Edit: Not surprisingly our excellent staff is getting me some more accurate figures.
Minneapolis & St. Paul have 2 of the best park systems in America. Many Twin Cities suburban communities do as well. Rochester has some great parks, but we are clearly not at that level. I was curious why so I checked the investment.
Searching for the best data I can find…
2018 Approximate Populations:
- Rochester – 115,000
- Minneapolis – 415,000
- St. Paul – 305,000
2018 Parks Funding:
- Rochester – $11.8 M (now includes some flood control maintenance funds)
- Minneapolis – $80.8 M
- St. Paul – $53.9 M
Parks Acreage:
- Rochester – 4,960 (now includes some additional flood control lands)
- Minneapolis – 6,804
- St. Paul – 4,932
Rochester invests $102.61 per citizen on parks or $2379.03 per acre annually.
Minneapolis invests $194.70 per citizen on parks or $11,875.37 per acre annually.
St. Paul invests $176.72 per citizen on parks or $10,928.63 per acre annually.