Happy National Park and Recreation Month! What a perfect time to see who’s winning and losing in the public spaces and recreation department.
WalletHub is helping us along with that. The personal finance site just released its in-depth analysis of 2016’s Best and Worst Cities for Recreation.
How They Did It
WalletHub looked at the 100 largest cities in the U.S. and then scored them on 35 key factors across 4 categories: entertainment and recreational facilities; costs; quality of parks; and climate. Each metric was scored from 0 to 100, with 100 representing the most favorable conditions for recreation.
Why It Matters
Though often overlooked, parks and recreation play a pivotal role in the wellbeing of society. According to one study, public parks generated $140 billion in economic activity and 1 million jobs in 2013. Research has also linked park visits to reduced stress, blood pressure and obesity levels.
The Results
Orlando, FL was rated the best city for recreation, followed by the cities of Tampa, FL and Scottsdale, AZ. The worst ranking went to our very own Chula Vista.
San Francisco has the highest percentage of the population with walkable park access (98.04 percent), but Seattle has the highest spending on parks per capita ($294). San Fran came in at No. 13, just behind San Diego.
The highest number of park playgrounds per 100,000 residents is in Madison, WI. The lowest is in San Bernardino.
Here is a list of the top 10:
1. Orlando, FL
2. Tampa, FL
3. Scottsdale, AZ
4. Cincinnati, OH
5. Las Vegas, NV
6. St. Louis, MO
7. Atlanta, GA
8. Boise, ID
9. Minneapolis, MN
10. Honolulu, HI
For full rakings and methodology, see WalletHub’s analysis here.
Image Credit: Flickr User jula_julz, https://flic.kr/p/6kJkVr via (CC BY-SA 2.0)