10-Minute Walk facts for kids
The 10-Minute Walk, also known as the 10-Minute Walk to a Park, refers to a grassroots parks-advocacy movement to ensure that everyone in the United States lives within a ten-minute walk to a high-quality park or green space. The effort was adopted as a resolution at the 85th annual United States Conference of Mayors convention in 2017 as a goal for cities to increase parks and green space as a civic responsibility. The concept has been supported by several community-based nonprofit organizations including The Trust for Public Land, the National Recreation and Park Association, and the Urban Land Institute. A ten-minute walk is commonly considered to be half a mile, which is the distance the National Park Service and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention uses when they link park access and public health.
Adoption and spread
More than 200 mayors of large and small cities across the United States have committed to the goal, including the mayors of the four largest cities in the U.S.: New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Houston. Urban parks are increasingly seen by those within municipal government as a solution to many inner-city challenges. This initiative seeks to provide physical and mental health benefits, opportunities for physical activity, proximity to nature, neighborhood and community revitalization, and environmental benefits for citizens through the creation of urban parks. Health studies demonstrate that an increase in exercise, including walking alone, may provide longevity in older adults.
The first city in the U.S. to achieve a 10-Minute Walk to a park for every resident was San Francisco.
