Despite Los Angeles’ natural beauty and access to prime outdoors amenities just a short drive away, the city itself has been named one of the worst metro areas for parks.
Of 100 major metropolitan areas, Los Angeles landed at 90th in the Trust for Public Land’s annual Parks Score rankings, which takes into account equity, access, investment, amenities and overall acreage. Just five years ago, the city was ranked 49th.
The reason, according to TPL, is “decades-long trend of disinvestment in the city’s green spaces.”
While L.A. got decent marks for the overall acreage of its park system, it took a major hit due to a lack of amenities, equity and financial investment.
Only 62% of Angelenos live within a 10-minute walk of a park, TPL data shows, compared to 76% among the 100 most populous U.S. cities. More than 1.5 million L.A. residents lack a park within ten minutes of home, the report shows.
In L.A., neighborhoods of color — areas with the highest concentrations of people of color — the disparity over park access is extremely pronounced. Residents in neighborhoods of color have 33% less park space per person than the city’s average, and 72% less than those in white neighborhoods.
Predominantly Black neighborhoods have 38% less access to parks than the city median; predominantly white neighborhoods have approximately 140% more access to parks than the city median.
The disparity is particularly noticeable when looking at low- versus high-income neighborhoods.
“In Los Angeles, residents in low-income neighborhoods have access to 48% less park space per person than those in the average Los Angeles neighborhood and 79% less than those in high-income neighborhoods,” TPL wrote in its report.
L.A. was about on par with the rest of the nation for what percent of its land is designated for parks and recreation. The national median was 15%, Los Angeles came in just under that at 14%.
Los Angeles also was given a low score for its park amenities, including basketball hoops, playgrounds, bathrooms and sports fields. For example, L.A. was awarded 11 out of a possible 100 points for its total number of playgrounds compared to the population.
The TPL report shows that the city has 5 playgrounds per 10,000 children. It scored even lower with dog parks, garnering 4 out of 100 points in that category, with 0.4 dog parks per 100,000 people.
Los Angeles also scored low among the top 100 metro areas for its total investment in its park systems. According to TPL, L.A. has invested $111 per person in its parks system; that’s in the bottom third of most populous cities both nationally and in California.
For comparison, the top two cities in California—Irvine and San Francisco—have invested $681 and $561 per person, respectively, over the last three fiscal years.
But it wasn’t always that way. According to the TPL report, just five years ago, L.A. was above average both nationally and statewide. So what happened?
In short, the city has decided to spend less on its parks system and more on other departments and administrative costs.
“The parks department’s capital expenditures—used to acquire and expand new parks, fix broken equipment, and refresh existing spaces—are about half what they were five years ago,” the report reads. “This decrease is poised to worsen with the pending expiration of Proposition K, a voter-approved measure from 1996 that dedicated $25 million per year in property tax revenue to the construction and renovation of city parks.”
Staffing shortages and a backlog of deferred maintenance on park projects is causing L.A. to fall behind its peers.
A third factor, according to TPL, involves investment from philanthropic or other public agencies. Only 6% of the city’s total parks investment comes from these sources, which is half the national average.
“In many of the country’s top park systems, citywide conservancies have emerged to shoulder a significant share of the cost burden and to provide support for “friends of” groups that help create programming and maintain the spaces.”
But there are reasons for optimism, TPL says.
“The city has begun a massive community-wide parks needs assessment—often a precursor to a citywide parks master plan or successful funding measures,” TPL writes. “The needs assessment can help L.A. identify communities that lack equitable park space and the positive health, climate, and economic outcomes quality green spaces yield.”
One novel solution that the report suggests is better partnership with local schools to address the lack of public green space.
“Transforming asphalt schoolyards into park-like facilities and opening them for community use after school hours … accommodate[s] play and outdoor learning in a nature-rich environment that can be made available to the broader community to enjoy outside of school hours.”
Nationally, about 20 million people, including children and their families, live within a 10-minute walk of a public school that has “potential” to feature a community schoolyard.
While major renovations to Los Angeles Unified School District’s 600 outdoor spaces would take a lot of time and effort, in the meantime, simply opening school playgrounds and ballfields to the public on weekends and after school hours “would put L.A. in good company.”
TPL says 75 of the 100 most populous cities have already adopted this strategy, and if embraced in L.A., as many as 1 million more people would have access to open space within ten minutes of home, potentially doubling the number of playgrounds and basketball hoops available citywide and increasing the percentage of nearby green space from 62% to 85%.
Those changes alone would propel L.A.’s 2025 park system ranks from 90th to 55th.
Dedicated funding sources and better collaboration and creativity during times of financial instability will also be key to realizing the full untapped potential of Los Angeles as one of the nation’s meccas of park space and greenery.
For the complete report on L.A.’s ParkScore from the Trust for Public Land, click here. To read more about the top ParkScores in the nation, including California’s top cities in Irvine and San Francisco, click here.