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Austin ranked in top 10 urban forests
Numerous parks, easy access give city high score
Updated: Wednesday, 06 Feb 2013, 5:52 PM CST
Published : Wednesday, 06 Feb 2013, 2:29 PM CST
AUSTIN (KXAN) -
Austin is often described as an outdoorsy city.
"That's the biggest reason why I live here," Lauren Calvillo said, hiking through the greenbelt. "I love the nature."
From Butler Park and Auditorium Shores to the greenbelt, Austin has no shortage of open space where residents can exercise, take the dog for a walk, or just take a nap.
"It's beautiful," hiker Stephanie Ortiz said. "There's no man-made anything -- it's all nature-made. It's gorgeous."
Austin did not make it into the top 10 urban forests list on looks alone. The city also received high marks for accessibility to natural areas.
"We traveled maybe five or ten minutes on the highway from my friend's neighborhood and we're here," Luke Yoder said as he entered the greenbelt.
Another score is given for how diverse the natural ecosystem is.
"We've got a very diverse forest system," retired biologist Raymond Mathews Jr. said. "We've got wildflowers that are great."
And finally, the survey also took into account how much area within the city is devoted to nature.
18% of the land within Austin city limits is officially designated as a park.
That means that Austin has 36 acres of park for every 1,000 residents. If you do the math, that means each and every Austin resident has a full 1,600 square feet of official park space - all to his or herself.
"I love it, you get plenty of options," hiker Lauren Calvillo said. "You can go here, you can go there, if it's too crowded here there is somewhere else you can go."
"This is a lot better than any other city I know in the U.S.," Mathews said.
Other cities included on the top 10 urban forests list include Denver, Minneapolis, Portland and New York.
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