official of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A 2023 study conducted in Philadelphia, one of the nation’s largest cities that has differing densities of green space, found those who live closest to green spaces often report better physical health and less stress than those who live farther. Research shows access to parks and green spaces offers especially strong health benefits for people with low incomes and those most likely to be in poor health.

While Frumkin and other health experts agree on the benefits of access to parks, “we know that it is not equitable,” said Dr. Pooja S. Tandon, a pediatrician and researcher at Seattle Children’s hospital and associate professor of pediatrics at the UW.

The Trust for Public Land study revealed neighborhoods of color across U.S. cities had access to an average of 43% less park acreage than predominantly white neighborhoods, and similar park-space inequities existed in low-income neighborhoods across cities.

In Seattle, the study found residents in low-income neighborhoods have access to 13% less park space per person than those in median-income neighborhoods and 36% less than those in high-income neighborhoods.

Seattle residents in neighborhoods of color have access to 40% more park space per person than the city median and 5% more than those in white neighborhoods, according to Trust for Public Land.

The study analyzed equity using two metrics: the fairness in the distribution of parks and park space between neighborhoods by race and income. Seattle scored 76 out of 100 points.

“This ranking reflects the commitment this city has towards improving access and equity throughout our park system and the abundant love Seattleites have for their park system,” said Seattle Parks and Recreation Superintendent AP Diaz.

Seattle scored 53 out of 100 points on acreage, which looked at the amount of large “destination” parks based on dedicated parkland area and median park sizes, according to the study.

There are 6,480 acres of park spaces (both parks and natural and undeveloped areas) in Seattle, which accounts for about 12% of city land.

Seattle’s lowest ranking was on amenities (about average at 46 out of 100 points), which looked at the amount of six popular park activities — basketball hoops, dog parks, playgrounds, bathrooms, recreation and senior centers, and splash pads — that are associated with a rise in physical activity, according to a 2016 national study.

To no surprise, Seattle scored highest in the number of dog parks across the city.

Seattle’s lowest score in the amenities category was for number of playgrounds.

Seattle Parks and Recreation plans to add between five and 10 play areas throughout Seattle within the next five years, Schulkin said, as well as renovate many of the existing ones.