ABSTRACT
It has been argued that Minneapolis has ‘the best located, best designed, best maintained and best managed [park] system in the United States’ (Garvin 2011: 148). In 2013 the Trust for Public Land ranked it first among park systems in the fifty largest cities in the country with a score of 81.0 out of 100 (parkscore.tpl). Nevertheless the Minneapolis system receives less recognition than the most comparable park network, Boston’s ‘Emerald Necklace’, and its initial designer, H. W. S. (Horace William Shaler) Cleveland (1814–1900), also receives less recognition than he merits. The system divides into two principal parts – the ‘Grand Rounds’ and other interconnected parkways, and an extensive neighbourhood park system providing roughly one park within every six blocks of the city. The Grand Rounds and parkways, like the Emerald Necklace, is a network of open spaces that are thoroughly integrated with their physical and social settings. Both are water-based systems that take advantage of the scenic and recreational value of water while working with natural landform to facilitate surface drainage.
