R A N C H O

P A R K

UP274 Mar. 09

A Neighborhood Analysis done by Morgan Chee

“The freedom of an individual depends upon that individual’s freedom to alter his considerations of space, energy, time and life and his roles in it. If he cannot change his mind about these, he is then fixed and enslaved amidst barriers such as those of the physical universe, and barriers of his own creation. Man thus is seen to be enslaved by barriers of his own creation. He creates these barriers himself, or by agreeing with things which hold these barriers to be actual.”

-L. Ron Hubbard

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Table of ContentsCreating Place and Ownership of Open Space in Rancho Park and Cheviot Hills

I. Introduction....................................................1 A. Where?

1. Areas of the neighborhood

B. When?

1. Observation time 2. Scope of project

C. Who?

1. Preliminary resident analysis 2. Preliminary user analysis

II. Background........................................................8

A. Historical Context

B. Applicability to Contemporary Rancho Park

W H E R E

III. Land-Use................................................................11

A. Land-Use (according to observation and LA General Plan)

B. Recreation Center and Park

C. Land-use within the areas of the park

1. Times of use

W H o

IV. User-Groups...............................................................20 A. Where do the users reside

B. Who are the different users

C. Different users at different times

V. Reclaiming the Park.............................................27 A. Problems of ownership

B. Barriers to mix-ability and socialization

W H y

VI. Creating a Sense of Ownership...........................31 A. Engaging the community

B. Breaking barriers

C. Redesigning the park to serve as a node for the now disjointed community

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Introduction Getting Acquainted with the Community

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Rancho Park Neighborhood: Getting

introduced

Rancho Park is a small neighborhood in

Los Angeles, California. It is bordered by Cheviot

Hills, Beverly Hills, Westwood and Santa Monica.

The neighborhood has a feeling of mysteriousness

with housing hidden off the main street, a quiet

alleyway and unimposing building facades, which

are hard to decipher. Pico Boulevard is the main

Introduction W h e r e

street with stores, public spaces and most of the

vehicular congestion. Almayo Avenue, which lays

just Northwest of Pico Boulevard, holds the single-

family and multi-family housing. The golf course

is located on the southeast side of Pico Boulevard

Boulevard; it spans almost five blocks of Pico

Boulevard right next to the country club. The golf

course and country club are split by Motor Avenue.

(See Figure 1) Within the golf course along Motor

Avenue is a community/recreation center. The

site has a mix of commercial, institutional, retail,

housing, and public spaces. The buildings are,

at the most, two stories high and for the most

part have intimidating street facades. The single-

family housing is about the same height but large

in scale. The apartment buildings/condos vary;

some are tall, inclusive of underground parking

and balconies on most units while others are

small with a few units among a couple levels.

Context

This project serves as an analysis of the

community in 2009. The nation as a whole is

experiencing an economic crisis and although,

Rancho Park does not appear to be suffering, we

must keep this in mind as we continue the study.

The area has experienced growth in housing and

transformation of the golf course and park from

a privatized piece of land to a space for public

use. The following neighborhood analysis offers

a familiarization of the area through many of its

attributes and challenges.

Rancho Park Neighborhood: Sensory

Details

At first observation, Rancho Park, like

many other Los Angeles locales has a milieu of

voices and the smell of gasoline being burned.

Cars are everpresent in the area, they are parked

in driveways, parked on the street and in transit all

around the neighborhood, there was not a place

that you can be where a car is not visible. Voices

come from people talking along the streets and the

kids playing in the playground. This is a place of

constant activity. Visitors can feel the coolness of

the trees that line the edge of the golf course and

the crinkling of leaves with each step. The wind

created by people running past brushes over ones

face. You can even hear the sounds of the dogs

being walked around the golf course. The smell

grass and dirt, a very foreign smell when living

an urban environment, is also present. There is

a stark contrast between the feelings previously

mentioned and those felt on the side streets. It

is pure silence with the occasional car pulling out

of a driveway or parking lot. You can see some

televisions on in apartments but outside is quiet.

Base Map of Rancho Park Neighborhood

W h 0 W h y

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Areas of the Neighborhood: Streets and Sidewalks

The whooshing of cars on the street above seem

far off and so distant that it seems like you are in

another world when among the housing. In sum,

there exists an interesting dichotomy of sounds

and sensations within this neighborhood. At times

the neighborhood feels cold and empty even on

hot days. Despite the constant activity in the area,

the size of the main street makes it seem vast.

Streets: What are their personalities?

The streets are a very diverse in scale and

arranged in a grid-pattern. They have lamp posts

that have flags on them for the latest Getty Center

exhibit. This could signify that the community

has money to be able to buy these flags for the

lamp posts or that the area has people that may

be interested in going to this exhibit. The main

street, Pico Boulevard, is six to eight lanes wide.

The seventh and eighth lanes are used in each

respective direction during rush hours (morning

and evenings) and otherwise are used as parking

lanes. Contrastingly, Patricia Avenue, Kerwod

Avenue, and Fox Hills Drive are all very small

with one lane in each direction. Beverly Glen

Boulevard is medium in size, with two to three

lanes in either direction. This creates an awkward

dichotomy for the community. The residents,

workers and visitors go from quiet tiny streets

to huge thoroughfares. The side streets seem

inviting but the huge main street is intimidating

to walk along. (See Diagam on next page) The

intersections along Pico Boulevard are major hubs

with lots of cars racing through them and trying to

get onto them. During rush hour, the cars can

be seen stacked along the street in a standstill.

There are also a lot of cars on the side streets,

waiting to enter onto the main street. Even at

times excluding rush hour, there is a steady flow

of cars running along Pico Boulevard Boulevard.

