Hamilton Joins Mayors Around the Country for a Historic 10-Minute Walk Parks Advocacy Campaign

At 10:10 a.m. on October 10, Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton joined The Trust for Public Land, National Recreation and Park Association, and Urban Land Institute in launching a historic “10-minute walk” parks advocacy campaign, establishing the ambitious goal that all Americans, including all residents of Bloomington, should live within a 10-minute walk (or half-mile) of a high-quality park or green space.

This bipartisan group includes mayors from across the country representing cities large and small, including America’s four largest cities (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Houston). The U.S. Conference of Mayors, which represents more than 1,000 U.S. mayors, also unanimously passed a resolution at its85th Annual Meeting urging all mayors to actively pursue the goal of a 10-minute walk to a park.

“Parks are critically important in Bloomington and cities across America,” said Mayor John Hamilton. “This mayors’ coalition is a great step forward to work together and ensure all Americans have a quality park within a close walk of home. I firmly believe that you can’t have a great city without great parks.”

Studies show that high-quality parks provide a wide range of benefits to urban residents and cities themselves. These include physical and mental health benefits, by providing opportunities to be physically active and to interact with nature; economic benefits, by boosting business and helping to revitalize neighborhoods; community-building benefits, by providing opportunities for neighbors to interact with each other and work together to improve their surroundings; and environmental benefits, by cleaning and cooling the air, improving climate resilience, and providing opportunities for environmental education.