Did you know? Nearly every San Franciscan lives within a 10-minute walk to a park, per a study by The Trust for Public Land. They go on to report:
- 100% of the population served by city parks ("served" = within a 10-minute walk)
- 19.6% of the city is covered by park land
- 1.3 acres is the median park size
- $318.39 amount per capita spent on parks
Per their study of 100 largest cities in the country:
- San Francisco ranks in the 96th percentile in dog parks
- 75th percentile in park bathrooms
- 71st percentile in basketball hoops
- 56th percentile in recreation and senior centers
- 52nd percentile in playgrounds
- 36th percentile for splashpads (no surprise here with our temperate climate!)
As a San Franciscan who loves to hike and explore, I know first-hand many of our city's parks. Some are very small, like Jack Early Park, while the Presidio, McLaren Park and Golden Gate Park are quite large. In between are scores of moderate sized parks like Lafayette Park, Alamo Square and Buena Vista.
Some parks are highly developed, with tennis courts, playgrounds and basketball courts. Others have much wild land
San Francisco offers the perfect blend of urban excitement with opportunities to spend time in natural surroundings, providing the necessary respite that refreshes and restores one. You really can have it all.
And of course, dog parks! San Francisco is a city of dog lovers.
It's not surprising to me that San Francisco ranked so high on the ParkScore index. Summer in San Francisco is a great time to get outdoors and enjoy the many parks so close to us. Of course, there really isn't a bad time of year to get outside when you live in San Francisco, one of the benefits of The City.
As I like to say, "Come for a visit, stay for a lifetime."
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