A field of dreams blossoms in L.A.

Posted: 01-Jan-2002; Updated: 05-Feb-2002

When children in L.A.'s Chinatown want to play soccer or tag, their parents have to drive them miles away from home. All over central Los Angeles, there is not a single park. Low-income residents are fully cut off from nature.

But that is beginning to change, with help from Environmental Defense. In November, bulldozers began clearing a 47-acre defunct rail yard in Chinatown for a state park. Called the Cornfield because crops grew there in the 18th century, this "field of dreams" is the brainchild of a coalition of local activists and environmental groups.

Two years ago, a real estate company was set to develop the property for industrial warehouses. Environmental Defense and others sued to halt the development and helped Governor Gray Davis win approval for $35 million to acquire and clean up the Cornfield.

This success is part of our broader strategy to expand green space in urban centers around the country. "Access to green space is essential to making cities into healthy habitat for human beings," says Jacqueline Hamilton, co-director of our Living Cities program. "Los Angeles ranks last in the nation in per capita park space." Without attractive livable cities, there is added pressure for the sprawling development that endangers ecosystems.

Working with community groups, Environmental Defense has mounted a campaign to update L.A.'s open space plan and establish an Urban Land Trust to fund small neighborhood parks. Our computer specialists are identifying vacant lots with GIS mapping technology.

With few large parcels available, our focus is on creating numerous "pocket parks," such as the Hope and Peace Park we're helping develop in central L.A. "Before now, there were no safe places nearby to play outside," says 13-year-old Rosa Garcia, an avid basketball player.

"Our goal is for everyone in L.A. to live within a quarter mile of a park and the experience of nature," says our policy specialist Misty Sanford.