Cars that can be found in this neighborhood

are representative of a wide range of economic

classes. Some cars are filled to the brim with

belongings, looking almost like a house. There

is one van that sometimes sits on Pico Boulevard

Boulevard, which calls itself the “Writing Travel

Book.” This car is filled with blankets papers

and various other possessions with a couple and

a dog inside. Other cars are newer and kept in

top shape. The signs demonstrate various bars

to entry and restrictions on the main street. The

parking, as mentioned before, is restricted to

during the day between the hours of 7:00a-10:00a

and 4:00p-6:00p, or at non-rush hour times of the

day. Despite all of the constant congestion, the

roads seem to be in fairly good condition. The

sidewalks are also clean and without litter most of

the time. This could be attributed to the garbage

cans by each bus stop.

Sidewalks: Who walks here?

However, the placement of the bus stops

on every block is inviting to visitors. Most often at

bus stops the demographic is Latino women but

there are of course others who get on and off the

bus at this location. Walking along the streets

there are a lot of young kids and working

professionals (families) in the mornings and

around the middle of the day, however, in the late

evening or at night there are more older and

middle-aged people. The sidewalk running along

the golf course is dark but nicely laid out with a

line of trees closest to the street. There is also a

patch of green running along either side of you

when you walk down this street making the large

scale of Pico Boulevard not seem as overwhelming,

especially when you are blocked by trees. On the

other side of the street there are no patches of

green running down the sidewalk on either side of

you except for near the church, this sidewalk is

also narrower than the golf course sidewalk.

Because it doesn’t have a lot of trees like the other

side of the street, it is brighter. Instead, the

Pico Boulevard overwhelmed by cars during non-rush hour

times Almayo avenue, quiet and not as wide as pico Boulevard

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Areas of the Neighborhood: Peripheral Streets, Housing, and Golf Course

sidewalk is by itself and not many walkers/runners

frequent this side of the street. Conversely, at all

times of the day, exercisers can be found running/

walking around the golf course. Sidewalks also

contain bicyclists. Although, the route along Pico

Boulevard is designated as a “bike path” according

to signs, people on bikes are often forced onto

the sidewalk because of the congestion and the

speed of traffic on the main street. The posted

speed is 35 miles per hour but often cars go well

above this speed. Furthermore, during rush hour,

the street is overflowing with cars leaving hardly

enough room for pedestrians crossing the street,

nonetheless a bicyclist.Size of street and its effect on comfort levels

Comfort

Discomfort Discomfort

Almayo Avenue~Ilona Avenue~Kerwood Avenue~Fox Hills Drive

Pico Boulevard, Motor Avenue, Beverly Glen BoulevardAlleyway between Pico Boulevard and Almayo Avenue

100 Ft. 15 Ft.

36 Ft.

Peripheral Street: Mysterious backs

Another aspect of the streets in this area

is the “quiet backs ” that are formed by the

alleyway that separates the backs of the buildings

on Pico Boulevard and the housing on Almayo

Avenue. The alley is an important line of action

within the neighborhood. In the morning, there

are multiple cars and delivery trucks driving along

the very narrow alley. In fact, the playground to

the school attached to the church has an opening

to the alley and parents will drop off their kids

there in the morning. There are also garages and

maintenance entrances within this alley. A lot of

hidden/forgotten activity takes place inside the

alleyway. Clues to this observation include graffiti

on the walls and trash bins overflowing within

these small, contained areas.

Housing: Who Lives Here?

It is harder to tell the types of people that

live in the houses in the area. For the most part

the demographic seen walking dogs and taking

out their trash bins are white middle-aged to older

people, some with families. The housing is a

fairly even mix

of single-family

housing and multi-

family housing

buildings. On

Beverly Glen

Boulevard there

are mostly apartment buildings, however, just one

street over, on Patricia Avenue, there are mostly

single-family houses. On Almayo Avenue there is a

mix of housing types, but closer to Patricia Avenue

there are more single-family houses. There are

some very new developments on Almayo Avenue,

but also very old buildings. On the corner of

Beverly Glen Boulevard and Almayo Avenue there

is a house that has junk strewn about the yard,

chipping paint, and broken construction, and just

a few plots down the block on the opposite side

of the street are nice new apartment buildings.

There are a lot of rental advertisements for these

new buildings, so I would imagine there will be

a lot of growth of new residents occurring in this

area in the near future. On the Northwest side of

the street there are more new apartment buildings

that are very austere and seemingly spacious, they

also have private gated garages in most of them.

The other side of the street has mostly condos,

single-family housing and other apartments; most

of these are not as luxurious on the outside as

the new buildings. For this reason, there is a

juxtaposition of extravagance against disparity,

and the class of the people is not clear due to

this drastic mix of housing-types and construction

times. Most of the single-family housing has a lot

of room around it, they each have enough land

that they can assure their privacy with, however,

some of the condo buildings share a parking lot

and other smaller houses are very close to their

neighbors.

Golf Course: Exercisers, golf players

and workers

The Rancho Park Golf Course has frequent

users throughout the day. The mornings are

especially busy with working professionals getting

in some holes before they head off to work. The

cars going into the golf course are mostly very

Confort levels fluctuating with street width

Alleyway between Picoboulevard and Almayo Avenue

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Areas of the Neighborhood: Golf Course and Community Center

nice cars, but there are some others that aren’t as

expensive also. It seems to be that younger kids

in their teens or early twenties are working at the

golf course along with older men as well. Women

are rare at the golf course but have been seen

playing there. The people that go to the course

are older; the youngest people are the workers. A

good chunk of the morning is filled with visitors to

the course and a steady but slower flow continues

throughout the day. At night the gates to the course

are closed and locked. In general, the course is

not very inviting, everything is gated and there

are signs everywhere that warn against overnight

parking. Inside, it seems like a private club even

though the park is public. People act like they own

it and there are almost always people outside on

the front green putting or practicing their swings.

