Minneapolis and New York City Top 2014 ParkScore Ratings

A press release from the Trust for Public Land announced the results of the third annual ParkScore rating. Here's the summary of the ratings: "Minneapolis took top honors on The Trust for Public Land's 3rd annual ParkScore® index, earning a perfect '5-park bench' rating from the nonprofit organization. Minneapolis remains the only city park system to earn the coveted '5 bench' score. New York, Boston, Portland, and San Francisco rounded out the top five."

Among the changes between earlier iterations of the ratings, this year's ParkScore ranked the 60 largest cities in the United States, up from 50 in 2013. "Among the ten new ParkScore entrants, Aurora, CO ranked best, earning four park benches and a 10th place tie with Virginia Beach. New Orleans earned 3.5 park benches, tying for 18th position—the second highest score among new ParkScore cities."

One local media outlet reacted to their poor showing: Robert Wilonsky reported on Dallas' continuing plunge in the rankings, citing growing population and limited park funding as a reason for the city's poor performance on the ratings.