We All Need Parks: Help Identify Regional And Rural Park And Recreation Needs

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation or LA County Parks is inviting the public to participate in a community engagement and outreach process to help inform planning and funding allocation to address regional and rural park and recreation needs. As a focused update to the 2016 Los Angeles Countywide Parks Needs Assessment, this effort is called the Regional and Rural Edition. Specifically, it will apply an equity lens to comprehensively identify, analyze, map, and document:

The need for regional facilities, including regional parks, beaches and lakes, trails, and natural areas and open spaces; and

The park needs of Rural communities which are primarily located in the Antelope Valley, Santa Clarita Valley, and Santa Monica Mountains.

With the support of the Regional Park and Open Space District, LA County Parks has initiated the Regional and Rural Edition in response to a motion by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors which called for the development of a needs assessment to address regional recreation, beaches, rural areas, and open space.  This is an appropriate time to evaluate regional and rural park and recreation needs, given that outdoor public spaces, such as beaches, local and regional parks, natural areas, and trails, have all become popular during the COVID-19 pandemic as people seek opportunities for recreation and respite.  

Designed to be extensive and inclusive, the community engagement and outreach process will be launched by LA County Parks in March 2021 in partnership with other County departments, community-based organizations, and other groups.  Due to COVID-19 restrictions on in-person meetings and group gatherings, the process will consist primarily of online methods of engagement and physically distanced activities, including the following: project website updates (https://lacountyparkneeds.org/); surveys/polls; social media, including photo competitions; phone calls; focus groups; workshops and webinars

LA County Parks has also convened a Technical Advisory Committee to help inform and guide the process of data collection and analysis, development of metrics, community engagement and outreach, and other key aspects of the project.  The committee includes representatives from a broad range of agencies and organizations with expertise in geographic information systems (GIS), beaches, parks, public health, regional planning, transportation, open space and conservation, and sustainability, including:

• Cal Poly Pomona
• LA County Department of Beaches and Harbors
• LA County Department of Parks and Recreation
• LA County Department of Public Health
• LA County Department of Regional Planning
• LA Metro
• National Recreation and Park Association
• Prevention Institute
• Southern California Association of Governments
• The Nature Conservancy
• The Wilderness Society
• UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability

LA County Parks is the lead agency charged with updates and implementation of the Countywide Parks Needs Assessment.  The 2016 Parks Needs Assessment involved a 14-month process that included data collection and analysis, engagement with stakeholders and community members in cities and unincorporated areas. The 2016 Parks Needs Assessment directly informed the development of Measure A, a Countywide funding measure for parks approved by nearly 75% of LA County voters in November 2016 and generated more than $90 million annually.

Per direction from the Board of Supervisors and the Grants Administration Manual for Measure A, the results of the Regional and Rural Edition will be used to help inform project planning and the competitive grant process. It will also provide data and analyses to inform future park and recreation planning efforts by LA County Parks, cities, and other stakeholders.

Details: https://lacountyparkneeds.org/