Monica Mountains with our monthly Transit to Trails program. Who says you can’t bring the mountains to the city or the city to the mountains.


Vista Hermosa Natural Park and our programs have brought back a piece of nature to a highly needed community. Only 33% of Los Angeles residents live within a quarter-mile of a park, compared with 97% for Boston and 91% for New York. Nationwide, the average park space per 1,000 residents is 6 to 10 acres; in Los Angeles it is 3.4 acres (TPL). It is no wonder then why the community is taking full advantage


of this park. And we can’t blame them! Vista Hermosa Natural Park truly lives up to it’s name. Beautiful views of the city skyscrapers, of the sunset behind the city skyline, of families enjoying the grassy lawns, of smiling faces playing outdoors, and a community coming together to enjoy open green space.


Trust for Public Land. The Benefits of Parks: Why America Needs More City Parks and Open Space. 2006


BrinGing Nature to Compton Compton Creek Natural Park


A transformation is taking place in Compton. A barren piece of land between Washington Elementary School and Compton Creek, a tributary to the Los Angeles River, is becoming Compton Creek Natural Park. This park will bring green space to Compton, which has only .9 acres of parkland per capita, one of lowest of any city in Los Angeles County (Dept. of Public Health Report, 2007). It will connect the school and the neighborhood to the river and provide a place for recreation and relaxation.


This 4.2-acre park is implementing Best Management Practices (BMPs) during all phases of development and construction. The first phase, slated for completion later this year, will bring native plants and shady trees, interpretive signs, walking trails with fitness equipment, a multi-use amphitheater for school events and ceremonies, an underground cistern to hold rainwater for irrigation, and an outdoor classroom at the creek overlook. In addition, educational


Construction on Compton Creek Natural Park.


features will offer learning opportunities for the students of Washington Elementary, and everyone else looking to spend some time enjoying the river.


The Los Angeles Conservation Corps, one of the MRCA’s oldest community partners, is a key player at the Compton Creek Natural Park. Not only are LACC members building the park, gaining critical skills and experience in green


construction, but they will operate it once it is open. This will give the Corps a recruitment station and office in Compton to continue offering local youth training in conservation related skills as well as provide on-going operations, maintenance and programming at the park.


It has been established that children (and grown ups, too) who are able to spend time in nature thrive more


Winter 2012 11


Bird watching at Vista Hermosa.


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