This past November the 32 acres of downtown Los Angeles known as The Cornfields was saved from building development once more thanks to the City Project.
I thank the City Project for providing me with these eye-opening facts:
- In Los Angeles, children of color living in poverty with no access to cars have the worst access to parks and recreation.
- Too many people live more than half a mile from the nearest park throughout the region of Los Angeles.
- Children of color disproportionately live in the California state assembly districts with the highest levels of child obesity and the worst access to parks and recreation. The levels of obesity are intolerably high for children throughout the region ranging from 23% to 40%.
- This is the first generation in the history of the country in which children will have a lower life expectancy than their parents if present trends in obesity and other diseases related to inactivity continue.

The City Project calls on a new form of social action: to Green LA. In the past six years, The City Project has spearheaded efforts to create new urban parks; to establish schools as centers of their communities; and to influence the investment of billions of dollars for public works projects in under-served communities.

The Daily Breeze reported:

"Robert Garcia, executive director of the City Project, a nonprofit group that focuses on parks, health and transit issues for low-income Los Angeles residents, said a pedestrian trail and bus route should link [the Los Angeles State Historic Park] with El Pueblo to the south, and another state park planned on the east bank of the Los Angeles River to the north. 'They should not be treated as isolated, separate parks but as one continuous parkway system,' he said... 'This is a wonderful opportunity. Los Angeles is hungry for its history."

Other victories for the group include preserving El Rio de Los Angeles State Park at Taylor Yard, 2 square miles of Baldwin Hills Park, and a dedicated 100 acres to Ascot Hills Park in East L.A. Their goals for next year include: to influence billions of dollars from resource bonds passed in November 2006 for parks, schools, housing, transit, clean water, and local jobs, to restore the Great Wall of Los Angeles, to Build an urban environmental movement that puts children and families first, and serves the needs of Latinos and diverse communities in ways no one else has. What does that mean? It means they hold politicians like Villaraigosa and Schwarzenegger to their word when they pass Green bills. It means there are organizations out there who care more about the cultural impact of development in Los Angeles than loft space.
It may be a tad late for year-end tax deductions but you can give to The City Project here.

Labels: environmental, local, politics