“Walk to a Park Day” comes on the one-year anniversary of the 10-Minute Walk to a Park Campaign.

In honor of the one year anniversary of the 10-Minute Walk to a Park campaign, The Trust for Public Land, National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA), Urban Land Institute, and more than 200 mayors around the country are inviting everyone to take a walk to their local park on Wednesday, October 10. National “Walk to a Park Day” comes on the one-year anniversary of the coalition’s launch of the 10-Minute Walk Campaign, which established the ambitious goal that everyone in America have a high-quality park or green space within a 10-minute walk (or half-mile) of home.

During the first year, the campaign launched its technical assistance program with 12 city park and recreation agencies who have all made specific commitments to the 10-minute walk. Mayors across the country agree that the 10-minute walk goal leads to equitable, economically thriving, safe, and healthy communities.

Partnering with cities to advance the 10-minute vision

The 10-Minute Walk Campaign is working with cities across the country to help deliver the benefits of nearby parks and green space, supporting efforts that include everything from updating city master plans, to pursuing ballot measures to ensuring dedicated funding for parks and open space.

“National Walk to a Park Day is a day to celebrate the parks we have and call attention to the parks we need,” said Diane Regas, president and CEO of The Trust for Public Land. “Parks boost our mental and physical health, keep our cities cooler, protect our neighborhoods from storms and floods, and bring our communities together. We are proud to be working with mayors across the country to increase park access for millions of Americans.”

The campaign is supporting mayors and cities in embracing innovative strategies to address equitable park access and quality-park finance and construction; zoning changes to encourage park development; embedding this goal into city parks master plans; the expansion of “joint use” agreements that open school playgrounds, tracks, and gyms for public use after hours and on weekends; and other approaches.

“We have made enormous progress over the past year working with cities to increase equitable park access and quality, including providing dedicated funding for cities to think long-term on how to achieve the 10-minute walk goal,” said Barbara Tulipane, President and CEO of the National Recreation and Park Association.

“Thoughtfully designed parks make a positive difference in the quality of life in communities, serving as a respite, a source of civic pride, and a draw for investment activity,” said Urban Land Institute Global Chief Executive Officer W. Edward Walter. “We are excited to work with these distinguished mayors and other urban leaders to promote the 10-minute walk campaign and help improve park access in their cities as well as urban areas across the country.”  

With the support of the 10-Minute Walk Campaign, the first twelve grantee cities have developed citywide commitments on park access and quality that are helping advance the 10-minute walk vision. The commitments from Anchorage, Austin, Camden, Chattanooga, Clarkston, El Cajon, Grand Rapids, Lewisville, New Rochelle, Rochester, Orlando, and Tukwila can all be found on the 10-minute walk website.

The campaign is also committed to providing resources to support additional cities in making commitments to address parks and public green space, such as:

ParkServe®-- the first free, open access national data platform mapping park access in more than 14,000 cities and towns — home to more than 260 million Americans, The Trust for Public Land will be making the park locations and their corresponding 10-minute walk service areas from the ParkServe database available for public download so that cities can utilize that data to help prioritize parks and open space.

• Grants and research from NRPA that are assisting cities to create plans, policies, and funding. NRPA’s latest report finds that 85% of Americans support efforts such as the 10-Minute Walk Campaign that ensure every person has access to a great park within a 10-minute walk from their home.
• Advisory services offered by the Urban Land Institute to bring together land-use professionals from across the country to solve open space challenges in urban areas.

How to participate:

On October 10, “Walk to a Park Day”, share your park and playground experiences on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter and use #10MinWalk and #WalkToAParkDay.

Generous support for the 10-Minute Walk Campaign has been provided by The JPB Foundation.

The Trust for Public Land creates parks and protects land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come. Millions of people live near a Trust for Public Land park, garden, or natural area, and millions more visit these sites every year. Read more here.

The National Recreation and Park Association works to ensure all parks in all places are benefiting all people.  We partner with our network of 60,000 park and recreation members to strengthen communities by offering equitable access to healthy activities and safe play spaces and protecting our natural resources. Read more here.

The Urban Land Institute is a nonprofit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to provide leadership in the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide. Established in 1936, the institute has more than 40,000 members worldwide representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines. Read more here.

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