The Trust for Public Land — a nonprofit group that advocates for parks in neighborhoods across the nation — looked at park systems in the nation’s 100 largest cities and determined that Washington, D.C., and Arlington have the fourth- and sixth-best park systems, respectively.
While the study’s researchers said the high rankings were signs of robust park systems, both the District and Arlington saw a drop in their ranking compared with last year. In 2016, the District had the country’s third-best park system, while Arlington ranked No. 4. Arlington County is treated as a city for the purposes of the study.
Alexandra Hiple, a research associate at the Trust for Public Land, said the drop in local rankings is a result of San Francisco and Portland, Ore., seeing a boost in their park offerings, as opposed to D.C. and Arlington seeing a decline in offerings.