Around the course, exercisers can see the groups

moving through the holes of the course, there is

also a restaurant inside of the course clubhouse

but none of the exercisers or people other than

golf players seem to use it.

Community Center: Families and

Activities

Although the community center is inside

the golf course, there is no real strong connection

between the two areas. The lack of a connection

is seen in the different groups of people using

each facility and the varying conditions of each.

The recreation center looks very old and semi-run-

down whereas the golf course looks old but also

very well maintained. The recreation center is used

at all times of the day. The tennis courts are usually

being used sometimes as late as 9:00pm. There

are also late night baseball games with middle-

aged men playing while their families watch.

Other activities that can be spotted in and around

the recreation center include camps for kids,

dog-training classes, pickup basketball games,

archery lessons, and tennis practice. There are

also old men that play petanque, a French game

similar to bocce ball, at night. The only piece of

the recreational space that is not being used to

its full extent is the pool. The swimming pool is

drained and lacks users and workers to maintain it;

it almost looks abandoned. During the day and at

night there are always lots of cars in the parking lot

and along the street next to the recreation center.

Since this is very close to the studios, sometimes,

people can be seen filming there with the whole

crew in trailers taking over the parking lot. There

is so much activity in the recreation center that the

entrance even has its own stoplight. People of all

ages use this area of the park. There are children,

dogs, adults and old people, not to mention the

diversity of the runners/walkers. The majority of

the people that use the park are White and Latino.

Religious Centers: Church and

Temple

St. Timothy Catholic Church is a beautiful

religious center with shingled rooftops, a small

abbey and a school attached to it. It has a small

Lynch Analysis map of activity and problems in the community

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Areas of the Neighborhood: Religios Centers and Educational Elements

and they look like they’ve never been opened

or perhaps are not able to be opened. There is

also a security guard at huge gates that mark

the entrance to the school. I assume that the

guard is only there on days when the gates

stand open, however, it is hard to discern the

schedule of when the gates are open and when

they are not. Next to the school is a theatre with

the same brick construction implying that the

theatre is affiliated with the French school. The

theatre lacks windows completely. The street by

the French school has some spots on the streets

that have fifteen minute parking but otherwise

it has the same “no stopping” signs. Not many

people seemed to be going into the school and

it doesn’t look very inviting with its high ominous

gates and its uniformed guard.

court drawn onto the cement. The other areas

are devoted to free play. There is a small awning

connected to the school building which serves

as the only shade in the entire play area. The

sign says that the school is K-8, though, it seems

very claustrophobic for nine

grades to be contained

inside the building. Also,

only the smaller kids can be

seen playing outside. The school looks pleasant

and the parents that drop their kids off there have

nice cars. The neighborhood seems to have a

lot of children getting private school educations.

In the mornings, girls in uniforms can be seem

getting dropped off at the bus stop to wait with

friends.

Le Lycee Francais de Los Angeles, the

French school, is a large building with a tall brick

façade. This façade is only about a foot thick

when examined from the side and canopies can

be seen in back of the façade from a gate to the

side. An American flag and a French flag hang

from the top of the front of the building. The

only windows on the building are up high in front

is open with a laptop on the podium. Although he

is seemingly there at all operating hours, people

can walk in and out without stopping to greet him.

In fact, he seems more useful for the people just

casually walking by and needing some direction.

The tent and backyard terrace can be seen over

the wall. There is also a small house in the temple’s

backyard, so to speak. People of all ages and types

can be seen walking into the temple; however, to

the outsider the front entrance may not seem very

welcoming. This part of the street is also very dark

which adds to the temple’s mysterious nature.

Educational Elements: Catholic and

French School

A large part of the land that the church

owns belongs to the affiliated school. The

architecture of both buildings looks the same

and the school is called St. Timothy Catholic

School. Inside, small children, both boys and

girls, run around in navy blue and white uniforms.

The playground is about the size of two

basketball courts placed side by side, however,

the playground only contains one hoop and one

grassy patch that looks inviting but unused. It is

exposed to Pico Boulevard and is eye-catching

because it is perfectly pruned. The abbey has cars

in the driveway during the day and an archway

attached to the church. The church uses the alley

in back for parking. The church building wraps

around the corner of Pico Boulevard and Beverly

Glen Boulevard and has its entrance on Beverly

Glen Boulevard. In front of the church are “Anti-

Gridlock” signs stating that people should not

stop in front of the church between 4:30p to 7:00p.

Temple Isaiah is very hidden. There is a

big wall covered with ivy that also has the name of

the temple printed in expensive metal letters. This

prevents the public/passersby from peering into

the temple. There is also a security guard sitting at

a podium out in front of the building. This is always

a man and he usually sits there while the temple

“The neighborhood seems to have a lot os children getting private school educations”

Temple Isaiah with secuity podium

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Areas of the Neighborhood: Old Developments

restrictions). It seems as though the car wash,

the locksmith store and the billboard all belong

to the same business or are all owned by one

person because they share the same driveway

to access the two retail businesses and the

billboard seems to overlook the two from a very

close position directly behind the locksmith. This

plot of land has an interesting mix of activities

and businesses within this one plot of land.

up and the car wash is relatively busy during lunch

hour. Around 12:00 noon the car wash had about

fifteen cars waiting to be cleaned or going through

the washing tunnel. There is also a quaint, open-

air auto repair area shop in the back of the car

wash, it has a narrow driveway that leads onto

Beverly Glen Boulevard and it faces the alley.

Hillcrest Locksmith is also on the same plot of

land as the car wash. The store says its name

all over the outside walls and looks miniature

compared to the car wash, which takes up most

of the plot of land. It is a very small, old store

filled to the brim with metal. It uses the car wash

sign to advertise its services as well but also

always keeps its ligts on. The store gets a lot of

wanderers from the car wash area as well. A few

people walked in when I was present but I cant

imagine it being a hugely successful business.

