Hello park advocates, supporters and volunteers!

Greetings from the Boston Park Advocates Steering Committee. My name is Charlie McCabe, I’m a public park advocate, volunteer, and consultant and I’m writing with some updates about parks in Boston and the area. The steering committee is an all volunteer group working to advocate for park funding, park improvements, and communication with both the city and State Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), since Boston is unique in parkland is split between these two agencies. We hope to host some events and programming later this year, we’ll keep you posted...

Yesterday, the Trust for Public Land (TPL) released its annual ParkScore Index, a ranking of the parks systems of the 100 largest U.S. cities. Boston is ranked 12th this year, up from 14th in 2024. More importantly, TPL worked with YouGov to commission a survey of 2,000 people living in the 100 largest cities to gauge their view (and importance) of public parks. I’ll cover that in a bit more detail, but I wanted to share some other updates. (If you have news to share, you can share it via this Google Group or send it to me - chasmccabe@gmail.com and I’ll be sure to pass it along as well as post it on the Boston Park Advocates website.)

- Search for Boston Parks Commissioner. The hiring process for a new Boston Parks and Recreation Commissioner continues, since the departure of Commissioner Ryan Woods (to work with Meet Boston), who had served in the role since 2019.

- Not to be outdone, the state Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) announced in April that its commissioner, Brian Arrigo, would be leaving to take a leadership role at the University of Massachusetts - Lowell. DCR is currently in the process of looking for a new Commissioner.

DCR’s ParkServe day was held on April 26th and for the second year in a row, it rained. But thousands of volunteers across the Boston area turned out in parks to pick up trash and perform other maintenance tasks. Thanks to all who put on their rain gear and helped out! https://www.mass.gov/info-details/dcr-park-serve-day

- The Walking City Trail, a volunteer group led by freelance journalist Miles Howard, has laid out and opened a new City on the Hills Trail, joining the original Walking City Trail. There’s now 58 miles of trails that visit over 58 green spaces in 23 Boston neighborhoods. Their website has all of the details (https://walkingcitytrail.substack.com/) and volunteers are leading a series of Summer Sunset walks with details here: https://walkingcitytrail.substack.com/p/upcoming-events-boston-summer-sunset

- The Esplanade Association recently held a groundbreaking for the new Smith Family Pavilion at CharlesBank. This is adjacent to the Teddy Ebersole Field and the currenty under construction Gronk Playground, located across from Mass General and within walking distance from the Red Line’s Charles station. Details are here: https://esplanade.org/charlesbank/

- Temporary Public Art is in season across Boston. Joining the efforts of the city of Boston, as well as the Rose Kennedy Greenway and the Downtown Boston Alliance, the Boston Public Art Triennial kicks off a new set of temporary art installations and events tomorrow (5/22/25) at multiple locations across the city. Check out their website for details: https://www.thetriennial.org/opening-week

- Liza Meyer assumed the role of President of the Friends of the Public Garden (FOPG), following a long-standing role at Boston Parks and Recreation. Liza has also joined the Boston Park Advocates Steering Committee as we discuss our next steps. The Henry Lee Fund of FOPG awarded its first round of grants for public park projects across the city: https://friendsofthepublicgarden.org/leefundgrantees/

- The Emerald Necklace Conservancy held its annual Party in the Park to raise funds for care for the canopy across the parks, honoring Vivien Li, longtime leader of the Boston Harbor Association (now Boston Harbor Now). https://www.emeraldnecklace.org/party-in-the-park/ The Franklin Park Defenders announced an appeal of the recent court ruling on White Stadium. https://www.emeraldnecklace.org/white-stadium/

And finally, more on ParkScore and the TPL/YouGov survey on parks in the largest U.S. cities….

ParkScore is the annual ranking of park systems of the 100 or so largest cities in the United States. It’s put together by the Trust for Public Land using data collected from hundreds of public parks agencies and nonprofits. One of its goals is encourage easy park access for residents of our country, especially in cities – characterized by a 10-minute walk or less for any person to a local park.

Boston is one of three cities that provides 100 precent of its residents a ten-minute walk to a park (the other cities are San Francisco and Jersey City) which is significant. A number of cities in the top 25 come close to the100 percent goal, with New York City, Minneapolis, and St. Paul at 99 percent; and Chicago and Arlington, VA at 98 precent.

Boston’s ParkScore ranking is 12th for 2025, up from 14 in 2024. Generally, Boston hovers in the top 15 cities, a very competitive group every year. The number 1 city is (again) Washington DC with perennial favorites Minneapolis at #3, San Francisco at #6, Seattle at #8, and New York City at #13. Complete information is available at www.tpl.org/parkscore.

Park investment by both public park agencies and nonprofit partners is at an all-time high. The ten-minute walk score average for the 100 largest cities is also at an all-time high of 76 percent, compared to 68 percent when ParkScore reported results for the first 25 citis in 2012.

Trust for Public Land also commissioned a national survey by YouGov of 2,000 adults living in the 100 largest U.S. cities and it provided some amazing results about the impact and influence of public parks and open spaces that I wanted to share. You can read the entire report here: Parks: The Great Unifers

The outdoors was the number one place people wish they spent more time in the past year to find joy at 38 percent. Homes were second at 24 percent, civic institutions (libraries, museums) and performance venues were tied for third at 19 percent each.

The top 25 city park systems have residents that are heathier, more socially connected, and more civically engaged, compared to the bottom 25 city park systems:

19 percent less physical inactivity.
9 precent less poor mental health.
26 percent more social connections between people of different income groups.
61 percent more volunteers per capita.
45 percent more civic organizations per capita.

79 percent of respondents have a park where they feel comfortable and want to visit on a regular basis.For residents of the top 25 city park systems, this increases to 83 percent.

Two in three respondents report having had a positive conversation with a stranger in a park.

53 precent of respondents reported having a conversation in a park with a stranger of a different social or economic background in the past year. For residents of the top 25 city park systems, this increases to 59 percent.

Volunteering in parks, including nonprofit support of city parks are at the same level of federal funding for city parks. Over 16 million hours of volunteer time was contributed in the most recent years, equal to $600 million worth of park investment. This is the same amount that public park agencies received in federal grants.

A record $12.2 billion was invested in park and recreation systems, primarily in staffing. The underlying trends driving these efforts are:

An increase in local funding of staffing (increasing 25 percent since 2019) and capital projects increasing 7 percent, driven in part by dedicated park bonds and taxes.
A short term boost from one-time COVID era federal funding sources. (95 percent)
Increased support from volunteers and park nonprofits (26 percent)

71 percent of respondents support programs to improve the quality of existing parkland, even if it meant a small increase in their taxes.