House & Home - Cities with the Most Green Space

 

To celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and the coming spring season, Lawn Love ranked 2026’s Cities With the Most Green Space.

How does St. Paul stack up in some key metrics (1st = Best)? Percentage of Residents Living 10 Minutes from a Park - 6th Number of Parks and Green Spaces - 42nd Share of Land Used for Parks and Recreation - 53rd   How does St. Paul compare to other Minnesota cities (1st = Best)? Plymouth - 8th Minneapolis - 11th Bloomington - 18th Woodbury - 33rd Brooklyn Park - 53rd Duluth - 77th Rochester - 168th

To rank the 500 biggest U.S. cities, we looked at the amount of public green space, from the number of parks to total park acreage and the share of land used for parks and recreation. We also considered “private green spaces,” aka yard size. We also factored the percentage of residents living within a 10-minute walk of parks from the Trust for Public Land (TPL), using 6 total metrics.  Read the full story here: ​​https://lawnlove.com/blog/cities-with-most-green-space/  Why green space matters: Over the past 3 decades, American voters approved more than $110 billion for funding parks and other public lands. But federal funding cuts have canceled or frozen billions in park and land conservation grants. “Studies show that even 10 minutes of sitting in nature or walking along a tree-lined sidewalk can make a big difference to someone experiencing mental health challenges,” says Lincoln Larson, an associate professor at NC State University. Other helpful links: Full rankings for the 500 biggest U.S. cities What the data shows: Parks, yards, and the access gap Expert take: Parks as public health infrastructure Methodology: How we ranked the Cities With the Most Green Space More from Lawn Love: Urban Forests: Top Cities for Tree Huggers How to Take Care of Trees During a Drought How Much Does it Cost to Plant a Tree in 2026? How to Create a Pollinator Lawn Best Cities for Rain Gardens 12 Types of Flowering Weeds