How South Gate, California Expanded its Park System Against the Odds

South Gate, one of Los Angeles County’s most park-poor cities, reached a major milestone this year by opening three new parks. As reported by LAist’s Erin Stone, the most notable achievement is Urban Orchard Park — a new 7-acre green space built on long-neglected land between the 710 Freeway and the Los Angeles River. For seniors living next door in a mobile home park, the space now offers walking paths, native trees, a small wetland, and an orchard designed to help address local food insecurity.

These new and renovated parks meet a longstanding need. Only 3 percent of South Gate’s land is dedicated to park space, far below the national average, and the city’s predominantly low-income Latino residents have historically had limited access to nature, shade, and safe places to exercise. The Trust for Public Land led a community-guided design process for Urban Orchard Park, prioritizing shade, healthy food, and climate resilience. A constructed wetland now captures and cleans stormwater from the Los Angeles River, providing most of the park’s irrigation and attracting new wildlife.

Bringing the Urban Orchard to life took more than a decade, substantial coordination, and a complex mix of public, private, and nonprofit partnerships. Funding came from a broad range of state, county, federal, and philanthropic sources, while the Conservation Corps of Long Beach is providing early maintenance and workforce training for local youth. City officials note that the achievement highlights both the creativity required to build parks in space-constrained communities and the structural challenge posed by South Gate’s limited local tax revenue. While recent county and state efforts may help streamline similar projects in the future, long-term solutions will require stronger, more equitable funding tools for small cities.