Parks are often something many people take for granted. Green spaces with plants and trees, trails and picnic tables, basketball courts and swimming pools. We pass by them or use their amenities without a second thought. We figure they've always been there and will always be there.
But what if they weren't? We'd lose a lot more than we think. Parks are a part of our culture and history, places to gather and connect as families and communities or visit for a quiet respite amongst the chaos of daily life, a whole body and mind healing experience. They mean many different things to many different people.
Our October newsletter, themed "Park Projects" explores aspects of parks we may not be as familiar with in an effort to celebrate, protect, and create more of them. We look at their role in community history, accessibility, benefits to mental health, and their place in social change movements. We hope these inspire further reflection and action to conserve and create more green space, particularly in urban environments.
For more information on getting involved with the Sierra Club Central Group committees, please email barbarajhensleigh@gmail.com.
Green Space Benefits
By Amanda Stemen
Climate change and mental health are two of the greatest areas of concern right now. This isn’t a mere coincidence given that our relationship with our environment greatly impacts our mental health and overall well-being. Time spent in nature, in any form, makes us feel happier, more peaceful, rejuvenated, and connected to something greater than ourselves. There’s good reason for this. Green space (E.g., plants, trees, grass, flowers) has been scientifically shown to heal our brains. We fatigue our brains with excessive directed attention, (Through urban living, busy lives, etc.) which causes actual brain damage, manifesting itself as heightened levels of anxiety and depression. Green space doesn’t require directed attention, allowing our brains to heal that damage. That’s why we feel better after spending some time outdoors, literally our brain has been healed.
Interview with Stephanie Landregan, FASLA, the Architect of Parks
By Barbara Hensleigh
In 1930, Los Angeles lost out on the preservation of open space when the Olmstead brothers’ proposal for a chain of connected parks was rejected by business leaders; industrialization and development were more important…or so they thought. But now we know: studies have shown that open space reduces stress, contributes to our well-being, and more. Some of our city leaders understand the importance of open space, and not solely for recreation. Enter stage right, the incredible oasis in South Los Angeles, the Augustus F. Hawkins Natural Park, named after the first African-American west of the Mississippi to be elected to Congress. Although hiking paths, indigenous plants and wildlife abound, it did not happen because our early leaders preserved the native space. It happened because the community came together and transformed an old industrial pipe storage yard, owned by the DWP, into a place of contemplative tranquility. Who designed this jewel? It was Stephanie Landregan, the current Director for the Landscape Architecture Program and the Horticulture & Gardening Program at UCLA Extension. Here is our interview with her.
When I was young my grandmother used to take me to the Square des Biches (a doe) in Chalon sur Saône (France). It was a beautiful park and my grandma and I shared many great times on a bench in the shade during the summertime. This park, which still exists, offered different attractions such as the presentation of farm animals (donkeys, chickens, goats, etc.); an aviary; water basins where children could play with miniature model boats; green spaces where you could lie down and read in the shade of the gigantic plane trees, which greet visitors at regular intervals. This park also had an educational function, with a section devoted to the botanical garden where one could contemplate rare and exotic plants, while today this section presents different ecosystems and types of landscapes found in Burgundy (bressan marshes, granitic morvan, etc.). I grew up with these European parks, which were designed as much for leisure as for educational purposes. The park is in this sense a central element of life in the city; it brings the green that is missing in the gray of the buildings and it allows everyone to escape both asphalt and concrete.
Time spent in nature has been proven to offer many physical and psychological benefits. But in many cases those benefits aren’t available to those who don’t drive cars. That includes the impoverished and the disabled.
The Sierra Club was founded with a mission to “render accessible” the mountain regions of the Pacific west. Locally, club entities such as Inspiring Connections Outdoors (ICO) and the Central Group recruit volunteers and raise money to take poor children and visually impaired adults on mountain trips. These trips are necessarily limited in size and frequency, and by the tastes of the leaders. People from all walks of life should have opportunities to access nature on their own terms.
The Central Group is the heart of the Sierra Club Angeles Chapter, representing the areas from West Hollywood through East LA, and Griffith Park through South LA, and several Gateway Cities.
