A walk in the park

Coverage of the NBA’s Western Conference Finals has included analysis not only of the dueling teams but their respective cities, with commentators drawing comparisons between San Antonio’s Riverwalk and Oklahoma City’s Bricktown Canal. Another topographical similarity comes from the new park system rankings by the Trust for Public Land. Of the 40 biggest cities, Oklahoma City ranked 33rd and San Antonio 35th. Since one of the criteria is the amount of park space relative to a city’s size, a more spread out city like ours is at a disadvantage compared with the more densely populated coastal cities such as Eastern Conference finalist Boston, tied for third in the ParkScore Rankings. But with recent investments in parks and the upcoming MAPS 3 Core to Shore park, our future in coming years looks bright on the court and in the park.

Above: Will Rogers Gardens in northwest Oklahoma City is an older city park with new additions. Ongoing efforts to improve the city’s green spaces, and add new parks, could help the city move higher in rankings of big-city park systems in the U.S. Photo by Jim Beckel, The Oklahoman

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