Why Park Equity Matters

Parks, trails, and green spaces play an important role in building healthy communities. They provide spaces for recreation, relaxation, and connection with nature.

Unfortunately, access to these green spaces isn’t equal.

Park Equity means ensuring that parks and green spaces are fairly and justly distributed so that all communities, regardless of race or income, can enjoy the health, environmental, and social benefits they provide.

Today, communities of color and low-income neighborhoods often have less access to parks compared to more affluent or predominantly white areas. These disparities are the result of historical and systemic practices like redlining, residential segregation, and exclusionary zoning.

Achieving Park Equity requires closing gaps in access to parks so that communities of color and low-income communities have equal access. It requires intentional efforts to:

1. Close access gaps in underserved areas

2. Address systemic and structural barriers

3. Ensure communities are meaningfully involved in planning and decision-making