America's Best City Parks
Jacksonville operates the largest urban park system in the United States, providing facilities and services at more than 337 locations on more than 80,000 acres located throughout the city. However, quantity doesn't always equate to quality. According to Forbes Magazine, here is a list of urban public spaces that are considered some of America's Best 'City' Parks.
Central Park, New York
Golden Gate Park, San Francisco
Spreckels Temple of Music in Golden Gate Park
soucre: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Golden_Gate_Park_-_Spreckels_Temple_of_Music_01.jpg
Grant Park, Chicago
Prospect Park, Brooklyn
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ProspectParkReflections7957.JPG
Post Office Square, Boston
Post Office Square in Boston's Financial District.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Post_Office_Square,_Boston.jpg
Audubon Park, New Orleans
Cal Anderson Park, Seattle
Photo by Douglas J. McLaughlin
Boston Common, Boston
Encanto Park, Phoenix
Encanto Park Waterfall at night.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:EncantoParkNight.jpg
Patterson Park, Baltimore
A view of downtown Baltimore across Patterson Park.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Patterson_Park.jpg
Oakland Cemetery, Atlanta
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Oakland-Section_map.jpg
Balboa Park, San Diego
The 'Casa de Balboa' on El Prado, in Balboa Park. Photo by Stephane D'Alu
Confederate Park - Jacksonville, FL
What will it take to get a Jacksonville "city" park on a list such as this?
Source and full article: https://www.forbes.com/2009/11/18/best-city-parks-lifestyle-travel-central-park.html
Images by Metro Jacksonville
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Any discussion of American city parks would be incomplete without mention of the granddaddy of them all, New York's Central Park. "Commenced in 1856, it was the first purpose-built public park in North American," writes Tate. Designed by Calverty Bowyer Vaux and Frederick Law Olmstead, Central Park's highlights include the Conservatory Gardens, the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and nearly 9,000 benches.
Golden Gate Park, San Francisco
Spreckels Temple of Music in Golden Gate Park
soucre: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Golden_Gate_Park_-_Spreckels_Temple_of_Music_01.jpg
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This 1,000-plus-acre swath cuts through the west quarter of San Francisco, ending at the Pacific Ocean. Golden Gate Park was transformed from an expanse of sand dunes into a verdant recreational wonderland by architect William Hammond Hall in the 1870s. Today it houses the newly renovated De Young Museum and California Academy of Sciences, in addition to lakes, botanical gardens, windmills and a bison paddock.
Grant Park, Chicago
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Dubbed the "Front Yard" of Chicago, this 300-plus-acre expanse on the western shore of Lake Michigan is home to numerous walking paths, sports fields, museums (the Art Institute, the Field Museum of Natural History and the Shedd Aquarium), and the iconic Buckingham Fountain. In 2004, work was completed on the conversion of rail yards and parking lots in the northern section of Grant Park, now known as Millennium Park, home to expansive plazas, gardens and postmodern pavilions.
Prospect Park, Brooklyn
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ProspectParkReflections7957.JPG
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Designed shortly after the Civil War by Central Park masterminds Olmstead and Vaux, this 585-acre oasis includes a zoo, a 60-acre lake and a natural forest. Tate writes in Great City Parks, "Prospect Park is one of the simplest but most subtle landscape compositions in North America."
Post Office Square, Boston
Post Office Square in Boston's Financial District.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Post_Office_Square,_Boston.jpg
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Harnik says this park in Boston's financial district "completely revolutionized" the small (1.7 acre) space that it occupies as well as the buildings around it. A concrete parking garage was moved underground and lunchtime lingerers now lounge on the grass above--hence the park's motto, "Park above, park below."
Audubon Park, New Orleans
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Yet another Olmsted-designed space makes our list, although this one was planned by Frederick Law's nephew, John Charles Olmsted. New Orleans' Audubon Park is a lush expanse of lawns, stately oak trees, lagoons, a recently renovated golf course and the Audubon Zoo. The park is named after 19th-century naturalist John James Audubon (a one-time New Orleans resident), and it is still a hot-spot for bird-watching: Egrets, herons and other winged migrators rest regularly in its waters.
Cal Anderson Park, Seattle
Photo by Douglas J. McLaughlin
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When a federal regulation required drinking-water reservoirs to be covered, Seattle took the opportunity to make its Lincoln Reservoir roof double as park space. The result, says Peter Harnik of the Trust for Public Land, was "beautiful parkland." The recently redesigned space, in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood, includes paths, wading pools and playing fields.
Boston Common, Boston
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The main gem in the "Emerald Necklace" (a network of parks that winds through many of Boston's neighborhoods), Boston Common is steeped in history: Revolutionary War and Civil War troops gathered on its grounds; Martin Luther King Jr. and Pope John Paul II delivered speeches here. Today the common includes bandstands, monuments, fountains and the Frog Pond, which hosts ice skating in the winter.
Encanto Park, Phoenix
Encanto Park Waterfall at night.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:EncantoParkNight.jpg
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Listing this 222-acre space on its Points of Pride, the City of Phoenix calls Encanto an "emerald-like jewel just a few blocks from the busy central corridor." Harnik calls the park an "old-fashioned, modest park" with charming attractions including boat rentals and an amusement park.
Patterson Park, Baltimore
A view of downtown Baltimore across Patterson Park.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Patterson_Park.jpg
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Harnik says Baltimore's Patterson Park is a great example of a "more modest neighborhood park" that might not get the attention of some of the metropolitan mega-parks, but which nonetheless achieves a nice balance between beauty and usability. Its landmarks include the Pagoda, a Victorian-era observation tower.
Oakland Cemetery, Atlanta
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Oakland-Section_map.jpg
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This centrally located Atlanta green space, founded in 1850, is more a historical cemetery than an active one, says Harnik. Today it functions, in the words of the Historic Oakland Foundation, as an "island of tranquility in the heart of the city" and serves as a site for picnics, jogging and neighborhood festivals. "It's a very creative use of space in a city that's short on park land," says Harnik.
Balboa Park, San Diego
The 'Casa de Balboa' on El Prado, in Balboa Park. Photo by Stephane D'Alu
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Many of the gorgeous Spanish-Baroque Revival structures in this sprawling San Diego space are remnants of the 1915 Panama-California Exposition. Today, the park hosts a diverse range of attractions, from flower gardens to theaters and sports complexes. Balboa Park is also home to numerous museums and the world-renowned San Diego Zoo.
Confederate Park - Jacksonville, FL
What will it take to get a Jacksonville "city" park on a list such as this?
Source and full article: https://www.forbes.com/2009/11/18/best-city-parks-lifestyle-travel-central-park.html
Images by Metro Jacksonville