Also, on this same plot of land is a huge

,billboard usually filled with movie or television

advertisements since the studios are just down

the street. The billboard looks brand new and

is relatively low considering the height of other

billboards in the area (i.e those without height

Old Developments: Things that seem

not to belong

The older developments along Pico

Boulevard are what originally drew me to this site.

The car wash and locksmith store are curiously

and obviously a lot older than the other buildings

along the street. It is apparent from their wear and

tear, old style architecture, and bright flashy lights

and signs that these businesses have been around

for a long time. The huge sign that stands tall just

says car wash and as you drive past it there are

smaller signs that advertise a hand wax for $40 and

a shampoo for $50. The people seem to define its

history as well. At the gas station, old men sitting

in fold-up chairs, dressed I mechanic jumpsuits

can be seen chatting and smoking on the corner

within the car wash site. They watch the cars go

through the washer and watch the people waiting

for their cars. The people that bring their cars there

seem to be working professionals. These people

also seem to wait and talk with those around them

while the car wash workers take their car to sit

with all the other cars. Lots of them are dressed

Locksmith shop along Pico Boulevard

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Background A Look at the Historical Context of the Community

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History of the golf course and park (the South side of Pico Blvd.): Evolving Land Uses

Rincon de los Bueyes

In July of 1939 the last remembrance of the ranch

on the South side of Pico Boulevard occupying

330 acres was torn down1 . It used to be the ranch

house of Don Jose de Arnaz but was occupied by

the Minorini family for fourteen years afterwards.

Of the ranch’s 330 acres, 20 were occupied by

grapevines and 45 were occupied by grapevines

1 Cheviot Hills Homeowners Association. “Arnaz-Romance of a Rancho.” The Beverly Hills Citizen, Volume XVII – No. 2, June 23, 1939, pages 9, 12 <http://cheviothills.org/Arnaz%20-%20Romance%20of%20a%20Rancho.htm>.

before prohibition. Shortly before his death, Don

Jose de Arnaz divided his land into two parts the

east half and the west half. The west side was given

to the children from his first marriage and the west

went to his widow and their children2. The east

side was quickly sold to various property bidders,

however, the west was kept by Arnaz’s widow

for 10 years before she sold it; it then changed

owners once more and ended up in the hands

of the Beverly-Arnaz Land Company who then

put the Walter H. Leimert Company in charge of

2 Cheviot Hills Homeowners Association. “Arnaz-Romance of a Rancho.” The Beverly Hills Citizen, Volume XVII – No. 2, June 23, 1939, pages 9, 12 <http://cheviothills.org/Arnaz%20-%20Romance%20of%20a%20Rancho.htm>.

development.2 This company called for intensive

landscaping along Pico Boulevard and an engulfing

gate to mark the entrance to the community. The

developers also planned to work with the hill rather

than destroy it by carefully avoiding the destruction

of the topography whilst building homes. The

Walter H. Leimert Company also vowed that the

community’s housing would be affordable to live in.

Ambassador Hotel

Based on imperfect information about

Rancho Park and Cheviot Hills history, it can be

concluded that the land that the golf course and

now country club was purchased on May 25,

1920 by the owner of the Ambassador Hotels

Corporation, S.W. Strauss. They paid $1200 per

acre and the whole property included nearly

200 acres . Later, the hotel went bankrupt and

was forced to fall into a lease with the federal

government. The Ambassador Hotels had

planned to devote two-thirds of the land to the 18-

hole golf course and the remaining land to tennis

courts. Bear in mind that this development would

sit across the street form the old, modest Wolfskill

Ranch. The golf course and tennis courts were

created for hotel users but the facilities were

also available for a small number of community

members willing to pay membership fees.

American Legion Post

The American Legion Post (a non-profit

organization started by Congress in 1919 to

support veterans and their families) was involved

in the community and the country club in various

ways. Club rooms within the country club were

designated specifically for their meetings and

events as of 1937. The group united the veterans

in Monte Mar Vista, Cheviot Hills, and Country

Club Highlands, and therefore, they held meetings,

dances, and lectures in the Cheviot Hills Country

Club. This was

where they initiated

members and leaders into the legion and where

the community came together to benefit United

States Veterans. There is also evidence that they

Background

Progression of the Built Environment in Rancho Park

1875

1875

18

96

1910

1925

1931

Rancho Park and Cheviot Hills Formerly known as Rincon de los Bueyes

19

39

1 9 4 6

1946

Culver Cty Charter City Campaign Map

1931

WPA land-use map

USGS Map

1939

1896 United States Geological Survey (USGS) Map – Click the map. Cheviot Hills

will be in the middle, under “Rincon.

1896

Special Historical Notes

W h e r e W h 0 W h y

Dance ticket for American Legion Event

Page | 10

Historical Context: Rancho Park Golf Course, Cheviot Hills Park and Studios

cared deeply about the community. There are

newspaper articles explaining their thoughts on

the proposed railroad modifications in the 1930’s

and they started a program called the “Buddy

Poppy,” 3 where they sold poppies to the

community to benefit veterans.

The property that is now used for the Rancho

Park Golf Course and the Cheviot Hills Park and

Recreation Center gradually came to be leased

from the government by the Ambassador Hotel.1

However, the commander, C. D. “Ace” Aseltine ,4

of the American Legion Post was compelled to

create a park out of the now bankrupt country

club land. Rather than purchasing the land the

American Legion Posts sought the support of

the mayor, city councilmen, a County Supervisor,

Congressman John F. Dockweiler, Hamilton High

School faculty, Emerson and Overland schools’

PTAs, and numerous other civic organizations.”1

The American Legion Posts started this campaign

in 1936 and not until 1944 was the land transferred

from the government to the City of Los Angeles.

