Access to Parks and Open Space

The Access to Parks and Open Space indicator measures the percentage of a neighborhood’s population within a half mile (10 minute walk) of a park. Evidence suggests that built environments such as sidewalks, parks, trails, and neighborhood safety are associated with increased physical activity, and several studies have noted that high-quality built environments are associated with increased physical activity and lower obesity rates while insufficient or low-quality built environments are linked to inadequate levels of PA and increased obesity rates. Studies also find links between increased time outdoors and decreased attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms. Trees and green space in parks also help mitigate negative climate issues by lowering air temperature, improving air quality by removing pollutants, and absorbing and cleaning water run-off from impervious surfaces. Found in the Natural Areas domain, the Access to Parks and Open Space indicator is also relevant to the Economic Health, Social Cohesion, Health Systems and Public Safety, Environmental Hazards, and Neighborhood Characteristics domains. Data for the Access to Parks and Open Space indicator is derived from the City of Birmingham parks database and U.S. Census.

Neighborhood Indicator Value Ranksort descending
Tarpley City 100.0% 1
Brummitt Heights 100.0% 1
Grasselli Heights 100.0% 1
Rising - West Princeton 100.0% 1
Eastwood 100.0% 1
Graymont 100.0% 1
Tuxedo 100.0% 1
Central City 100.0% 1
Green Acres 100.0% 1
Roebuck Springs 100.0% 1
Central Park 100.0% 1
Roosevelt 100.0% 1
West Brownville 100.0% 1
Central Pratt 100.0% 1
Highland Park 100.0% 1
College Hills 100.0% 1
Hillman 100.0% 1
West Goldwire 100.0% 1
Hillman Park 100.0% 1
Norwood 100.0% 1
Oak Ridge 100.0% 1
Five Points South 100.0% 1
Industrial Center 100.0% 1
South Pratt 100.0% 1
Arlington - West End 100.0% 1
Garden Highlands 100.0% 1
Pine Knoll Vista 100.0% 1
Southside 100.0% 1
East Birmingham 100.0% 1
Gate City 100.0% 1
East Brownville 100.0% 1
Redmont Park 100.0% 1
Maple Grove 100.0% 1
Thomas 99.8% 34
Forest Park 99.5% 35
Wahouma 99.1% 36
Fountain Heights 99.1% 36
Smithfield 99.0% 38
Ensley 98.8% 39
Enon Ridge 98.4% 40
Harriman Park 98.4% 40
Kingston 98.3% 42
Brown Springs 97.5% 43
Zion City 97.3% 44
Ensley Highlands 96.3% 45
Druid Hills 96.2% 46
East Thomas 95.6% 47
North East Lake 95.4% 48
Fairview 93.8% 49
Acipco-Finley 93.5% 50
East Avondale 92.5% 51
West End Manor 91.5% 52
Mason City 91.2% 53
Oxmoor 90.8% 54
Killough Springs 90.3% 55
South Titusville 89.2% 56
Crestwood North 89.1% 57
Collegeville 89.0% 58
North Avondale 88.3% 59
Woodland Park 88.3% 59
Powderly 88.3% 59
Jones Valley 87.7% 62
Oakwood Place 87.6% 63
Hooper City 87.5% 64
East Lake 86.4% 65
Roebuck 84.7% 66
Fairmont 83.4% 67
South East Lake 82.9% 68
Germania Park 82.4% 69
Glen Iris 80.3% 70
Woodlawn 79.1% 71
Riley 77.7% 72
North Pratt 75.5% 73
Wylam 74.4% 74
North Titusville 74.2% 75
South Woodlawn 73.6% 76
Evergreen 72.1% 77
Crestline 70.1% 78
Spring Lake 60.6% 79
Sherman Heights 59.0% 80
Sandusky 58.9% 81
Penfield Park 58.3% 82
Inglenook 58.2% 83
Huffman 56.8% 84
Crestwood South 56.2% 85
Overton 56.0% 86
Bush Hills 54.2% 87
Smithfield Estates 50.8% 88
North Birmingham 48.3% 89
Belview Heights 46.9% 90
Echo Highlands 38.8% 91
Oak Ridge Park 34.3% 92
Liberty Highlands 31.0% 93
Dolomite 27.1% 94
Airport Highlands 0.0% 95
Apple Valley 0.0% 95
Bridlewood 0.0% 95
Sun Valley 0.0% 95
Brownsville Heights 0.0% 95

Key Citations:
1. Bowler DE, Buyung-Ali LM, Knight TM, Pullin AS. (2010) A systematic review of evidence for the added benefits to health of exposure to natural environments. BMC Public Health. 2010 Aug 4;10:456. Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20684754.
2. Grant RH, Heisler GM, Gao W. (2002) Estimation of pedestrian level UV exposure under trees. Photochem Photobiol. 2002 Apr; 75(4):369-76. Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12003126
3. Kuo FE, Taylor AF. (2004) A potential natural treatment for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: evidence from a national study. Am J Public Health. 2004 Sep ;94(9):1580-6. Available at: http://www.niu.edu/~carter/courses/526/articles/Kuo_and_Taylor.pdf
4. TPL (2013). Economic and Health Benefits. Trust for Public Land. Accessed April 2013. Available at: Effects of Parks on Health: http://www.tpl.org/research/parks/economic-health-benefits.html.
5. Goldsby TU, George BJ, Yeager VA, Sen BP, Ferdinand A, Sims DM, Manzella B,Cockrell Skinner A, Allison DB, Menachemi N. Urban Park Development and Pediatric Obesity Rates: A Quasi-Experiment Using Electronic Health Record Data. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2016 Apr 8;13(4):411. doi: 10.3390/ijerph13040411.