I love Shelby Farms just as much as the next Memphis citizen, am proud of its size, and am eager to see the reforestation plan enacted.

But it’s continued disservice to proclaim it the largest urban park in the country, as Smart City Memphis noted last year:

http://smartcitymemphis.blogspot.com/2008/08/memphis-parks-crucial-competitive.html

“Despite 25 years of rhetoric that it is the largest urban park in the U.S., Shelby Farms is ranked #34; however, its acreage is listed at 3,000. If its total acreage of 4,500 had been used (which is dubious considering how unwilling Agricenter seems to cooperate in the public use of its side of Walnut Grove Road), Shelby Farms Park would move up to #17.”

A full list of the top 100 city parks was published in 2007 by the Trust for Public Land:

http://www.tpl.org/content_documents/ccpe_100LargestCityParks.pdf

We’re not alone in this boasting — many cities are prone to praising their own parks as “the largest urban park” in the country:

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/617/what-is-the-largest-city-park-in-the-u-s

Let’s be honest with ourselves and enjoy this terrific resource without claiming it to be something that it is simply not (the largest in the country).

Lauren makes our point well. While there are other urban parks that are larger, there’s no park that can have more impact on a city, particularly because of its role as the axis for a network of green assets like Wolf River greenway, CSX trails, etc. When Shelby Farms Park was first labeled the largest urban park in the U.S. 30 years ago, I asked the park superintendent where he got that information. He said he didn’t get it anywhere. He just thought it was true. Our point on our blog is that rather than make claims that aren’t right (size doesn’t matter ), let’s concentrate on quality.

That’s a message for Memphis at large. In today’s competitive environment, it’s all about quality. Cities that base their competitive advantage on cheapness are cities that will inevitably fail. That most of all is the reason that Shelby Farms Park has symbolic, as well as physical, importance. It – along with some other important Memphis projects – sends the message that we are seeking to set national standards.

There’s nothing more important, because it attacks the pervasive lack of self-worth that inhibits our ambitions and our aspirations.