Would the meaning be the same if I skip "around" after "place?
Native speaker’s answer
Rebecca
Yes, it would be fine to omit "around" after "places" in this sentence. The word "around" here is used to mean "nearby" or "close by" and just gives a specific location of the parks. If you took out the word "around", it would make the location of the parks less specific, however, this isn't really necessary in this sentence.