TOLEDO, OH (Toledo News Now) - Toledo ranked well on a nation-wide survey of city parks. It tied for 55th place in a list of 75 of the largest cities in the United States.
This is the first year that Toledo made the list, and the ParkScore survey says 76 percent of Toledoans live within a 10 minute walk of a park, well above the national average. The Glass City also scored well for the average number of playgrounds. Toledo's overall score was hurt by low parks spending and city land to park acre ratios.
The Acting Commissioner of Parks, Recreation and Forestry, Lisa Ward, says she's pleased with the results.
“We have summer improvements with our capital improvement dollars that we use, we've got some playgrounds that are going to be installed and some other items like that. We're in the process of building a new open air shelter house, and there's some other shelter houses that need a new roof so we're kind of focusing on some of the infrastructure things that our parks need,” said Ward. “Residents overall love our parks. This time of year is always a challenge because the grass grows a lot higher than what our crews can keep up with, but overall I think people are pleased with the way we're trying to respond as quickly as possible.”
Park-goers like Chrissy Kaczmarek say they notice the park landscaping is well-maintained.
"The grass is always cut and I don't see a lot of litter, they do a pretty good upkeep on the parks,” she said.
Ward said for the first time, the parks are getting additional grass-cutting assistance from other city divisions during high grass times this year. Mayor Paula Hicks-Hudson is also thanking residents who pitch in with the city's boulevard and triangle grass.
If you are interested in learning more about our Adopt-A-Park program, which can also be used for those interested in adopting a boulevard or triangle, click
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