This once-polluted and neglected patch of hardscape now delivers peace, play, and possibility to 40,000 nearby residents who previously lacked quality, close-to-home green space. (Courtesy of South Gate and LA Engineering, Inc.) |
In the hardscrabble city of South Gate, just outside Los Angeles, residents had long regarded a stretch of post-industrial wasteland, squeezed between a freeway and the concrete-lined Los Angeles River, as little more than an eyesore.
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But at Trust for Public Land, we saw the potential of the former brownfield and encouraged the community to imagine its future. After holding a series of workshops with residents, we sketched out a green oasis—seven acres teeming with fruit trees, laced with walking paths, local art installations, and maybe even hosting a wetland that could cleanse stormwater runoff before it hits the L.A. River.
This summer, that vision came to life in a new park called Urban Orchard. The name was inspired by 200 newly planted fruit trees, including guava, avocado, lemon and lime, which the community is encouraged to pick and enjoy. The wetland functions as both a beautiful natural feature and a piece of so-called “green infrastructure,” specially engineered to capture and filter 32 million gallons of polluted water that can then be reused to water the park. |
A creek running through the park offers more than tranquility. Designed to capture and filter runoff, it helps protect the surrounding areas from stormwater flooding. |
Trust for Public Land has worked with communities like South Gate across the country—conserving more than four million acres of land from coast to coast and helping build 5,500 parks, primarily in under-resourced towns and cities where residents have little access to green space.
In South Gate, where 20,000 residents live below the poverty line, park space makes up only 3 percent of the city’s land area, a fifth of the national average. Car exhaust from Interstate 710 wafts over neighborhoods, and residents—94 percent of whom identify as Latinx—share their city with three Superfund sites. The CalEnviroScreen 3.0, a pollution burden index, identified the Urban Orchard project area as in the 100th percentile.
“We are an environmental justice community and there’s been a lack of investment over time and degrading public facilities,” said Fabiola Inzunza, a local resident who works as a planner for the City of Los Angeles and previously served on South Gate’s planning commission. “But the city has made a huge effort around the parks conversation.” |
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Barely more than seedlings and saplings today, hundreds of shrubs and trees will soon blanket the park with a cooling canopy of shade, purify the air, and provide a bounty of free, fresh fruit. (Courtesy of South Gate and LA Engineering, Inc.) |
A lifelong resident of South Gate who holds a master’s degree in community development, Inzunza joined scores of residents who participated in workshops led by TPL to design Urban Orchard. She’s encouraged that the new park provides fresh fruit for residents, while promoting active lifestyles and correcting environmental injustices. In addition to the walking paths, parkgoers can find garden beds and a nature-based playground. That’s crucial in a city where 40,000 residents lacked a park within a 10-minute walk of home.
We know parks have the power to strengthen communities like South Gate. Access to nature improves public health in numerous ways: it lowers blood pressure, relieves stress, boosts mood, and inspires physical exercise. Plants and trees, too, cool the environment and absorb greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, along with other pollutants.
Beyond these benefits is the simple fact that a well-designed park—with input from the nearby residents who will use it most—instills joy. Inzunza, who lives a mile from Urban Orchard, says she can’t wait to take walks and picnic there. “Those,” she said, “are two things that will be perfect at an urban orchard.”
Learn more about our work in Los Angeles, in California, and across the country to connect everyone to the benefits of the outdoors. |
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Connecting everyone to the outdoors. We create parks and protect public land where they’re needed most so that everyone will have access to the benefits and joys of the outdoors for generations to come. |
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This email was sent by Trust for Public Land to [email protected].
23 Geary St., Suite 1000, San Francisco, CA 94108 |
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