The PNA provides a data-driven framework to help guide equitable investment in recreation and parks, ensuring that resources are directed where they are needed most and that all Angelenos have access to quality parks and recreation.
Benchmarking
Benchmarking compares RAP’s system, amenities, and budget to those of peer cities to provide context and highlight areas of difference.
- Understanding where Los Angeles stands relative to peer cities provided a foundation for setting realistic and ambitious new targets that will better serve residents’ needs.
- Comparisons of park and recreation amenities, budget, staffing, and acreage identified where Los Angeles is exceeding or being exceeded by other regional and national cities that have similar demographic or economic characteristics, similar climate, and more highly ranked park systems.
- Los Angeles was benchmarked against:
- San Francisco
- San Diego
- Dallas
- Chicago
- New York
- Washington, D.C.
- Los Angeles generally has fewer recreation amenities per person and spends less public money on its recreation and parks system than its peers.
Site Prioritization
Site Prioritization introduces the Universe of Sites—a comprehensive inventory of all existing and potential sites—and outlines a methodology for evaluating and prioritizing sites for future investment.
- To determine where RAP should prioritize investment over the coming decades, a system of criteria based on community, agency, and stakeholder feedback as well as best practices were used to assess a “Universe of Sites.”
- The Universe of Sites includes all 483 existing and 36 New Park Priority Areas.
- New Park Priority Areas were identified by the PerSquareMile tool developed by GreenInfo Network and the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. The chosen sites contain the top 25% of residents lacking in either park access or park acreage and are also either disadvantaged or vulnerable communities.
- The criteria used to prioritize the Universe of Sites are indicators of need for park investment across the City and cover topics from park need, park pressure, and conditions of park facilities as well as factors in social and environmental equity, resilience, and alignment with other City and County initiatives.
- Each site was sorted into one of five levels of priority. Of the 518 sites:
- 25 (5%) are first priority
- 148 (29%) are second priority
- 170 (33%) are third priority
- 134 (26%) are fourth priority
- 41 (8%) are fifth priority
- Ordered alphabetically, the 25 first priority sites are:
- 105th Street Pocket Park
- 11th Avenue Park
- 97th Street Pocket Park
- Arts District Park
- LAR Greenway – Mason to Vanalden
- Leo Politi Elementary School (CSP)
- Little Green Acres Park
- Ord and Yale Street Park
- PerSquareMile – Downtown
- PerSquareMile – East Vermont Square
- PerSquareMile – Exposition Park
- PerSquareMile – N Hist South Central
- PerSquareMile – North Hollywood
- PerSquareMile – Pico-Union
- PerSquareMile – University Park North
- PerSquareMile – Van Nuys – Valley Glen
- PerSquareMile – Westlake
- PerSquareMile – Westlake-Koreatown
- Rolland Curtis Park
- Saint James Park
- San Julian Park
- Sixth Street Viaduct Park
- South Victoria Avenue Park
- Valencia Triangle
- Vermont Miracle Park
Regional Snapshots
The Regional Snapshots explore how park needs vary across different areas of the city: East/Central LA, West LA, South LA, and North LA.
- Regional snapshots help document how needs vary in different parts of Los Angeles.
- East and Central LA are home to some of the most iconic—and most contested—city parks. Maintenance and service issues experienced at MacArthur Park, Echo Park, and Elysian Park are emblematic of the many roles that the parks in Los Angeles play. Homelessness, street vending, and safety are key challenges within these parks and neighborhoods.
- South LA contains some of the most active and heavily utilized parks in the City. While critical spaces for recreation, culture, public gathering, and social services, they face ongoing challenges related to safety, maintenance, and amenity availability, particularly in communities that have experienced decades of disinvestment.
- Though North LA has many acres of parkland, there are issues around access to and interconnectivity of parks. Parks are quite far from some residents, leading to a need for better trails and enhanced streetscapes to connect parks and greenspaces. There is also a need for more accessible routes and facilities within parks.
- West LA includes a wide variety of parks and benefits from proximity to state parks, beaches, regional trails, and facilities in nearby cities. With the recent Palisades wildfires, fire risk, resilience, and recovery are priority concerns. As in much of Los Angeles, communities in West LA are concerned about people experiencing homelessness occupying limited park space, maintenance, and safety.