Last week, the Trust for Public Land released its annual ParkScore report, which evaluates park systems in the 100 largest U.S. cities, including seven in Southern California. This year, Los Angeles received the lowest ranking among them.
The annual ParkScore also selected Irvine, Long Beach, Santa Clarita, Santa Ana, Anaheim and Riverside for evaluation, as they are also considered the gold standard for parks. The system that was implemented when ranking the parks is solely based on the following factors: Park access, equity, acreage, investment measures and amenities.
Although Los Angeles fell four spots to number 90, park advocates believe that they should have a world-class park system but don’t. While some Southern California cities are investing in parks to build a greener future, others have yet to act on improvement recommendations even though parks are crucial to the social, physical and mental health of Latino communities…