Photo Credit: Courtesy of MIA LEHRER + ASSOCIATES
Vista Hermosa Natural Park--whose name in Spanish means "beautiful view"--has created a new model of park design in downtown Los Angeles. Located at the edge of a dense residential zone, the 9.5-acre park is nature’s reprieve from the intensity of urban life.
Los Angeles is one of the most park-poor cities in America, with fewer acres of parkland per 1,000 residents than other major cities in the country. According to the Trust for Public Land, the national average for park space is 6.1 acres per 1,000 residents. Although Los Angeles technically meets the national average, concentrated parkland in large parks such as Griffith Park have limited access, and makes them unavailable to many residents. As a result, larger neighborhoods, especially those in and around the downtown area, have less than one acre of parkland for every 1,000 residents.
Vista Hermosa is a valuable oasis of nature and recreation, which provides local residents--especially children--a place to learn, play, and socialize. The park, on school-district land, features trails, meadows, a waterfall and streams, picnic grounds, art elements, a children's play area, a soccer field and an outdoor amphitheater.