Fun Freetime - 2024's Best Cities for Picnic Lovers

 

What are the best cities to spread out your picnic blanket and enjoy a meal al fresco? To celebrate National Eat Outside Day on Aug. 31, LawnStarter ranked 2024's Best Cities for Picnic Lovers. We compared the 500 biggest U.S. cities based on 4 categories. We considered the number of public parks, the share of residents within a 10-minute walk of a park, and weather conditions, among 12 total metrics. See the 10 best (and 10 worst) cities for picnics below, followed by key takeaways. (Don’t see your city below? Check out the full ranking.)

Best Cities for Picnic Lovers Rank City 1 Thousand Oaks, CA 2 Irvine, CA 3 Honolulu, HI 4 Seattle, WA 5 Tucson, AZ 6 San Diego, CA 7 Simi Valley, CA 8 Phoenix, AZ 9 Fremont, CA 10 Redwood City, CA Worst Cities for Picnic Lovers Rank City 1 Fayetteville, NC 2 Jackson, MS 3 Beaumont, TX 4 Troy, MI 5 Southfield, MI 6 South Fulton, GA 7 Hoover, AL 8 Baytown, TX 9 Conroe, TX 10 Farmington Hills, MI

Key Insights: Thousand Oaks (No. 1) and Irvine, California (No. 2), Honolulu (No. 3), Seattle (No. 4), and Tucson, Arizona (No. 5), top the ranking, offering a well-rounded outdoor experience. With abundant parks, scenic views, and great weather, they make spreading out your picnic blanket a dream.  New York (No. 69), Chicago (No. 181), Seattle (No. 4), Boston (No. 79), and Washington D.C. (No. 124) are picnic paradises with some of the highest numbers of public parks and short walking distances. However, don’t forget your umbrella. Despite their green spaces, these cities often swap sunshine for sprinkles.  Fayetteville, North Carolina (No. 500), Jackson, Mississippi (No. 499), Beaumont, Texas (No. 498), and two Michigan cities Troy (No. 497) and Southfield (No. 496) fell short of picnic perfection, rounding out the bottom of the ranking. They struggle with less favorable weather, safety concerns, and poor accessibility.   Read the full story here: https://www.lawnstarter.com/blog/studies/best-cities-picnic-lovers/ Other helpful links: Methodology More from LawnStarter:  Best Dog Park Cities Leading Cities for Quality of Life Summer Lawn Pests and How to Get Rid of Them Best Cities for Urban Gardening Best Hiking Cities in the U.S.