With the help of the American Legion Posts and 3 Evening Star news, Culver City. Thursday May 27, 1937. “Vets Will Start Poppy Day Drive: Culver-Palms and Cheviot Hills Posts to sell ‘Buddy Poppies.’”

4 Cheviot Hills Homeowners Association. “Parks History.” <http://cheviothills.org/Park.htm>.

the Frans Nelson and Son’s developing company

who came in the 1920’s, the neighborhood is

now called Country Club Highlands and Cheviot

Hills. Country Club Highlands is located on Pico

Boulevard near the park and country club. The

subcontracted firm of Hall and Johnson Co.

built homes in the Pico Boulevard area that were

as low as $112.50 down with payments over

five years of $750. The homes in Cheviot Hills

cost $10,500 for a down-payment at this time.

History of the Studios (North side of

Pico Blvd.): Consistent Land Use

Not much has been written about the North side

of Pico Boulevard. Perhaps there is little written

about it because it stayed undeveloped, and

therefore, under the radar for some time until

the major corporations began to fill the space.

The north side of Pico Boulevard was ranch

land similar to the south side for a long time. A

man named Macedonio Aguilar was one of the

first land-owners in the Culver-Palms area in the

late 1800’s5. He owned 819 acres of land that

the old railroad depot used to run out of. A little

over 30 years ago studios started to move into

the neighborhood. The studios remain today

across from the golf course along Pico Boulevard.

5 Worsfold, David I. Cheviot Hills Homeowners Assoiciation. “The Railroad and the Old Palms Depot.” < http://cheviothills.org/Railroad.htm>.

Article showing how much home prices have increased

Page | 11

Land-Use An Examination of Formal and Informal Land-Uses

Page | 12

Land-Use: Current versus zoned

land-use according to observation

and the LA General Plan respectively

Current Land Use

A few years later the land became what it is

now; the recreation center and golf course boast

about a”40 acre park with a community building,

an indoor gym, 5 ball diamonds, basketball courts,

children’s play areas, a football field, an outdoor

gym, a picnic area, a soccer field, 14 tennis

courts, a swimming pool, an archery range, and

a band shell. Los Angeles’ flagship golf course

now includes the nations’ busiest 18-hole golf

course, a 9-hole executive par three golf course,

a double decked driving range, several putting

greens, and a clubhouse with a restaurant.”1

Aside from the history of the formal land uses of

the park and golf course we can see today that

the space has evolved into a very different place

that it was officially intended for. The golf course

has gathered a huge following because it hosts

events such as the “Los Angeles Open, PGA

Senior Open, and LPGA tour events. It also is the

present host to the Los Angeles Police Memorial

Foundation Celebrity Golf Tournament.”6 They

also host special programs like the Tregnan Golf

Academy for youth, the junior golf workshops/

camps, and discounts for senior citizen golfers

called the “Senior Citizens Lifeline Golf Program.”

Residents and visitors also use the recreation

center and golf course as a hub for exercising,

playing and socializing. Runners circle the

two parks and others use the park to walk

their dogs, meet with friends and play sports.

Pico Boulevard (North Side): Pico Boulevard

serves as the hub street with to intersections

dividing it on the north side.

According to the Los Angeles General Plan,

the land on the North side of Pico Boulevard is

zoned for neighborhood commercial. This seems

to be true when looking at the small cluster of

6 City of Los Angeles, Department of Recreation & Parks. “Special Programs.” 2008. <http://www.

laparks.org/golf/special_programs.htm>.

Land-Use

Fox H

ills D

riv

e

Mo

to

r

Av

en

u e

Kerwood A

venue

Beverly G

len B

oulevard

A l m a y o A v e n u e

W e s t P i c o B o u l e v a r d

Patric

ia A

venue

Rancho Park Golf Course

Cheviot Hills Park

Land-Use Key

Residential

Open Space

Retail

Zoning Land-Use According to Observation

Institutional

Commercial

Vacant Space

North

W h e r e W h 0 W h y

Fox H

ills D

riv

e

Mo

to

r

Av

en

u e

Kerwood A

venue

Beverly G

len B

oulevard

A l m a y o A v e n u e

W e s t P i c o B o u l e v a r d

Patric

ia A

venue

Rancho Park Golf Course

Cheviot Hills Park

Land-Use Key

Low densityResidential

Open Space

Neighborhood Commercial

Zoned Land-Use According to City of Los Angeles Generl Plan

High densityResidential

(re9,rs, r1, rd6, rd5, ru) (r2, rd3, rd4, rz3,rz4,ru, rw1)

(os, a1)

LimitedIndustrial

(cm, mr1, m1, p)

Parking/Vacant Space

(c1, c1.5, c2, c4, ras3, ras4, p)

(p, pb)

Land-Use Map of the community

businesses right on the Northeast corner of Pico

Boulevard and Beverly Glen Boulevard. This corner

houses the Hillcrest Locksmith store, the Hillcrest

car wash and a private miniscule doctor’s office

next door. Further down, there are other signs of

neighborhood commercial buildings like the Katz

Dentistry unit and the C.G Jung Bookstore and

Library on the corner of Fox Hills Drive and Pico

Boulevard.

H o w e v e r,

as the

o b s e r v e d

land-use overlay graphic shows, this is not the case

for the rest of Pico Boulevard. On the west end of

Pico boulevard there is a school and a church. On

the east side there are 3-6 story office buildings,

not to mention, a temple and French school that

both need security at their front gates and appear

to be castles from the outside with brick facades

that are about 30 ft high. Additionally, there are

studios that resemble mini cities at the intersection

of Motor Avenue and Pico Boulevard. The church

and temple may be able to pass for neighborhood

services as they do end up serving the local

community spiritually. The school could argue this

too, however a developer may look at this land and

see it as a waste of money since these properties

are bringing in a steady flow of money like the

dentist office or the car wash. This could mean

that these properties do ultimately bring in a lot of

cash flow or that the owners have been there for a

while and bought the land when it was affordable

for what

they were

d o i n g

with it.

