Los Angeles County is implementing equity-focused community parks and recreation plans.

Parks are increasingly recognized as essential infrastructure which provides a wide range of benefits to communities. For example, numerous studies show that parks offer a variety of environmental, social, and economic benefits both within and beyond park boundaries. However, not everyone gets to enjoy these benefits because of park inequities, especially with respect to the provision and distribution of quality parks and investments in parks and recreational facilities.
In this Parks & Rec Business magazine article, park planner Clement Lau explains how the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) plans with equity and implementation in mind, ensuring that its plans prioritize the neediest communities and do not end up just sitting on bookshelves. Examples of such planning documents include the 2016 Los Angeles Countywide Parks and Recreation Needs Assessment and Community Parks and Recreation Plans (CPRPs) for various unincorporated communities. The article focuses on the implementation of the CPRPs which is well under way, with a multitude of projects at varying scales and stages of development.
FULL STORY: Fulfilling Visions

Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage
Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees
More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?

In Both Crashes and Crime, Public Transportation is Far Safer than Driving
Contrary to popular assumptions, public transportation has far lower crash and crime rates than automobile travel. For safer communities, improve and encourage transit travel.

Report: Zoning Reforms Should Complement Nashville’s Ambitious Transit Plan
Without reform, restrictive zoning codes will limit the impact of the city’s planned transit expansion and could exclude some of the residents who depend on transit the most.

Judge Orders Release of Frozen IRA, IIJA Funding
The decision is a victory for environmental groups who charged that freezing funds for critical infrastructure and disaster response programs caused “real and irreparable harm” to communities.
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