Today's parks go Olmsted's concept one better. "Olmsted didn't believe that parks were for playing," said Elizabeth Milroy, a Wesleyan University professor who is writing a book on how Philadelphia's Fairmount Park system got its start. "He wanted people to just commune with nature." But what people really wanted was to get outside and have fun.
These nine urban parks fill that bill, combining revitalizing green space with the chance to hike, bike, or even kayak in the shadow of city skyscrapers.
Prospect Park Brooklyn, N.Y.
Located in the heart of Brooklyn, the Olmsted-designed 585-acre Prospect Park has everything Central Park has, and more. A free trolley connects visitors to the park's zoo, stunning Botanic Garden, and Brooklyn Children's Museum. Take a pedal boat ride on Brooklyn's only lake, ride the antique carousel, shop the weekend green market at Grand Army Plaza, or spy one of the 270 species of birds that stop here along the migratory Atlantic flyway. An easy subway ride from Manhattan. prospectpark.org
Fairmount Park Philadelphia
A system of 63 parks that covers 10 percent of the city's footprint, Fairmount Park is dominated by East and West parks, home to the Mann Music Center, the soon-to-open (this fall) Please Touch Museum in Memorial Hall, and America's first zoo. Rent bikes and pedal Kelly and West River drives along the Schuylkill River, with its Boathouse Row, views of the Philadelphia Art Museum, and plethora of public art. The newly developed Schuylkill Banks just south of the museum offers the chance to kayak, canoe or boat, jog, go inline skating, or even take a jazz cruise on select summer evenings. fairmountpark.org
Millennium Park, Chicago
