The Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust's mission is to bring parks and gardens to underserved communities in Los Angeles, where problems of obesity are bad enough that the city recently banned new fast food operations.
The article features Q&A with Alina Bokde, the executive director of the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust:
"Our work is about bringing resources and creating viable neighborhood parks and community gardens where community members can work with the Land Trust to provide programs and engage in what we call 'stewardship activities' to help maintain the site. We do clean-up days, we do big volunteer days to rehab the park, and we also engage the community in developing the leadership capacity to address quality of life issues within the community."
"There's more and more research coming out showing that the built environment has a very direct relationship to public health outcomes. If you live in a community or neighborhood that doesn't have fresh foods, groceries, or community gardens, doesn't have parks, and doesn't have walkable streets and trees, you're more likely to live in a community with higher rates of obesity, higher rates of diabetes, and higher rates of mental depression. There is a direct correlation that we see with the built environment and public health."
Thanks to James Brasuell
Read the full story: Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust Goals: Creating Urban Gardens and Pocket Parks
10 of the Best Urban Agriculture Projects
Urban Land surveys ten of the best recent examples of development projects that incorporate agricultural facilities—from New York to new Orleans.
How the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust Gets the Job Done
In a city of increasingly scarce land, the Los Angeles Neighborhood land Trust has a track record of ushering community gardens and other public health resources in low-income communities.
Baltimore's Big Idea: Schools as the Center of Neighborhood Transformation
The city of Baltimore is taking a new approach to an old idea: that schools should be the center of neighborhoods.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
Colorado’s Largest Data Center Could Rise Next to Homes — Without a Public Hearing
The proposed campus would consume 11 times the power of Denver International Airport; as it has across the country, opposition mounts.
Judges permit Denver to divert 77,000 acre feet from the Colorado River for reservoir expansion
Overuse and climate change have caused the Colorado River’s water levels to plummet.
Amtrak, CN end decades-long dispute with eight-year agreement
The new operating agreement establishes an updated framework for the companies to work together, including processes to resolve disputes.
Raised interest rates may kill financially vulnerable construction projects
The chief economist at ConstructConnect warns that if construction project owners are negatively impacted by the raised rates, it could result in delayed payments to contractors.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
KFH Group Inc.
Greater Baltimore Committee
Eagle County Government
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello