Illustration by Steve Hedberg
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Beyond the Horseshoe Pit • Parks Old and New, Big and Small
Parks hold a range of meanings for the people who visit them. For some, they are a place to connect with friends and family. For others, they are a place to learn — how to throw that winning pitch or paddle a canoe. For still others, they're a place to escape the city and reconnect with nature.
With more than 227 parks within an hour's drive of downtown, they're also accessible. A 2009 parks inventory found the Richmond Region has almost 33 acres of parkland per 1,000 people, making us a leader in terms of parkland available per capita, according to the National Recreation and Park Association. The national median is about 12.8 acres.
And our green space continues to grow. On July 6, the region's second state park opened in the northwest corner of Powhatan County. In New Kent County, a 55-acre park is scheduled to open in spring 2014.
"We're becoming known as a place where people enjoy activity and have a healthy lifestyle," says Bob Crum Jr., Richmond Regional Planning District Commission executive director. "Our parks are an important part of that."
