New Poll Finds Increased Usage of Urban Parks

The nation's 77 largest city park systems provide more than 1.3 million acres of parkland and added more than 5,000 acres of parkland as the public turns to local parks in a time when fewer people have money to travel.

According to new statistics released by the Trust for Public Land, big-city park departments last year offered the 56 million urban residents 10,419 park playgrounds, 1,290 swimming pools, 466 dog parks, and 386 public golf courses, while spending $5.7 billion on their park and recreation systems.

A poll asking U.S. residents about their local park usership was also conducted to accompany release of the data by Harris Interactive on behalf of The Trust for Public Land. Results showed that one fifth of American park users have increased their visits to local parks and playgrounds during this recent period of economic difficulty, and a third of families with children have increased their visits to parks and playgrounds.