Seattle’s park system just earned some major recognition. The nonprofit organization Trust for Public Land ranked the 100 largest U.S. cities based on the quality of their parks, and Seattle landed in the top 10 at #8 overall.
The rankings were based on five main categories: park acreage, access, investment, amenities, and park space equity. Seattle performed especially well in access and investment. In fact, the city scored 99 points out of 100 for access and a perfect 100 for investment in parks. Seattle also earned a strong score (72 points) for park equity, which measures how fairly parks are distributed across neighborhoods.
One of Seattle’s biggest strengths is how easy it is for residents to reach a park. The city has around 850 parks, and 99% of Seattle residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park. That’s far above the national average. Across the country’s 100 largest cities, only 76% of people live within a 10-minute walk of a park, and in urban areas overall the number drops to 57%.
Still, Seattle’s park system isn’t perfect. The city scored lower in acreage and amenities, receiving 53 points in both categories. Although parks are easy to reach, only 12% of Seattle’s land is dedicated to parks and recreation, compared to the national average of 15%. By comparison, top-ranked Washington, D.C. uses over 21% of its land for parks.
Seattle also tends to have smaller parks. The city’s largest park, Discovery Park, covers 534 acres. That’s much smaller than Central Park in Manhattan, which spans 843 acres.
When it comes to park amenities, Seattle had mixed results. The city had a perfect score for its amount of splash pads and spray parks, but only 58 points for dog parks and under 50 points for amenities like basketball courts, playgrounds, sports fields, and bathrooms.
