Louisville’s Waterfront Park, home of the TurfMutt Great Lawn, is up for a USA Today Readers’ Choice Award for Best Riverwalk. Voting for the 2025 Readers Choice Awards is open through April 7 at noon ET.
Readers can vote once per category, per day, and ten winners will be announced on Wednesday, April 16. Click here to vote.
The Waterfront Park is downtown Louisville’s most visited destination with 2.4 million guests and 300+ events annually.
The TurfMutt Great Lawn is a gathering place showcasing how a managed landscape, in this case a public lawn, can enhance a community’s well-being and environmental health.
“The best community amenity out there is green space,” says Kris Kiser, president and CEO of the TurfMutt Foundation. “Prioritizing managed landscapes that are available to everyone helps foster connectedness, increases mental health, and supports the environment.”
The following lists some of the ways communities can enhance and grow their community green space:
Community Gardens
Community gardens attract people of all ages. From individual garden plots to shared areas, they promote sustainable practices and healthy living. Some communities integrate features like rainwater harvesting systems and composting stations, enhancing the environmental benefits of the gardens.
Well-Landscaped Walking Paths
Getting 20 minutes of outside time each day can reduce stress levels and improve your overall well-being. Well-landscaped community walking paths make it easy to get a boost of nature in the neighborhood.
Nature Playgrounds
Neighborhood nature playgrounds engage children through the nature around them. Elements like tree logs, boulders, water features and plants help encourage outdoor play that has physical, emotional and mental health benefits for children.
“Pawsome” Play Areas for Pups
Communities are catering to the trend with integrated dog parks, featuring everything from splash pads and digging areas to agility courses and pet grooming stations. Some even host get-to-know-you events like “Yappy Hours” and offer food trucks to keep the people happy, too.
Golf Courses as Wildlife Corridors
Developments incorporating golf courses into their neighborhoods can go beyond a place to perfect strokes and handicaps by offering a haven for biodiversity. Properly designed golf courses can reconnect fragmented ecosystems and provide shelter and food for local wildlife.
Since launching as an educational program to promote the benefits of the managed landscape fifteen years ago, TurfMutt has become a global education platform, reaching over 70 million students, teachers, and families with its message.
