Healthy Parks, Schools and Communities Councilman Jose Huizar
Councilman Jose Huizar discusses joint use of parks and schools to make optimal use of scarce land and resources. “In terms of the existing facilities, both on the city’s side and the school’s side, it’s just a matter of leadership and us working together to make that happen. The limited resources are there, we just have to optimize their use and, particularly, to focus the kids at our schools and how do we provide them the parks when they need them and how do we provide more of the schools’ facilities when the public needs them. And, unfortunately we are in a situation where we have budget constraints on both sides. The schools, for example, are asking local Little Leagues to pay increasing fees to use the schools. But, I think we’ve got to break that mold and think more creatively about how we ensure that we are working a lot closer together and that, there, is just a matter of leadership for us to collectively work together.”
“On the side of new facilities, I think there we have a tremendous opportunity, both on the school side where they’re still building new schools, why not create more parks while you’re building the schools, get creative how you design your schools so you provide a park or some open space for the community to use as well. And us too. As we move forward, hopefully we do get a park bond and we create those additional open space and parks, we do them near our schools so that our kids can benefit from them, given that many of our schools are cluttered with bungalows and very limited places for them to recreate.”
“You’ve been, I think, a real lone voice on this item for a long time. We hope to amplify your voice because this is something that we continue to discuss and talk but we need to get you a big bullhorn and continue providing you that so that we make this an urgency for the city of Los Angeles and the school district.”
Download the letter to the City Council summarizing our recommendations.
Download the Policy Report Healthy Parks, Schools, and Communities: Mapping Green Access and Equity for the Los Angeles Region.
