Griffith Park on the East Bank of the Los Angeles River Draft Concept Study

The 28+ acre site of Griffith Park on the East Bank of the Los Angeles River in Atwater Village could be the Next Great Urban Park in Los Angeles.

Picture a bucolic stream, a tree-shaded picnic area, a path for walkers and equestrians, a playground for little ones and athletic fields to enjoy organized sports. Now picture it all in an easily accessible area of Griffith Park near working class families with a stunning view of the hills and river.

Is it a pipe dream? No. It’s what happens when the community recognizes that public enjoyment of Griffith Park can be expanded, without the purchase of new parkland.

Griffith Park on the East Bank of the Los Angeles River is parkland that is part of Griffith Park that the city is using for a service yard. The site can be restored as a real park.

The site is next to the Los Angeles River, the North Atwater Creek Stream Restoration, existing North Atwater Park, and the Los Angeles Glendale water reclamation plant. This prime river front land can be converted into picnic grounds and a wildlife viewing area that will complement the pedestrian/equestrian corridor currently along its bank. Given that the acreage is flat, surrounded by a neighborhood of working families, close to a regularly scheduled bus line and a short walk from Chevy Chase Recreation Center, it can be an excellent site for new sports fields for youth. All of these uses can be accommodated with sensitive planning that takes into account the needs of all users, including Recreation and Parks departmental functions.

Los Angeles is park poor, and there are unfair disparities in access to park and recreation resources. Children of color living in poverty with no access to a car have the worst access to parks, and to schools with five acres or more of playing fields, and suffer from the highest levels of child obesity. This is true in areas east of the Los Angeles River, including the communities near Griffith Park on the East Bank of the Los Angeles River.

The New York Times has called the revitalization of the Los Angeles River a best practice example for how the nation can create “more sustainable, livable and socially just cities.” Nicolai Ouroussoff, Reinventing America’s Cities: The Time is Now, N.Y. Times, March 25, 2009. Using this site as a service yard is inconsistent with that vision.

The Los Angeles City Council passed a resolution to balance the needs of the Los Angeles River environment with human enjoyment of the River. In response, the Los Angeles River Project Office published the report Los Angeles River Access and Use: Balancing Equitable Actions with Responsible Stewardship (2009) (the River Report). The River Report emphasizes the need for Environmental Justice along the River: “Of key concern in Los Angeles is the growing disparity of access to and use of open space resources, including parks, ball fields, and natural areas by those living in low-income communities of color. Whole generations are growing up in Los Angeles without any meaningful relationship to the natural environment.”

Griffith Park on the East Bank of the Los Angeles River is a best practice example to address the concerns identified in the River Report, including: compliance with equal justice laws and principles, as one of the six major goals for River revitalization; human health and childhood obesity; joint use of parks, schools, and pools; economic justice and green local jobs; and transit to trails.

Click here to download the Draft Concept Study for Griffith Park on the East Bank of the Los Angeles River by Studio Dos ó Tres and The City Project.