Improving Communities With Pocket Parks

Pocket parks may be small, but they are important in meeting the needs of urban communities that lack open space. Within Los Angeles County, the creation of such parks is a key strategy to improve park access and equity, enabling more residents to enjoy the multiple benefits that parks offer. As reported by Steven Sharp, construction has just begun on a new pocket park in the unincorporated community of Westmont, which has a very high level of park need per L.A. County's 2016 Countywide Parks Needs Assessment.

The park site was acquired by the L.A. County Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) shortly after it was identified as a priority in the West Athens-Westmont Community Parks and Recreation Plan. In 2020, DPR successfully secured nearly $1.3 million in grant funds through California’s Proposition 68 Statewide Park Development Program to develop the park. The 0.16-acre pocket park will include a new play area with shade, therapeutic garden, space for rotating recreational activities, public art, storage shed and landscaping.

Transforming this overgrown and forgotten corner at a busy intersection into a lively and beautiful space for rest, play, socializing and exercise will positively impact the quality of life for Westmont residents. With the completion of this pocket park, the percentage of Westmont residents living within a 10-minute walk of a park would increase from 57 percent to 74 percent. This means that an additional 5,700 residents, including nearly 1,800 youths, would be able to walk to a nearby park.