From the original story by Alexander Rodriguez at LA Blade
Los Angeles ranks 90 out of 100 in the Trust for Public Land‘s 2025 ParkScore Index, a dramatic decline from 49th place just five years ago.
That drop has been driven by persistent inequities in access to parks and green space. The gaps are especially stark in Latino neighborhoods, where only 19% of children have nearby access to green or recreational space.
For more than 23 years, one organization has worked to make access to parks in Los Angeles less aspirational and more achievable.
Since its founding in 2002, the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust has focused on addressing park inequities in low-income communities of color. Its efforts have added 22 acres of accessible green space and helped create 30 urban parks and community gardens across Los Angeles.
Today, more than 500,000 Angelenos live within a 10-minute walk of one of the organization’s green spaces.
Origins
“L.A. Neighborhood Land began from recognizing that so many Angelenos didn’t have parks within walking distance of their homes,” said Tori Kjer, executive director of L.A. Neighborhood Land Trust. Parks, she said, are critical infrastructure that provide places to gather, exercise, relax, build relationships, and even protest.
The organization emerged after a 2002 city-funded report titled Walking to the Park which recommended forming an Urban Land Trust to identify opportunities for green space in densely populated neighborhoods. As a nonprofit, the trust could negotiate with private landowners and help stretch public resources by taking on stewardship and management responsibilities.
Today, L.A. Neighborhood Land Trust operates parks and gardens throughout the city and county, including Golden Age Park in MacArthur Park, Belvedere Little Green Fingers Garden in East L.A., Jacaranda Park and Vermont Miracle Park in South Central L.A., East Rancho Dominguez Toddler Park in Compton, and Mariposa Little Green Fingers Garden in Koreatown.
When it comes to park development, Kjer said the organization follows a community-led approach. “We practice community visioning,” she said. “Residents help identify priorities, whether that’s space to grow food, a community center, or green space next to affordable housing.”
Parks and life expectancy
One area where the organization is especially active is South Central L.A., where access to parkland closely tracks health outcomes.
According to a report by the Prevention Institute and partners including UCLA, South Central L.A. contains neighborhoods classified as having “high” or “very high” park need, averaging as little as 0.7 to 1.6 acres of parkland per 1,000 residents. The countywide average is 3.3 acres.
Life expectancy reflects that divide. In South L.A., median life expectancy is 77 years. Roughly 15 miles away, in Beverly Hills, it reaches 90.
Kjer said the disparity is rooted in environmental injustice. “The built environment plays a real role in health,” she said. “Many communities don’t have places to exercise, wide sidewalks, or trees. Children grow up without regular exposure to nature.”
Fremont Wellness Center
To address those gaps, the L.A. Neighborhood Land Trust opened the Fremont Wellness Center and Community Garden in 2012 on the John C. Fremont High School campus in South L.A.
Working with residents and local partners, the organization transformed the site into a hub for urban agriculture education, food waste recycling, and fresh produce access. Students and community members participate in gardening apprenticeships that introduce modern food systems, composting, and soil health.
For many students, the garden is the only place they are able to touch soil and watch fruits and vegetables grow. The site also supports monthly composting of hundreds of pounds of food waste and serves as a neighborhood gathering space focused on wellness and sustainability.
The organization has also developed Community School Parks, supervised school playgrounds that open to the public on weekends, holidays, and during the summer. Through an agreement with the Los Angeles Unified School District, playground gates in high-need neighborhoods are unlocked every weekend.
Park inequity in Latinos and communities of color
Beyond environmental justice, Kjer said parks matter for everyday quality of life. Many families live in dense, multigenerational households with little private outdoor space. Parks provide room to breathe, move, and spend time together.
They also serve as vital community hubs, especially for seniors. “Isolation contributes to mental health challenges,” Kjer said. “Parks give people a place to be with one another.”
Ballot measures and civic engagement
In addition to building parks, L.A. Neighborhood Land Trust has taken on a civic role. In December 2025, the organization joined a coalition seeking approval to place a park funding initiative before Los Angeles voters in November 2026.
If approved, the measure would generate an estimated $320 million annually to restore and maintain the city’s park system, which faces billions of dollars in deferred maintenance after decades of disinvestment and staffing cuts.
“For too long, park-poor communities have borne the brunt of that neglect,” Kjer said. “This initiative is a chance to correct historic inequities.”
L.A. Park Needs Assessment
That effort aligns with the Los Angeles Park Needs Assessment, a city-county initiative evaluating hundreds of park sites to determine current and future funding needs.
Despite the addition of more than 1,000 acres of parkland over the past decade, budgets have not kept pace with inflation. The 2025 assessment identifies roughly $15 billion in one-time capital needs to address deferred maintenance and meet service goals.
“The assessment shows just how deep the need is,” Kjer said. “We’ve seen the real consequences of disinvestment.”
The L.A. Neighborhood Land Trust hopes the assessment will guide equitable investment, prioritizing neighborhoods with the greatest social and environmental need. For more information on the L.A. Neighborhood Land Trust, visit https://www.lanlt.org.
This story was produced by American Community Media in collaboration with the Laboratory for Environmental Narrative Strategies (LENS) at UCLA as part of the Greening American Cities initiative supported by the Bezos Earth Fund. Read more stories like this by visiting the Greening Communities homepage.
