L.A. County's Strategy for Better Park Planning Explained

Community Parks and Recreation Plans (CPRPs) represent Los Angeles County's latest approach for community-based park and recreation planning, writes L.A. County park planner Clement Lau. CPRPs should better plan parks in underserved communities in particular. They go beyond traditional park master plans by analyzing and addressing the park and greening needs of unincorporated communities in a comprehensive way that extends outside of the boundaries of existing parks. In particular, the CPRPs not only seek to improve existing parks, but they provide a roadmap to create new green spaces in non-traditional locations, make specific recommendations to increase the urban forestry, and advance local and regional sustainability goals. Also, the CPRPs are the products of extensive public outreach processes that not only included traditional public meetings, but involved partnerships with local community-based organizations and the application of various community engagement strategies, such as focus groups, stakeholder interviews, surveys, and tabling at community events.