multiple benefits: regional visioning to local engagement

Multiple Benefits: Regional Visioning to Local Engagement:THE EMERALD NECKLACE EXPANDED VISION PLAN

for Los Angeles County

Park Pride’s 13th Annual Parks & Greenspace Conference

March 31, 2014

Will AllenDirector of Strategic Conservation Planning

Special thanks to Claire Robinson & Loretta Quach at Amigos de los Rios

Mark Eischeid, Edinburgh School of Architecture & Landscape Architecture

Shrinking Cities | Expanding Landscapes Conference – November 2013

2Wordle™

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Megaregions Need Nature

Regional Green Infrastructure

Vision

PROTECTRESTORECONNECT

MULTIPLE BENEFITS

Green Infrastructure – Linking Megaregions & Large Landscapes

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A strategically

planned and

managed network

of natural lands,

working

landscapes, and

other open

spaces that

conserves

ecosystem values

and functions and

provides

associated

benefits to

human

populations

(Benedict & McMahon,

2006)

Green Infrastructure – Linking Megaregions & Large Landscapes

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GI Network: Protect | Restore | Connect

Cores: • Contain fully

functional natural ecosystems

• Provide high-quality habitat for native plants and animals

Hubs:• Slightly fragmented

aggregations of core areas, plus contiguous natural cover

Corridors:• Link core areas

together

• Allow animal movement and seed and pollen transfer between core areas

Sites:• Important

microhabitats not captured by network thresholds and criteria

Functional Connectivity

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Ecological Capital

Human well-beingMaterial needs, health, security, social relations, “quality of life”

RegulatingServices

Culturalexperiences

Supporting

Products

(Natural processes that maintain other

ecosystem services)

Eco

syst

em

Serv

ices

Adapted from 2010 Ecological Footprint Atlas

GI Network: Mapping Nature’s Benefits

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• Cities and their regions as ecosystems

• Common vision• Coalitions shape priority green

infrastructure investments• Collaboration and collective action

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Other Metropolitan Greenspace Initiatives

Columbia MO | Lufkin TX | Central IndianaMilwaukee WI | Nashville TN

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Site Scale Green Infrastructure Implementation: Philadelphiahttp://www.phillywatersheds.org/what_were_doing/documents_and_data/cso_long_term_control_plan

http://www.phillywatersheds.org/what_were_doing/documents_and_data/cso_long_term_control_plan

http://www.phillywatersheds.org/what_were_doing/documents_and_data/cso_long_term_control_plan

Green Infrastructure on Vacant/Underutilized Lands

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New York City 596 Acres

Philadelphia Possible City Grounded in Philly

New Orleans Living Lots

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Los Angeles County: From the Mountains to the Sea, Forest to Ocean

Catalina Island

San Gabriel Mountains

Whittier Narrows

Angeles National Forest

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/ANF_East_Fork01.jpg

14Commissioned by Citizens’ Committee on Parks, Playgrounds and Beaches

“Throughout a century and a half of urban growth, LA and the surrounding region have exhibited a love-hate relationship with

nature.” Planning Los Angeles


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Historic Aerial Photo of Rio Hondo River Floodplain

Olmstead Plan Key Points• “…chronically lacking in

parks, playgrounds and public beaches for a city of its size and ambition…”

• Lack of open space for play grounds at schools…“Positively reprehensible”

• Proposed regional park agency

Olmstead Plan Priorities for Park Development• Public access to beaches• Regional athletic fields• Large parks/reservations (mountains, canyons,

islands)• Interconnected network of Parkways linking all of

the above park assets together


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Modern Day Los Angeles County

• Dominated by gray infrastructure - freeways, utility rights-of-way, water conveyances…

• …but still framed by Mountains/forest and beaches/ocean

• Opportunities to implement the Olmstead vision within the modern realities of the landscape

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Water Supply / Spreading Basins

Utilities / Water Conveyances

Wildlife Crossing

Cultural Heritage

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Operating environment in Los Angeles County

• Focus on private spaces – neglect of public spaces

• Disadvantaged urban population in eastern Los Angeles County and elsewhere in City of LA and 80+ municipalities

• Historic neglect by environmental community – focus on west side City of LA. coastal areas, and Santa Monica Mountains

• Government agency department silos / competition for resources with City of LA / fragmented leadership

• Major social inequity and public health crisis: education attainment, poverty, unemployment, crime


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Linkages between historic L.A. and modern L.A.


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Opportunities in Los Angeles County

• Diverse human populations and rare ecosystems• Increased emphasis on transit, auto alternatives• The need to be resourceful – with $$$ and water• A surprising amount of synergy on what needs to

be done


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Aspirational Los Angeles County: The Emerald Necklace Expanded Vision Plan – Towards a

Common Vision

• Green infrastructure, access to nature, river corridors with natural vegetation, non-vehicular transportation

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Catalina Island

Angeles National Forest

Amigos de los Rios Initial Case Study Area

The Emerald Necklace is a vision for a 17-mile loop of parks and greenwaysconnecting 16 cities and over 500,000 residents along the Río Hondo and San Gabriel Rivers and their tributaries.

