On May 27, The Trust for Public Land (TPL) released its 2021 ParkScore rankings of park systems across the country. Oakland checked in at #44, up 7 spots from 2020.
This year’s index includes measures of park equity for the first time in the study’s 10 year history with findings that echo those in our own 2020 survey report, Parks and Equity: The Promise of Oakland’s Parks.
Taken together, these perspectives reveal national inequalities in park access that exist here locally. According to TPL’s analysis, Oakland’s low income communities and people of color have significantly less park space than neighborhoods that are predominantly white and wealthy.
The pandemic exposed deep disparities across Oakland. As we work to recover, let’s put investments in our parks at the center of an equitable civic strategy to restore, rebuild and renew our communities.
Warmly,
Mandolin Kadera-Redmond
Interim Executive DirectorBoard President