The National Recreation and Parks Association (NRPA) recommends 6 to 10 acres of local parkland for every 1,000 residents. The NRPA standard for close-to-home parks which includes neighborhood, community and school parks (that is, school playfields and playgrounds) is a range of 6.25-10.5 acres of parks for every thousand residents. The standard of 6.25 acres per thousand residents is what both Knoxville and Knox county parks departments have used as a baseline standard for the last several years.

The above table, provided by the MPC, looks at the total park acreage per sector for the city and the county and compares the total acreage to the number of acres of close-to-home parks per 1,000 residents. A close-to-home park is defined by the MPC as "parks that are within an easy walking or driving distance to most residents." These include neighborhood parks, pocket parks, squares and plazas, greens and commons, school parks, and community parks.
This table for the City Park and Natural Area Acreage shows an average of 4.98 acres per thousand citizens throughout the six city sectors. The North City Sector has the least close-to-home park acreage per resident at 3.49 acres per thousand. In comparison, the East City Sector has the most with 6.35 acres per thousand.
The table shows an average of 3.29 acres per thousand citizens throughout the six county sectors. Looking at the individual sectors the East County Sector has the most close-to-home parks at 8.2 per thousand versus the North County Sector which has the least at 1.45 acres per thousand citizens.
The following table on types of city parks shows that the most close-to-home parks are within the Central City Sector. However, this sector also has the greatest population of the city sectors, which lowers its park to people ratio. The North and Northwest City Sectors have relatively few neighborhood parks and the West City Sector does not have as many individual parks, but does have an abundance of large parks, such as Sequoyah and Lakeshore Parks that are cherished by area residents.

This information becomes even more important when looking at income levels in the various sectors.

All information courtesy of MPC - "The Knoxville - Knox County Park, Recreation, and Greenways Plan," December 2009.