Clement Lau, County of Los Angeles, Department of Parks and Recreation

Mapping, Metrics, and OutreachAssessing Park Needs in America’s Most Populous County

GEODESIGN SUMMIT

2017

www.lacountyparkneeds.org

Los Angeles Countywide

Comprehensive Park Needs Assessment

Executive Summary - Prezi

Process

Transparent Approach:

Study Area Development

Parks Definition

What was included in the analysis:• City, County parks including community parks,

neighborhood parks, pocket parks and tot lots

• City and County recreational facilities including swimming pools, recreation centers, gyms and skate parks

• Regional parks

• School recreation facilities with joint use agreements

• State Parks and open space areas with at least one active amenity

Parks Definition

What was not be included in the analysis:• Golf courses• Cemeteries• Plazas and public art installations• Beaches• Schools (except recreational facilities with joint

use agreements)• Open space areas with no active amenities

Analysis Overview

• Thiessen Service Areas and Analysis (Park Pressure)

• Analysis Grid

– Population distribution to grid

• Park Accessibility

• Park Needs Analysis

– Park Acre Need

– Distance to Nearest Park

– Population Density - Total Population

1. Identify Metric (Indicator)

2. Customize Methodology

3. Quantify Units of Analysis

4. Collect Data

Methodology (GreenScore)

5. Conduct Analysis

6. Set Thresholds

7. Summarize Findings

Thiessen Service Areas• Define individual areas of influence

around each park

• Parks surrounded by high density neighborhoods can be affected by “park congestion”

• Measured in park acres per 1,000 and users per acre within a defined park service area

Analysis Grid• Distribution of population to grid to

move population to where people actually

• Ability to more accurately analyze populations around parks

• Easy to summarize population data based on key metrics and geographies

Park Access Locations• Multiple access locations were

added to each park to accurately tie park access to the walkable network

Park Acre

Need (20%)

+

Park Distance

(20%)

+

Population

Density (60%)

Park Needs Analysis

Public Outreach• Toolkits – (186 created)

– GIS based maps and data summaries

– Community Profile

– Park Metrics

– Available Vacant Land

• Community Workshops (178 Held)

• Prioritized Project List– Prioritized Projects

– Deferred Maintenance

– Specialized Facilities

Public Outreach• Data Sharing

– Data Portal

• Web Mapping– Story Map

– Data Viewer

Story Maps: Was used to explain and summarize

the GIS analysis approach to the public

Layer Viewer: Created so that public could explore

the dataset use throughout the process

Data Portal : Data added to county data portal for

public use

LACountyParkNeeds.org

Clement Lau, County of Los Angeles, Department of Parks and Recreation

Mapping, Metrics, and OutreachAssessing Park Needs in America’s Most Populous County

GEODESIGN SUMMIT

2017