Mecklenburg parks make a little progress, but still rank low on latest national survey
At least we’re not dead-last this time.
A recent annual ranking by the 50-year-old Trust for Public Land conservation group puts Charlotte-Mecklenburg County 83rd out of the top 100 most-populated U.S. cities for parks and recreation available to its citizenry.
Mecklenburg parks placed last nationally in the group’s annual ranking back in 2019, The Charlotte Observer reported at the time. Some 97 cities were ranked that year.
Charlotte has often fared poorly in the organization’s rankings of parks, greenways and accessibility of outdoor spaces compared with its peer communities, the Observer reported in 2019.
In 2018, the Trust for Public Land ranked Charlotte dead last out of 97 cities it studied for access to parks, the Observer reported at the time. Only 28% of residents lived within a 10-minute walk to a park, the nonprofit said.
Now? Some 37% of us live within a 10-minute walk to a park, according to the Trust for Public Land.
The trust bases its rankings on parks and recreation access, investment, acreage, amenities and equity.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg scored “below average” for the amount of land dedicated to parks and recreation — 6% of its land.
The city and county also scored “below average” for the percentage of residents within a 10-minute walk to a park, but “above average” for the $106-per-capita spending on parks and recreation and “about average” for park amenities, the trust found.
Equity concerns with parks
Regarding equity: Charlotte/Mecklenburg scored below average for people of color and low-income households living within a 10-minute walk of a park, according to the study.
Residents in neighborhoods of color have access to 6% less nearby park space than those in white neighborhoods, according to the trust, while residents in lower-income neighborhoods have access to 36% more nearby park space than those in higher-income neighborhoods.
But the news wasn’t all bad — Charlotte-Mecklenburg stands among the highest for the size of its parks, according to the Trust for Public Land.
Among other N.C. cities, Raleigh ranked 50th, Greensboro 76th, Winston-Salem 80th and Durham 81st.