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Tulsa Drops One Spot in Annual Park Rankings for 100 Largest U.S. Cities

KWGS News

A year after climbing one spot to 59th, Tulsa slides back to 60th in annual park rankings of America’s 100 biggest cities by the Trust for Public Land.

ParkScore rankings consider park amenities, acreage, access and per-resident spending. The trust's Center for City Park Excellence Program Coordinator Ali Hiple said Tulsa’s drop isn’t so much because it’s doing worse in any area.

"We did see this year cities that have really strong focus on their recreational systems, particularly on these amenities, moving up a little bit in the score. So, that seems to be the case for Tulsa, is they just got bumped down a little bit as other places moved up," Hiple said.

Tulsa continues to score well in park acreage on the strength of its large median park size of 9.6 acres but lags in park access, which measures the percentage of residents living within a 10-minute walk of a park.

"Only 55 percent of Tulsa residents live within a 10-minute walk to a park, and that's pretty low compared to our national median, which is 65 percent," Hiple said.

The ParkScore formula got a couple tweaks this year that benefit Tulsa. Splash pads are included in park amenities, and Tulsa got maximum points in that amenities category. Private donations and volunteer hours now contribute to park investment, tallied as spending per resident.

"A highlight for Tulsa this year was definitely growth in that spending per resident category. Last year, they spent $58 per resident. This year, it's $67 per resident," Hiple said.

Tulsa again ranked higher than Oklahoma City, which came in 81st this year. Minneapolis took the top spot in the ParkScore rankings for the third year in a row.

Matt Trotter joined KWGS as a reporter in 2013. Before coming to Public Radio Tulsa, he was the investigative producer at KJRH. His freelance work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and on MSNBC and CNN.