Access to Parks and Open Space

The Access to Parks and Open Space indicator measures the proportion of a neighborhood made up of park space. This indicator does not take in to account park amenities such as playgrounds. Lakes are not considered park space. Information used to calculate this indicator is from the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board and Minneapolis GIS office. More information about parks in Minneapolis is available at Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board Maps. Access to nature through safe, clean parks and open space can improve public health in many ways including increased exercise and physical activity, and decreased fatigue and increased productiveness. Increased time outdoors can decrease attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms. Trees and green space in parks also help mitigate negative climate issues by lowering air temperature, improving air quality by removing pollutants, and absorbing and cleaning water run off from impervious surfaces. Access to Parks and Open Space is in the Natual Areas domain.

Neighborhood Indicator Value Ranksort ascending
Bancroft 0.0% 84
Regina 0.0% 84
Phillips West 0.0% 84
Mid - City Industrial 0.0% 84
Windom 0.3% 83
Sheridan 0.7% 81
Lowry Hill East 0.7% 81
Holland 0.8% 78
McKinley 0.8% 78
Central 0.8% 78
Lyndale 1.0% 77
Morris Park 1.1% 75
Corcoran 1.1% 75
Jordan 1.2% 72
Longfellow 1.2% 72
Como 1.2% 72
Standish 1.5% 71
Calhoun Area Residents Action Group (CARAG) 1.6% 70
Downtown West 1.8% 69
Cleveland 2.0% 68
Steven's Square - Loring Heights 2.2% 66
Kenny 2.2% 66
Midtown Phillips 2.7% 65
Marcy Holmes 2.8% 64
Near - North 3.0% 62
Marshall Terrace 3.0% 62
Humboldt Industrial Area 3.1% 61
Sumner - Glenwood (Heritage Park) 3.2% 60
Elliot Park 3.3% 57
East Phillips 3.3% 57
North Loop 3.3% 57
Ventura Village 3.4% 56
King Field 3.5% 55
Armatage 3.9% 54
Bryant 4.1% 53
Whittier 4.4% 50
St. Anthony East 4.4% 50
Audubon Park 4.4% 50
Field 4.6% 49
Hawthorne 4.7% 48
Waite Park 4.8% 47
Downtown East 4.9% 46
Logan Park 5.1% 45
West Calhoun 5.5% 44
Beltrami 5.6% 43
Webber - Camden 5.9% 42
East Calhoun (ECCO) 6.0% 41
Minnehaha 6.1% 40
Fulton 6.3% 39
Northrop 6.4% 38
Bottineau 6.8% 36
Victory 6.8% 36
Folwell 7.5% 35
Seward 7.7% 34
Prospect Park - East River Road 8.2% 33
Tangletown 8.4% 32
Diamond Lake 8.7% 31
Lind - Bohanon 8.8% 30
Loring Park 9.1% 29
East Isles 9.8% 28
Linden Hills 10.7% 27
Lynnhurst 11.6% 25
St. Anthony West 11.6% 25
Willard - Hay 12.2% 24
Cooper 12.8% 23
Northeast Park 12.9% 22
Howe 13.0% 21
Powderhorn Park 13.9% 20
Harrison 14.0% 19
Wenonah 14.5% 18
Shingle Creek 14.7% 17
Lowry Hill 16.2% 16
Hale 16.5% 15
East Harriet 16.6% 14
Nicollet Island - East Bank 18.0% 13
Cedar - Isles - Dean 18.6% 12
Windom Park 19.6% 11
Page 21.1% 10
Columbia Park 21.2% 9
Hiawatha 21.3% 8
Camden Industrial 22.6% 7
University of Minnesota 22.7% 6
Keewaydin 23.9% 5
Cedar Riverside 24.7% 4
Bryn - Mawr 29.3% 3
Kenwood 34.2% 2
Ericsson 41.7% 1

Key Citations: 1. Bowler DE, Buyung-Ali LM, Knight TM, Pullin AS. (2010) A systematic review of evidence for the added benefits to health of exposure to natural environments. BMC Public Health. 2010 Aug 4;10:456. Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20684754.

2. Grant RH, Heisler GM, Gao W. (2002) Estimation of pedestrian level UV exposure under trees. Photochem Photobiol. 2002 Apr; 75(4):369-76. Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12003126.

3. Kuo FE, Taylor AF. (2004) A potential natural treatment for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: evidence from a national study. Am J Public Health. 2004 Sep ;94(9):1580-6. Available at: http://www.niu.edu/~carter/courses/526/articles/Kuo_and_Taylor.pdf.

4. TPL (2013). Economic and Health Benefits. Trust for Public Land. Accessed April 2013. Available at: Effects of Parks on Health: http://www.tpl.org/research/parks/economic-health-benefits.html.