Most children in LA do not have easy access to parks

According to a 2004 report by the Trust for Public Land (TPL), only 36% of children in Los Angeles County live within walking distance (one-quarter mile) of a park, leaving almost 1.7 million children without access to a park. This stands in sharp contrast to other major cities such as Boston, New York, and San Francisco, where over 80% of children live near parks. Access to parks for minority populations is even worse: according to a 2003 TPL study, in Los Angeles, “white neighborhoods enjoy 31.8 acres of park space for every 1,000 people, compared to 1.7 acres in African-American neighborhoods and 0.6 acres in Latino neighborhoods.”

Sources:
Trust for Public Land (2004). No Place to Play: A comparative analysis of park access in seven major cities.
Trust for Public Land (2003). The Benefits of Parks: Why America needs more city parks and open space.