Pico Boulevard (South Side)

The South side of Pico Boulevard is zoned

mostly for open space, namely the golf course

and country club, which is further east. The rest

of this side of the street is zoned for neighborhood

commercial. This zoning is held true, but the golf

course largely does not feel like an open space

in the community. It is gated on all sides with a

gate almost 50 ft high on one side for the driving

range. The height district for A1 properties,

which the golf course includes since it is part of

the park and recreation center, requires a height

district of 45 feet .7 This is surpassed by the

driving range fence, however, the Office of Zoning

Administration had a special private hearing in

2006 to approve the golf course’s appeal for an

exception to building code fence height in order

to protect nearby residents and their homes.

Residential (Multi-family Housing)

North of Pico Boulevard is a slew of

different styles and types of buildings. Some are

clearly 70’s era wood construction, rectangular

facades, usually not more than 3 levels and void of

exterior accenting. Others display a brick façade

with multiple levels. Still others don’t look like

apartment buildings at all; they seem more like an

old big house that was converted to accommodate

multiple families. Most of the buildings along

Beverly Glen Boulevard have 1 or 2 levels more

than those on Almayo Avenue. These are also

slightly more modern and austere than the ones

on Almayo Avenue. However, on the corner of

Almayo Avenue and Fox Hills Drive there are

large and expensive apartments for rent. Listings 7 City of Los Angeles. Generalized Summary of Zoning Regulations.

Page | 13

General Land-Use: Pico Boulevard and Housing

show that a one-bedroom apartment will cost

over $1000/mo. along Beverly Glen Boulevard.

According to the general plan, all buildings facing

Almayo Avenue between Patricia Avenue and

Century Park West are zoned for C3, medium

residential. This means that they cannot be taller

than 45 ft., they must have a front yard of 15 ft., a

side yard of at least 5 ft., a back yard of 15 ft., 1

parking space per unit of less than three habitable

rooms, 1.5 parking spaces per unit of three

habitable rooms, 2 parking spaces for each unit

with less than three habitable rooms, and 1 parking

spot for each guest or at least the first 30 guests.

Most of the apartments along Almayo Boulevard

are lacking gardens in front. The apartment

buildings on Beverly Gen have a few patches of

grass in the front but it is part of the sidewalk space

and does not appear to be for the building or used

much by residents. The buildings on this street

are also a lot higher than 45 ft. as well. These

characteristics of the present buildings could be

attributed to the efforts of developers to maximize

their profit on land. The developer looks at the

restrictions and sees that he/she is under-utilizing

“A temple and french school...appear to be castles from the outside...[and] studios rememble mini cities”

Page | 14

General Land-Use: Plants

different textures, colors, smells, densities and

feelings that overwhelm visitors (see natural

materials graphic). The first and most prominent

material is the grass, specially picked as noted

before in the history. The grass covers almost

all of the ground from Motor Avenue to Patricia

the topography maps on the time -lapse graphic.

These houses have big yards and are spaced

relatively far from each other. In addition, they have

plenty of parking for the number of residents that

live in each house, as the building code suggests.

Plants in the community: How they

came to be about and their effect on

the community now

When the golf course was first built, the developers

dug a huge well for watering the special grasses

that were put in. The California grass expert of

the 1920’s, Thomas Chisholm was called upon

to lead the landscaping being careful not to use

Bermuda Grass that ruins the course during the

summer months. Today, the landscaping of

the overall community adds to ones experience

by making the natural world a priority. With the

amount of land given to the golf course and

the recreation center/park, it is evident that the

community values the natural environment.

Ground Cover

The recreation center and park hold a myriad of

the land; however the city looks at the restrictions

as a way to make the property more valuable

because developers can build less on it. Clearly

the developer’s interests are displayed in the actual

observed land uses. The parking isn’t impossible

around these complexes and most have a lot

under the building or on the first floor. The street

parking is restricted at certain times though, which

makes guest parking challenging. It is hard to

imagine enough spots for thirty guests from each

building even during unrestricted parking times.

Residential (Single-family Housing)

The medium-density housing is mainly along

Beverly Glen Boulevard and Almayo Avenue and

the low-density residential housing is concentrated

to the north and to the west of Pico Boulevard at

the golf course. The Los Angeles general plan

designates RD5, restricted density housing with

multiple dwellings, in this low-density area. This

may be because these “single-family” houses are

so big that owners can rent extra space out, have

a granny flat, or have a stay-in au pair. There are

also hillside restrictions for these homes, shown on Nature in Cheviot Hills Park and along Pico

Boulevard

Avenue. It is usually a little bit damp right where

visitors enter the park which is the length of the

parking lot running along Motor Avenue. The

trees have smooth, thin leaves that are littered

across the grass. There are a few special palm

trees in the park, near the recreation centre and

the tennis courts. These leaves are long and dark

emerald green and usually fall off all together, the

whole branch lying on a pathway by the gym. The

smells are of cut grass, the cars exhaust in the

parking lot, and the dogs that play in the park.

Smaller kids and their mothers or nannies play

in the sand box and on the metal play structure.

They grind the sand in their hands and pound

it smooth while jumping around. Similarly the

baseball players grind the sand under their cleats

as they wait to bat. Additionally, inside the gym

voices as well as shoes squeaking on the gym

floor can be heard outside. Overall, the park

offers many various experiences within nature,

a getaway from the busy Los Angeles world.

Trees

In 2008 a newsletter was put out

Page | 15

General Land-Use: Trees

these new trees, which will only reach maturity in

20 years, are a safeguard against air and noise

pollution, and will ensure the unique quality, and

beauty of Cheviot Hills in the years to come.”8

This was a recent development that has great

effects on the community today. The trees offer

shade, safety, thinning of the wide main street (Pico

Boulevard), and a public connection with nature.

