In the last year, COVID-19 made plain for all to see the absolute necessity of park equity. When the pandemic shuttered our schools, gyms, places of worship and restaurants, Minnesotans went outside. Our parks, trails and lakesides provided locked-down and stressed-out families a place to get fresh air and exercise, and to connect with nature — and one another. And after the atrocities of the murder of George Floyd and killing of Daunte Wright in our own backyard, many of us turned to our parks for solitude and clarity, and as a gathering space for public mourning and protest.

In response, our park departments performed admirably, turning to use our parks as sites to distribute food and as emergency shelters for those experiencing homelessness. For the last 10 years, the Twin Cities have ranked in the top three on the ParkScore index, the annual ranking of park systems in the 100 most-populated U.S. cities. As Minnesota state director of the Trust for Public Land, the organization that produces the index, I've been privileged to collaborate closely with park officials in both Minneapolis and St. Paul, and I know firsthand just how hard our park departments work to make our park system best-in-class.

But a closer look at the data reveals improvements still need to be made — both nationwide and right here in the Twin Cities. This year, Trust for Public Land researchers took a deeper dive into analyzing who does and doesn't have access to parks and uncovered some troubling findings. Across the 100 cities ranked in the ParkScore index, neighborhoods where the majority of residents identify as Black, Hispanic and Latinx, American Indian or Alaska Native, or Asian American and Pacific Islander, have 44% less park acreage than predominantly white neighborhoods, and similar inequities exist between low-income and high-income communities.

That pattern is reflected here in the Twin Cities as well, with low-income neighborhoods in Minneapolis having access to 65% less park space than residents in high-income neighborhoods, and neighborhoods of color having access to 58% less park space per capita than residents in predominantly white neighborhoods. In St. Paul, residents of low-income neighborhoods have access to 35% less park space than residents in high-income neighborhoods, and neighborhoods of color have access to 30% less park space per capita than residents in predominantly white neighborhoods.

These inequities are not recent developments. Rather, they reflect generations of policy decisions, from redlining home loans to discriminatory city zoning and industrialization patterns that make park creation difficult. What is new is that we now have the data to better understand the fallout of these historic wrongs.

Clearly it's not right or fair that residents of our cities don't have equal access to our parks and the benefits the outdoors provide. The good news is our park departments have long recognized these disparities and are dedicated to addressing them, alongside organizations like my own. In 2010, Minneapolis turned its attention to upper riverfront access and acquiring parkland in formerly industrialized, underserved areas, and in 2016, the city's park system became the first in the country to pass an ordinance requiring that equity criteria guide its capital investments. In St. Paul, park officials have focused investments in areas that have been historically underserved or are experiencing rapid population growth, with the creation of Frogtown Park and Farm, Trout Brook Nature Sanctuary, and Midway Peace Park.

Twin Cities park advocates are working together to fix this problem, but we need all the help we can get. We need to engage advocates in the areas of housing, education and wealth creation to truly build an equitable coalition of allies. With the data to pinpoint where park investments are most needed, it's time to double down on public support for our park systems.

Our parks have been there for us throughout this traumatic year; now it's time for us to step up for our parks by fully funding park budgets to match the public value they provide. One opportunity to do this is through the federal Parks, Jobs, and Equity Act. The Trust for Public Land is leading a coalition of more than 300 community organizations and businesses to pass this bipartisan legislation that could fund more than a thousand new parks while creating tens of thousands of jobs and generating more than $1 billion in economic activity. If enacted as part of the American Jobs Act, this federal boost will give our Twin Cities the support needed to invest in closing the park equity gap.

This was the year our parks proved their worth as essential public health infrastructure. By making critical investments, thoughtfully engaging residents to bring outdoor access to the communities of greatest need, Minneapolis and St. Paul will emerge a fairer, stronger and more equitable place to call home — a goal that unites us all.

Susan Schmidt is the Minnesota state director of the Trust for Public Land.