Sacramento's parks made this year's "best city parks" list thanks to the area's strong culture of volunteerism, according to the Director of Parks and Recreation, Jim Combs.
"People in Sacramento really care about their parks," said Combs. "After the financial downturn in 2007 and 2008, I lost half my budget and staff and we had to maintain the same amount of park land."
Community members formed more than 60 "Adopt-a-Park" groups, many of them pitching in to help keep the greenery looking good. Currently, 2,000 volunteers are helping to restore McKinley Playground, which was badly damaged in a fire.
Of the top 5 park systems, Sacramento devotes the smallest percentage of its area to park land, lowering its overall rating from the Trust for Public Land. Yet, the city's parks have one of the highest utilization rates in the country.
