Shirlington Dog Park. File photo by Shirley Ruhe/The Connection
Some of the nation’s best parks are right down the block in Arlington. Arlington County parks were recently ranked fourth in the nation by the Trust for Public Land’s ParkScore Index.
Whether you like to picnic, take the kids to cool off in a sprayground on hot summer days, grab a pick up game of basketball, make your retriever happy with a trip to the local dog park, walk the trails or explore the nature exhibits, you can find it in Arlington.
ParkScore rankings are based equally on five factors including Park Access, Park Acreage, Park Investment, Park Amenities and Accessibility, and Park Equity, a new criteria this year to measure how equitable park land was for people of color and those with lower incomes.
This year’s criteria were expanded to measure accessibility beyond the general population and to focus on equitable access for all.
in Arlington, neighborhoods of color have 34 percent less park space than white neighborhoods and low-income neighborhoods have 34 percent less than high-income neighborhoods.
Arlington rated highly in park investment with $347.72 spent per resident on parks and also on park amenities where they received perfect scores for dog parks, basketball hoops and per capita spending. In addition, 11 percent of Arlington is reserved for parks, and 99 percent of Arlington residents can walk to a park in 10 minutes or less, exceeding the national average of 75 percent.
County Board Chair Matt de Ferranti indicated that Arlington is committed to advancing equity and “glad that we have new information as to where we can improve so that all Arlingtonians have equitable access to great public spaces.”
The Board is focused on developing several initiatives to address the current situation in Arlington where neighborhoods of color have 34 percent less park space than white neighborhoods and low-income neighborhoods have 34 percent less than high-income neighborhoods.
In order to work toward the goal of advancing equity with a vision of an Arlington where all are valued, the county staff will ask who benefits, who is burdened, who is missing, how do we know and what do/did we do.