The citywide park maintenance score reached 92%, up from 91% last year — a statistically significant increase that reflects broad gains across the entire park system.
“San Francisco has one of the best park systems in the country," said Mayor Daniel Lurie. “From our largest destinations to our neighborhood playgrounds, families across the city enjoy the hard work of our parks staff every day. I’m grateful to the teams who care for these spaces and proud that our parks continue to set the standard for urban public spaces.”
Since fiscal year 2015, the citywide park score has risen from 86% to 92%, reflecting a decade-long upward trend in park quality and maintenance.
“San Franciscans in every neighborhood deserve parks that are clean, safe, and thriving, and these results show that our teams are delivering,” said Sarah Madland, Interim General Manager for the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department. “Seeing citywide improvement reflects the daily dedication of our gardeners, custodians and urban foresters who care for the city’s public spaces and we're deeply grateful for their commitment.”
Key highlights of the report include:
Overall excellence: Nearly 90% of parks met or exceeded the Recreation and Park Department’s minimum goal score of 85%, and more than a quarter of all parks scored above 95%, underscoring the department’s strong performance and consistent care citywide.
Four perfect-scoring parks: Four parks received 100% maintenance scores, representing the highest level of care, responsiveness, and upkeep in the system: They include Corona Heights Park, Golden Gate & Steiner Mini Park in the Fillmore, Joseph Lee Recreation Center in the Bayview; and Sergeant John Macaulay Park in the Tenderloin. These parks excelled across all evaluated features and elements, including cleanliness, landscaping, surfaces, play areas, and amenities.
Newest park makes strong debut: India Basin Waterfront Park, which opened at 900 Innes in October of 2024, achieved a 99% score in its first year.
Rounding out the top 10: In addition to the parks listed above, the top 10 best-maintained parks include 24th and York Mini Park in the Mission District, Mission Bay Park, Joost & Baden Mini Park in Sunnyside, Betty Ann Ong Recreation Center in Chinatown, and Yik Oi Huang Peace & Friendship Park in Visitacion Valley. These parks all received a score of 99%.
Equitable maintenance across all neighborhoods
The report shows that improvements were systemwide, with no statistically significant differences between park types, park sizes or supervisorial districts. Meaningfully, Equity Zone parks, meaning those serving communities historically impacted by environmental health burdens, maintained the same average score of 92% as parks citywide, demonstrating Rec and Park’s continued commitment to equitable park conditions.
Graffiti scores improve significantly
A standout win: citywide graffiti scores improved from 88% to 91%, a statistically significant increase. Cleanliness scores remained high at 94%, matching last year’s performance and reflecting effective daily maintenance. Trees had the highest graffiti-free evaluations (99%), while buildings and general amenities, the areas most vulnerable to tagging, also saw improvements.
Neighborhood parks and miniparks shine
Mini parks saw particularly strong improvement, rising from 92% to 94%. Several standout parks showed multi-year improvement, including 24th & York Mini Park, Golden Gate & Steiner Mini Park, and Joost & Baden Mini Park, each driven by targeted upgrades in play areas, greenspace, and general amenities.
Seven of the City’s top-scoring parks are neighborhood parks or playgrounds.
Addressing the Lower-Scoring Parks
No park scored below 71% and only 18 parks (11% of the system) fell below the Department’s 85% goal. These parks shared challenges largely associated with surface conditions, sand levels and pathway conditions. Six of the 18 parks already have planned capital projects underway.
In response, Rec and Park will be focusing on:
- Near-term fixes such as sand replenishment, pathway patching, and trash/recycling improvements
- Longer-term capital investments in resurfacing and deferred maintenance priorities
About the Park Maintenance Standard and Evaluation Program
The Park Maintenance Standard and Evaluation Program was voted into the San Francisco Charter in 2003 to evaluate whether San Francisco parks are meeting set standards developed through partnership between the San Francisco Controller’s Office and the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department. The maintenance of each park is evaluated every three months and after inspection of a park’s different features (such as play areas, restrooms, and trees), the Controller’s Office publishes the results through annual reports and dashboards. The Recreation and Park Department uses these tools to guide its improvement of park conditions.
For a deeper dive into the report, including previous years, access the Controller’s Office dashboard here.
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