Twin Cities Parks Again Rank In Top 5 Nationally

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- An annual ranking of the top parks in the nation is out, and once again, Twin Cities parks rank high.

There was a bit of a surprise this year, though.

Minneapolis has dropped in the rankings again. The city is now at number five.

St. Paul maintained its second-place spot, and Washington, D.C., came in first. Just two years ago, that honor went to Minneapolis.

The Trust for Public Land -- the group behind the rankings -- said the reason for Minneapolis' drop is because the other cities in the top five made larger strides to improve their parks.

The group went on to detail Minneapolis' strong park system. It said more than 98% of people in Minneapolis live within a 10-minute walk of a park, and that the city invests roughly $317 per person into the parks. Compare that to the national average of $98 a person.

In all of the years the nonprofit has ranked cities' parks, the Twin Cities have never been outside of the top five.