APPENDICES

• TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND PARKSCORE

• SPECIAL AREA PARK OPPORTUNITIES

• SPECIAL REVIEW PARK AND RECREATION FACILITY ASSESSMENT

• SURVEY RESULTS

• BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Trust For Public Land Parkscore

This section includes discussion of the TPL Parkscore index introduced in Chapter 4.

Trust For Public Land Parkscore Summary

National metrics are great tools that communities can utilize to track progress toward improving and expanding their park system compared to peer communities. For example, the Trust for Public Land (TPL) is an independent agency that evaluates park service for communities nationwide through its ParkScore Index. TPL's ParkScore Index was used as an evaluation tool during the master plan update to inform future parkland recommendations. The ParkScore index compares park systems in the 100 most populated cities in the United States. The index, which is published annually, scores park systems based on five criteria that define a strong city park system: access, investment, amenities, acreage, and equity. In 2022 Plano ranked 15th overall with the following points per category:

• Acreage: 74

• Access: 65

• Investment: 100

• Amenities: 45

• Equity: 57

10-MINUTE WALK TO A PARK

As discussed in Chapter 4, TPL's 10-Minute Walk to a Park looks at accessibility of residents to park space within a 1/2 mile radius, or a 10-minute walk. Today, 77% of Plano's residents live within a 10-minute walk of an existing park. This is the highest percentage for any city in Texas and ranks 15th nationally. Figure 8.1 shows the TPL’s accessibility analysis highlighting the areas of the City that fall within the park service area and the areas that fall outside the 10-minute walk. This map was utilized in this update to inform where gaps exist in park service.

Trust For Public Land Priority Areas For New Parks

The Trust for Public Land (TPL) proposes where to focus the development of additional parks to close the gap for the remaining 23% of residents who currently fall outside of the 10-minute walk to a park. This analysis, illustrated in Figure 8.2, is based on an indepth assessment of six equally weighted demographic and environmental indicators including:

• Population density

• Density of low-income households

• Density of people of color

• Community health

• Urban heat islands

• Pollution burden

Access and equity are two major indeces that TPL considers when determining priorities areas for future park space, as they identify where the benefits of new parks will be most impactful to a community. Furthermore, TPL's focus on boosting park access in low-income and minority communities will raise Plano's equity score in the ParkScore index.

This analysis informed system-wide recommendations and opportunities for future parkland acquisitions.

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Special Area Park Opportunities

This section includes analysis and discussion of the two special area park study areas introduced in Chapter 4.