More than twenty metropolitan park systems in the United States were designed and constructed during a period of intense urbanization in the late nineteenth century. Similar conditions of rapid growth in "Sunbelt" cities today, and continued recognition of the need for urban parks, makes understanding of factors significant to the longevity of the historic systems useful. Park systems of Washington, DC, Cleveland, Ohio, Kansas City, Missouri and Minneapolis, Minnesota are compared in the literature and by direct observation. Settings, goals, forms, siting, and activities of these systems are examined. Impacts of suburbanization, changes in transportation, increased leisure, and development of planning bureaucracies are discussed and compared. Findings suggest: graphic plans exhibiting bold images were most likely to be implemented; intent of the design is preserved by careful definition of goals and objectives; and systems organized on the basis of natural topography and drainageways have better maintained their usefulness and identity.

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