El Monte

South El Monte

Baldwin Park

Rosemead

Temple City

Avocado Heights

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Alhambra Wash

Rubio Wash

Eaton WashSanta

Anita Wash

Arcadia

Wash

SAN GABRIEL

RIVER

RIO

HONDO

RIVER

Walnut

Creek

San Jose Creek

Connection Trail

TIER ONE: E: 5 acres and greater

TIER TWO: 3-5 acres TIER Three: 2 acres and less “Pocket Parks – Entrances”

TIER FOUR:

Connector Trails

Park Hierarchy

Forest Gateway

POTENTIAL NATIONAL RECREATION AREA WITH NPS


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Green Infrastructure

• Urban biodiversity

• Native habitat restoration

• Groundwater infiltration

• Climate change / urban heat island mitigation

• Community forestry

Public Health

• Active living / recreation

• Alternative transportation corridors

• Access to nature & outdoor classrooms

• Youth job training

• Natural & cultural heritage

• Way finding & interpretive signage

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27


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*Congressional Appropriation- Congresswoman, Hilda Solis partial funding

City of El

Monte

DURFEE / THOMPSON SCHOOL

• State-of-the-art sports fields and perimeter nature trail

• Outdoor interpretive area / Reconnect to nature

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Coalition Member Cities

Coalition Member Cities

Unincorporated Areas

Unincorporated Areas

• Charro Equestrian Joint Council• Park El Monte Improvement Association

State & County Agencies

State & County Agencies

• Hacienda Heights Homeowners’ Association

• Workman Mill Road Homeowners’ Association

• Rivers & Mountains Conservancy

• Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors

Emerald Necklace Coalition / Accord Member Agencies

Emerald Necklace Region

Local Cities

• City of Azusa • City of Bell• City of Downey• City of Duarte• City of Irwindale• City of Baldwin Park

• City of El Monte• City of South El Monte

• City of San Gabriel

• City of South Gate

• City of Whittier• City of Monrovia• City of Montebello

• City of La Puente

• Gateway Authority: – 20 Cities

Community Based Organizations

School Districts

•El Rancho Unified - Pico Rivera•El Monte Union•El Monte City•Rosemead•Mountain View

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Expanded Emerald Necklace - Total Distance

A) Alhambra Wash to Eaton Wash

B) Eaton Wash to South Edge of Peck Park

C) Peck Road Water Conservation Park to San Gabriel River

D) Ramona Blvd. to Whittier Narrows

E) Whittier Narrows SGR to Seal Beach

F) Whittier Narrows LA River to Long Beach

2.0

3.0

2.5

8.0

20.0

20.0

DistanceMilesSegments

Grand Total 88.4

Total length of River Corridor

57.4

A

B C

D

E

F

G

G) City of Bell to River Confluence

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Peck Park

to Mountains + (Wash) – 5.0

Peck Park

to Mountains + (SGR) – 6.5

Expanded Vision Plan Area

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Expanded Vision Plan Area

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Expanded Vision Plan Approach

• Define Regional Goals and Collaborative Priorities

• Convene Focus Group Meetings (8/2012, 2/2013)

• Synthesize Existing/Adopted Plans (60+)

• Identify Regional Scale Spatial Priorities in Vision Plan

• Analyze Priorities from Olmstead 1930 Plan

• Collect, Organize, and Assess Current GIS Mapping Layers and Supporting Resources (100+)

• Common Vision Plan Strategies• Implement Existing Plan

Recommendations• Promote Best Practices in Design for All• Link Across Boundaries and Scales• Document Best Practice Case Studies

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Expanded Vision Plan - Regional Goals

1. Promote Active Transportation – Walking, Biking, and Alternative Commute Options

2. Create Functional and Multi-Purpose Natural (Green) and Built (Grey) Environment Networks

3. Improve Public Health by Expanding Access to Nature and Outdoor Recreation

4. Treat Water as a Multi-Benefit Amenity

5. Design and Build Communities Resilient to the Current and Projected Impacts of Climate Change

6. Enhance Regional Anchors for People and Wildlife

7. Support Environmental Awareness and Civic Engagement through Education, Outreach, and Cultural Heritage

8. Foster a Green Economy that Creates Jobs and Spurs Investment in Local Multi-Benefit Projects

Will AllenDirector of Strategic Conservation Planning

[email protected]

http://www.conservationfund.org/strategic-conservation

Wordle™

Multiple Benefits: Regional Visioning to Local Engagement:THE EMERALD NECKLACE EXPANDED VISION PLAN

for Los Angeles County

mailto:[email protected]



multiple benefits: regional visioning to local engagement

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