Arlington’s parks are still among the best in the country — but they don’t rank quite as high as they used to.
For the first time since 2017, Arlington County’s parks failed to rank among the top five in the nationwide “ParkScore” rankings. They fell from No. 5 last year to No. 7, in between San Francisco and Seattle.
This is the 10th year in a row that Arlington’s parks have ranked among the top 10 in the nation, Arlington County noted in a press release.
“Arlington should be celebrated for being one of a handful of cities that have maintained a top 10 ParkScore® rating every year since TPL expanded coverage to 100 cities in 2016,” said George Dusenbuery, the Trust for Public Land’s vice president for the Southeast region. “Arlington’s park excellence continues to shine through.”
D.C., meanwhile, continued to defend its spot at No. 1 in the nation. However, a spokesperson for the Trust for Public Land warned that federal decisions could threaten the region’s rankings in years to come.
“We try not to speculate about what might happen in future years, but it’s safe to say the DMV is uniquely vulnerable to funding cuts at the federal level,” spokesperson Matt Kagan told ARLnow. “Federally-run parks are included in ParkScore, and if their budgets get cut significantly, it will show up in the ParkScore index.”
Still, for the time being, he said Arlington’s fall in the ranking had more to do with investments in cities elsewhere in the country: specifically, in Cincinnati and San Francisco.
“It’s a good warning for all top-ranked park systems, though: watch your back!” Kagan said. “Other cities are making rapid improvements, and you will get overtaken if you don’t keep moving forward.”
Arlington invests $301 per resident on parks, compared to a nationwide city average of $133 per resident. Additionally, 99% of the county’s residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park, compared to a national average of 76%, according to ParkScore data.
This year’s ranking also included a report on how Trump voters compare to Harris voters in their feelings about parks. A poll found broad similarities across the two groups.
About 90% of Harris voters said they visit local parks, as did 92% of Trump voters. Some 80% of Harris voters say they have a “home base” park where they feel welcomed and comfortable, and so did 83% of Trump voters.
Finally, 66% of Harris voters recalled striking up a conversation in a park with someone they didn’t previously know. So did 67% of Trump voters.
“There’s similar agreement across all demographic lines,” Kagan said. “Parks may be the last ideology-free zone in the US.”
This article has been updated with information from an Arlington County press release sent after publication.
