Some things I learned in my first year at Penn

[45_Percenter]

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@JHS

2. Funny 45 Percenter should mention “the largest urban park system in the world (. . . actual fact, no exaggeration).” Umm, I think that turns out to be urban folklore rather than actual fact, and it is quite exaggerated. Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park is 4,167 acres, and its total park system is about 9,100 acres. Los Angeles’ Griffith Park is just over 4,214 acres and claims to be the largest municipally owned park in the world (which is also wrong). In fact, neither of them is in the top 10 in the U.S., even if you exclude national parks and forests that are only partially within a city. Phoenix, Portland, Houston, and Anchorage all clearly have more park area than Philadelphia, and Los Angeles probably does, too. <a href=“http://cloud.tpl.org/pubs/ccpe-large...011-update.pdf[/url]”>http://cloud.tpl.org/pubs/ccpe-large...011-update.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>That’s OK, 45 Percenter. I used to say (and think) that about Fairmount Park, too. Until a few years ago, when I saw the Griffith Park claim, and started to research the question.</p>

<p>All of that said, Fairmount Park is amazing. You can walk from the banks of the Schuylkill River across from Penn’s Franklin Field to the northwestern border of the city, a distance of about 17 miles, without crossing more than two city streets (a block apart, at about mile 6). Some of it is groomed and formal, like Central Park, and some is wild and free, sprinkled with ruins of 18th century factories.

Note that I said “largest urban park SYSTEM,” and not just Fairmount Park proper. But either way, I see your point. Alhough the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation, among others, DOES refer to the Farimount Park System as “one of the world’s largest city park systems”:</p>

<p>[Fairmount</a> Park Philadelphia - visitphilly.com](<a href=“http://www.visitphilly.com/outdoor-activities/philadelphia/fairmount-park/]Fairmount”>Fairmount Park — Visit Philadelphia)</p>

<p>I’ve also seen it called the largest landscaped urban park system in the US, if not the world. In any event–and semantics and relative superlatives aside–you’re right that the Fairmount Park system is quite extraordinary and unique, and really unsurpassed among urban parks (regardless of total acreage ).</p>