Securing Parks and Open Space For All in Los Angeles
Posted November 17, 2011 in Environmental Justice, Living Sustainably
L.A.’s most park-poor neighborhoods got a double dose of good news yesterday.
In the morning, the City Council voted unanimously to sell five acres of the Elephant Hill property in El Sereno for the purpose of permanently protecting the land as open space for the community. I blogged about this critically important vote earlier this week.
Thanks to the City Council’s actions, residents in the congested northeast area of L.A. will now have better access to nearby open space for exercise, recreation, and peaceful reflection. This is a huge step forward for the community, and it would not have happened without the hard work and dedication of Councilmember Jose Huizar and his staff, the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, and key El Sereno residents who have been fighting to protect this community jewel from day one.
View from Elephant Hill, El Sereno, CA. (Photo credit: NRDC)
But that was just the beginning. Not wanting to be outdone by the City Council, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced yesterday that he wants Los Angeles to build 50 new pocket parks in the next two years. According to the L.A. Times, the mayor said that “city workers have been scouring Los Angeles to find locations to create small parks, especially in some of the most densely populated neighborhoods.”
This is terrific news for Los Angeles, and long overdue. Only about one out of every seven Angelenos (14%) live within a half-mile of open space, leaving about 8.6 million people in virtual “park deserts.” And as anyone who has lived in or visited L.A. knows, many parts of the city are crowded and bustling, with seemingly endless stretches of pavement and asphalt.
Urban parks and natural open space areas are islands of serenity in the concrete jungle. I’m glad our leaders in L.A. understand this and are committed to increasing open space and parkland, especially in those neighborhoods that need it the most.
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Comments
Dora — Nov 18 2011 12:39 AM
Thank yu, thank you and thank you...this is AWESOME...we should all celebrete with some local live music up there!!! Great news!
ANTHONY MANZANO — Nov 18 2011 01:44 PM
Living in the area, being the forth generation in the same home has given me a true sense of our community. Aside from just living here, I am also the President of LA-32 Neighborhood Council, which allows me to realize and understand the areas of each of the 4 communities we serve.
I was able to attend the committee meeting earlier this week to provide maps and archives reflective of this project. I would like the readers and Neighbors of the community to be aware and understand that this project is not in the community of El Sereno. Over the years mis-information was provided but the City Clerks Office along with the Bureau of Engineering have the proper archives and maps indicating the 'Elephant Hiil' is surely not in the community of El Sereno.
Understanding the need for open space and the preservation and restoration of the natural habitat are essential to the residents of our communities. I support the project and the benefits it may provide. What is not true to the Neighbors and those promoting this project is the Official location of 'Elephant Hill'.
If anyone reading still feels and continues to refer to this area as being in El Sereno is clearly mis-informed and unaware of the communities history. Those interested and fasinated by facts, archives, maps, historical records, and the truth may reach me for details. I have studied the boundaries of where we live for nearly 7 years and can provide the evidence to support my claim and position.
Feel free to reach me at ..... RoseHillsReview@yahoo.com
Anthony Manzano
if you would like for me to share centuries worth of facts and archives, including the boundaries of El Sereno, as accepted in 2011.
Kristin — Nov 18 2011 01:51 PM
Damon,
The pocket parks are badly needed. We MUST make certain they are purchased, staffed, and provided security and programming through brand new monies - no "magic money" games. This is absolutely vital. In the past decade, thousands of new parks land has been added in LA City, with no new funds for maintenance, security, and programming.
Worse yet, the City Council and Mayor have started essentially stealing from park funds to cover other departments' budgets through what must be called what it is - a money-laundering process labeled "charge-backs". $50 million of $140 million during this fiscal year alone! This stripping and stealing from our parks is unprecedented in the history of Los Angeles! Yet parks advocates are almost silent on this astounding action.
Explanation: in the City Charter, a fixed percentage of property tax was allocated by the Citizens of Los Angeles specifically for parks in Los Angeles. The intention of the people is clear: these funds go to the parks and programming. They are specifically prohibited from being swept back into the City's General Fund.
Until 2009, all of the allocation did go directly to the parks budget. The allocation to Rec and Parks was frustrating for those who wanted a piece of that pie, but they did respect the public's wishes... until now.
2008-09ish, our Mayor and City Council realized they could possibly get away with "charging" Recreation and Parks for "services" provided to this Department by other Departments, thereby covering other department's deficits through taking what was supposed to be direct parks services. So today, the tax dollars allocated to keep our parks healthy go back to the Dept of Water and Power, Sanitation, Personnel, and so on.
It was $50 million that was "charged back" from the tax dollars mandated by The People for our parks and given to other departments this year. Next year they want $70-80 million.
TALK ABOUT SOCIAL INJUSTICE. After all, who is impacted the most when our parks aren't safe, open, staffed, maintained?
The Citizens of Los Angeles thought they had protected our parks and those who need them when they allocated funding in the City Charter.
Unless good people stand up to this crime, there isn't going to be a dime left to pay for any parks we have, much less new ones if activists like yourself don't wake up to this outright attack on parks in Los Angeles.
"New" parks won't mean a thing if this theft of parks funding is allowed to become standard operating procedure in Los Angeles.
Eddie North-Hager — Nov 20 2011 11:55 AM
A lack of parks and green space has health and economic consequences. So this is a welcome plan - especially for South Los Angeles where I live.
For more about the need for parks, read the "Healthy 'Hoods" series on http://www.LeimertParkBeat.com.