8 Cheviot Hills Homeowners Association. “Parks History.” <http://cheviothills.org/Park.htm>.

about the plans to “green Cheviot

Hills.” The plan included the following:

“The CHHA will be planting trees in the community

to replenish the over 1,500 trees which have died

over the last 10 years in Cheviot Hills. There is no

cost to the Homeowners’’ association members

and the trees will be planted by tree specialists on

the parkway in front of homes. With the increase

in traffic and noise levels in this community,

The shade along Pico Boulevard offers darkness

and an important canopy covering shy runners.

This is preferred, as there are hardly any runners

on the north side of Pico Boulevard. They also

create a sense of safety for those waiting for the

bus. Under the shade of the tree, people waiting

for the bus cannot be judged for using public

transportation or waiting on a huge street with little

to no actual pedestrians. Perhaps they prefer the

shade for the shelter from the runners and the cars

on either side of them. They are more comfortable

in the darkness and the shadows of the massive

trees that line the south side of Pico Boulevard.

These trees can also be intimidating to

some. Their height can be overbearing and

unwelcoming to visitors. Additionally, they can

be seen as dangerous, offering opportunities for

crime to happen since they cover sidewalk activity

and separate it from the street. However, this

sense of hazard can be attributed to the size of

Pico Boulevard and not its trees. In fact, the trees

help the street to seem almost smaller in relation to

immense tree canopies. Other streets offer more

comfort because of their size and it can be argued

S h a d o w s A l o n g P i c o B o u l e v a r d Morning 8:00a

Mid-day 12:00p

Morning 8:00a

Afternoon 3:00p

So. B

everly

Glen B

lvd.

Kerwood A

venue

Fox H

ills D

riv

e

Patric

ia A

venue

W. Pico Boulevard

Mid-day 12:00p

So. B

everly

Glen B

lvd.

Kerwood A

venue

Fox H

ills D

riv

e

Patric

ia A

venue

Afternoon 3:00p

Kerwood A

venue

Fox H

ills D

riv

e

Patric

ia A

venue

*trees on South side of Pico Blvd. are 45ft. apart, North side varies* Figures are not drawn to scale

North

North

North

W. Pico Boulevard

Avergage tree diameter to shadow diameter during the afternnon is 5:8 on the N. side and 3:10 on the s. side

Avergage tree diameter to shadow diameter during mid-day is 2:3 on the N. side and 2:3 on the S. side

Avergage tree diameter to shadow diameter during the morning is 5:6 on N. side 1:5 on S. side

W. Pico Boulevard

So. B

everly

Glen B

lvd.

that Pico Boulevard attempts to offer an increased

feeling of safety by placing trees that frame the street.

The connection with nature also offers a subtle

distinction between public and private spaces.

The entryways are vital to the understanding

whether the structure or space is meant for the

public or for just a few select people (see graphic

about entryways). When trees and nature adorn

a building façade or entryway, the building seems

more inviting and hence, more public. Nature

offers clues, comfort, privacy and maybe an

intimidation factor to the neighborhood for some.

Cheviot Hills Homeowners’

Association: CHHA

The Cheviot Hills Homeowners’ association

was started in 1924 for the Homeowners’ living

in the Westside neighborhood of Los Angeles.

The association supports the areas directly

surrounding the golf course and park. Their

“purpose is ‘to promote and maintain’ the quality

of life in Cheviot Hills for the benefit of all who

Page | 16

General Land-Use: CHHA and Mcmansionization

quality, and finally, social events. This non-profit

is composed of 15 board directors and numerous

community members. They hold meetings

each month and put out newsletters as needed.

They are currently dealing with two very

contentious issues occurring in the neighborhood.

One is the issue of McMansionization and the

other is the Expo Light Rail line/Transportation in

general. Both of which the CHHA disapproves of.

McMansionization: A community’s

request for change

McMansionization in community has become

a big problem that even the Homeowners’

association has begun to recognize. It is a recent

effort by developers to capitalize on their land

and the profit they could make from it through

building huge homes of 3 or more stories high

with garages below ground. McMansionization,

more generally, is building a structure too large for

the plot of land that it stands upon. As a result,

live here.”9 They also strive “to exchange and

disseminate information regarding, and take action

concerning, public or private improvements or

other projects of significance to the Association.”

They advocate for issues like easing traffic

congestion, community relations, neighborhood

preservation, police and fire liaison, better

schools, parks and libraries, trees and street

9. Cheviot Hills Homeowners Association. “Statement of Puropose.” <http://cheviothills.org/Purpose.htm>.

Spectrum of Public and Private Entryways in Rancho Park

Public

Private

Locksmith Store on W. Pico Blvd.

Rancho Park Golf Course on W. Pico Blvd.

St. Timothy School on W. Pico Blvd.

Abandoned Building on W. Pico Blvd.

St. Timothy Churchon W. Pico Blvd.

Fox Studios on W. Pico Blvd.

C.G. Jung Institute on W. Pico Blvd.

Back of abandoned building on Fox Hills Drive

Apartment Building on Almayo Avenue

Apartment unit on Almayo Avenue

Back of C.G. Jung Institute in allyway

Katz Dentistry Officeon W. Pico Blvd.

Temple Isaiah on W. Pico Blvd.

Garage for the Radio Station building on W.

Pico Blvd.

Playground for St. Timothy School on W.

Pico Blvd.

Glass sliding window

Steel gate approx. 12 ft. tall

Iron Gate 10ft.X10ft.

Up and over metal door: opens horizontally

Composite Door: wood with foam interior

Solid core basic wooden door

Metal gate

Steel revolving gate with side door

Panel wood door

Composite door: wood with foam interior with metal

guard

Basic glass door.

