St. Petersburg’s public parks system ranks among nation's top 20

The Trust for Public Land, a national nonprofit that promotes the benefits of spending time outdoors, has released its annual ParkScore index, which ranks park systems in the 100 most populous U.S. cities and is widely considered the gold standard for park evaluation.

According to a news release, St. Petersburg ranks No. 15 on the list, while Tampa lands at No. 43. The ParkScore index uses five criteria to determine rankings: park access, park equity, park acreage, park investment and park amenities.