Another Kind of Green: Funding for L.A. Parks Requires Ingenuity

Although Los Angeles is renowned for its beautiful beaches, mountains and amazing weather year-round,  one thing the city is not known for is for it’s equal access to lush, open and green spaces.  The truth is that most low-income communities in Los Angeles, getting to a safe, quality park is not easy.

Compared with the rest of the nation, Los Angeles and its neighboring cities have a lot of catching up to do. Parkland makes up only 10 percent of the city, while other major cities like New York boast double that. At $82 per resident, Los Angeles ranked 45th in a 2015 survey of park expenditures in the nation’s top 100 cities. In many of the region’s poorest communities, disproportionately low rates of park space exist alongside disproportionately high rates of chronic conditions such as diabetes and obesity.

Parks are the heart of a healthy community and part of the complex fabric critical to creating healthy, economically viable, thriving communities. While other infrastructure needs tend to dominate the headlines – broken water pipes, pothole repairs, schools, sidewalks –  community health, social justice, business and environment advocates are raising awareness about the need for park funding. But in order to build more green space, Los Angeles needs another kind of green: park funding.

Recently, Los Angeles county parks lost hundreds of millions in revenues. Without that money, youth programs, maintenance and construction of new parks are at risk. In response, a coalition of organizations that includes From Lot to Spot, the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust, Trust for Public Land and Parks Now, is working to restore those funds and make the case that investment in our parks is an investment in the future health and safety of our communities.

For the past eight years, From Lot To Spot (FLTS) has been fighting for greenspace equity and ensuring these spaces will have lasting impacts by putting the transformative power of green space in pockets of the region that don’t have enough park space to play. Currently, FLTS is planting 100 trees in Lennox, a low-income park-poor community underneath the LAX flight path, to absorb carbon emissions and clean the air that residents breathe and ensuring that the community has the same tree canopy other areas of the County have. With creative partnerships, FLTS has also built parks in previously underused lots in Hawthorne, Lawndale, Los Angeles and Lynwood, park-poor communities where many residents don’t have a community park that they could easily walk to from their home.

FLTS has counted on the support of local governments and grants, but future investments need to be supported with a dedicated source of funding that will make it easier to give all Angelenos access to the quality parks that they want and deserve.

In Los Angeles, park funds are generated where construction takes place, creating an imbalance of resources for low-income communities that don’t receive a lot of private investment. State parks are going through a transformation process focused on bringing in diverse users, but that will require thinking about how to build more park space in urban communities that need them the most.   

An adequate level of resources is necessary for the maintenance of existing parks and construction of new spaces. Some of those resources will have to come from voters, as support from federal and state government has dwindled. It’s an investment worth making, but voters need to feel like they are getting a fair share in the deal. That will require building parks in communities that need more green spaces, keeping parks safe, and using parks as tools to revitalize neighborhoods.

It is likely that in 2016, voters will have the opportunity to approve a dedicated funding stream to build new parks in Los Angeles County, support youth and senior programs, and help maintain and enhance the existing park resources that we enjoy today. FLTS is working with many partners so that voters understand that parks are good for the health of our families and environment,  the vibrancy of our communities and the economic vitality of the region.

People need to feel that nature is theirs to enjoy and protect. Previous state park bonds passed with overwhelming support from communities of color, and in order to continue engaging the future face of California in protecting our natural resources, resources need to be fairly distributed so that all Californians can enjoy the outdoors.  It’s time to create that same and necessary support here in LA County.

Every time we help convert an empty lot into a vibrant park or community garden, we are planting the seed of conservation among the residents who now have a safe place to enjoy nature. Every resident should be able to easily walk to a neighborhood park. Every child should be able to enjoy local programs and recreational activities. Every family should be able to get away from the bustle of city life and have a safe place to meet their neighbors and enjoy the refreshing respite that parks provide. In order to achieve this vision, we need to make sure we are properly investing in local parks. It’s an investment worth making and one we can no longer ignore.