2014 Park Pride Parks and Greenspace Conference Presenter is Will Allen

1. 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 Allen
Director 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

2. 2Wordle™

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Megaregions Need Nature

4. Regional Green
Infrastructure
Vision
PROTECT
RESTORE
CONNECT
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
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
Functional Connectivity

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Ecological Capital
Human well-being
Material needs, health, security, social relations, “quality of life”
Regulating
Services
Cultural
experiences
Supporting
Products
(Natural processes that
maintain other
ecosystem services)
EcosystemServices
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 Indiana
Milwaukee WI | Nashville TN

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

11. 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

12. Urban Green | Active Living | Local Food | Flood Control
National Agenda for Metropolitan Greenspaces
Health | Livability | Economic Vitality | Resiliency

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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

14. 14Commissioned by Citizens’ Committee on Parks, Playgrounds and
“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
Los Angeles County: From the Mountains to the Sea, Forest to
Ocean

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

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

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Linkages between historic L.A. and modern L.A.
Los Angeles County: From the Mountains to the Sea, Forest to
Ocean

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

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Los Angeles County: From the Mountains to the Sea, Forest to
Ocean
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
greenways
connecting 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
Rosemea
d
Temple
City
Avocado Heights

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Alhambra
Wash
Rubio Wash
Eaton Wash
Santa
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
Amigos de los Rios Initial Case Study Area

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Amigos de los Rios Initial Case Study Area
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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Amigos de los Rios Initial Case Study Area

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Amigos de los Rios Initial Case Study Area

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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
Unincorporated
Areas
• Charro Equestrian Joint
Council
• Park El Monte Improvement
Association
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
Distance
MilesSegments
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
4
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

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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

41. Will Allen
Director of Strategic Conservation Planning
919-967-2248
wallen@conservationfund.org
http://www.conservationfund.org/strategic-
conservation
Wordle™
Multiple Benefits: Regional Visioning to Local Engagement:
THE EMERALD NECKLACE EXPANDED VISION PLAN
for Los Angeles County