Taking a stroll in a park can lift your mood…

University of Vermont researchers measured the happiness effect of city parks in the 25 most populous U.S. cities by analyzing 1.5 million Twitter posts.

Of the 25 cities studied, parks in Chicago, Indianapolis, Indiana; Austin, Texas; Los Angeles, California; and Jacksonville, Florida generated the most happiness. The data also showed that the happiness benefit was highest in parks over 100 acres in size, followed by parks one to ten acres in size.

Researcher Chris Danforth adds, “Being in nature offers restorative benefits not available for purchase in a store, or downloadable on a screen. However, not all parks appear to be equal when it comes to happiness. The ability to immerse yourself in a larger, greener natural area had a greater effect than smaller paved city parks.” 

Source: UPI