Railroad Park

Birmingham’s green spaces were mainly limited to tiny pockets of parkland until 2010, when Railroad Park opened downtown. Now this 19-acre mix of rolling hills, ponds, and waterfalls is the setting for free fitness classes, summer farm stands, and jazz concerts. This is like a Southern response to Manhattan’s High Line park—fitting since the two were contenders for the 2012 Urban Land Institute’s Urban Open Space Award, an award Railroad Park won in October 2012.