BY ALEX ULAM
India Basin Shoreline Park. Image courtesy of GGN.
Early this month, the nonprofit Trust for Public Land and officials from the city of San Francisco announced that San Francisco is the first city in the country to have a park within a 10-minute walk, or a half mile, of every resident.
?Most city residents won?t walk more than 10 minutes to get to shopping, transit, or parks, so close-to-home access to parks is vital for public health, clean environments, and thriving, equitable communities,? said Adrian Benepe, Honorary ASLA, the Trust for Public Land?s urban parks director, in a news release. ?This is an enormous achievement, based on years of dedicated and thoughtful work and planning.?
To build a more equitable park system, San Francisco?s Recreation and Parks Department formed partnerships with nonprofits such as the Trust for Public Land  and the San Francisco Parks Alliance, both of which have helped with funding and community outreach. San Francisco also enlisted its tech community, which has developed GIS mapping software that allows planners to drill down to a census tract level and compare access, levels of investment, and demographic information about park users. ?We have had this discussion of how everyone benefits: How can everyone derive the same enjoyment regardless of whether you are a billionaire or a low-income resident"? says Phil Ginsburg, the general manager of San Francisco?s Recreation and Parks Department.
A site plan for India...