Durham's park system ranked last among the 100 most populous U.S. cities in the Trust for Public Land's latest annual report.
The nonprofit scores park systems on access, acreage, amenities, equity, and investment. Durham landed at the bottom while five city parks remain closed because of lead soil contamination. Those closures have kept residents out of public green space for a second straight summer.
Money is the clearest gap. Durham spent $70 per capita on publicly accessible parks and recreation over the past three years. Raleigh spent $289 per capita over the same period, helped by a $275 million parks bond voters passed in 2022. Raleigh ranked No. 49 this year, up from No. 55 last year.
The ranking also lands during a tight city budget cycle. Durham's current budget recommendation calls for closing one outdoor pool, even as the city says it wants to make new park investments and move past the lead-closure problem. That puts two pressures in the same frame: residents already have fewer usable parks, and the next budget could reduce summer recreation access.
The next test is whether Durham can protect existing recreation access while finding money for the system it says it wants to rebuild.