Fiberglass door

Iron Gate

Panel Door

there have been a lot of affluent communities that

have moved into the community and the land

value has skyrocketed. Furthermore, these types

of houses either contain more residents which

adds to congestion in the neighborhood or puts

people in the neighborhood that will not use the

low-end stores on the east end of Pico Boulevard

and therefore drive more, also creating more

congestion. Residents are weary of this type of

development because it ruins the environment

and creates more congestion in the neighborhood

while also changing the character of the place.

Many residents shared similar sentiments about

McMansions. In a survey conducted in 2006

most residents reported that they would strongly

favor a restriction on the size of homes. On June

14th 2007, the City Planning Commission sent

the Proposed Baseline Ordinance to the City

Council Planning and Land-Use Management

Committee for review. During the month of

March of 2007 the members of the CHHA wrote

to the director of neighborhood preservation as

well as the Planning Commission to plead for

amendments to the Citywide Code to stop the

invasion of “McMansionization.” However, in

mid-October, the City Attorney Office released

the formal proposed ordinance without any such

modifications. The CHHA was pushing for three

major revisions to the ordinance, these include:

(i) requiring a reduction in the existing Floor

Area Ratio,

(ii) prohibiting the massing of a residence,

and

(iii) creating new height rules, the important

thing is that something be done as soon as

possible.

Furthermore, councilman Weiss submitted

amendments and refused to vote for the

ordinance until these issues were addressed.

Page | 17

General Land-Use: Transportation

an elevated station on Overland where it crosses

the 10 freeway just after it passes the Westside

Pavilion. It also has plans to build a number of

other smaller stations further east of Overland

continuing all the way into downtown. This will

bring in a lot more people to the community,

which the CHHA is afraid of. Traffic congestion

is already a problem and allowing more people

to go through the community, the traffic will only

get worse. This will effect people’s travel time

to work if they don’t work along the light rail line

and need to drive. In CHHA’s letter to the project

manager, Joel Sandberg, the association asked

for environmental impact reports to be drafted up

and for the realization of the disadvantages to the

immediate community. However, when a survey

was conducted in 2006, most residents said they

were strongly in favor or having the light rail service

Olympic Boulevard and Robertson Boulevard and

Century City. Community-members just don’t

want the station or the influx in people that a

station would bring.

Transportation Improvement and Mitigation

1) a mechanism making it “easy” for

neighborhoods to opt out of the Baseline

2) an administrative mechanism for “minor”

variances

3) a “Green” bonus for environmentally

responsible houses

In conclusion, the baseline ordinance passed

with these amendments and therefore, restricted

the size of housing in the area. This was mostly

due to community-members, the CHHA, and the

political support that they drummed up together.

Today, the ordinance stands that “the new base

floor area ratios ranging from 0.25:1 on RA lots

to 0.5:1 on R1 lots respect the characteristics of

these zones and address most of the factors that

contribute to Mansionization.”

Transportation: Residents are

perpetually up in arms

Expo Light Rail

The Expo light rail project is proposing to build

of alliances among the community-members to

keep away neighborhood intruders. In 1997, when

the plan was drafted, the LOS (level of service) on

the streets in the area got down to a level F at peak

times. This plan was reactive in this sense, calling

for action before traffic levels got even worse.

In reference to the addition of more transit

lines and the light rail transit center, residents in

the area and specifically the CHHA oppose these

plans because of the reasons listed below:

-Increased residential density is a key predictor of

rail ridership. The CHHA requests that residential

density be measured fairly and compared for three

separate routes, the Venice to Lincoln route, the

Venice/Sepulveda alignment, and the Expo ROW.

-Employment density is a key predictor of rail

ridership. The CHHA requests that the employment

density be measured fairly and compared for all

three routes under consideration.

-Access to zero or one vehicle is a key predictor

of rail ridership. The CHHA requests that access

to vehicles by residents be studied and compared

for all three routes under consideration.

-Lower household income is a predictor of the

The issue of transportation has been

a problem in this community for a long time,

evidence of this lays in the 1997 West Los Angeles

Transportation Improvement and Mitigation

Specific Plan. This will affect the Rancho Park/

Cheviot Hills neighborhood because of the

proposed improvements to the intersection of

Century Park East and Pico Boulevard. Also,

the mitigation plan calls for improvements to the

I-405 and I-10 ramps .10 The TIA, Transportation

Impact Assessment Fee, which was also included

in the plan, requires builders and anyone who

gains a “building, grading or foundation permit”

to pay a tax that will go towards the transportation

improvements in the area. Some of the goals

for the money from the TIA were to provide ways

to mitigate the transportation issues that the

new development would likely cause, provide

additional transit lines, shuttles and other ways

to avoid traffic congestion. Additionally, planners

wanted to encourage more biking and ridesharing

of working professionals by creating less chaos at

intersections. The plan also called on the creation

10 City of Los Angeles. “West Los Angeles Transportation Improvement and Mitigation, Specific Plan.” Ordinance No. 171,492. <http://cityplanning.lacity.org>.

Page | 18

General Land-Use: transportation and encroachment of studios

Mitigation Plan

The Los Angeles General Plan identifies issues

with transportation in this area to include traffic

congestion along main roads, lack of effective

transit options, and parking spillover from

commercial to residential areas. The city identifies

the Transportation Improvement and Mitigation

Plan as one solution to the issue while also noting

that Automated Traffic Surveillance and Control

(ATSAC) should be installed on streets that are

frequently used. The transportation along Pico

Boulevard gets congested during rush hour

and there are even signs that restrict parking

during this time as an anti-gridlock zone. Major

transportation lines are located on the busiest

streets, Santa Monica Boulevard, Westwood

Boulevard, and Pico Boulevard. Residents that

live in the residential areas surrounding the park

may have anywhere from 1 to 9 blocks that they

must walk to reach main lines of transit, which

adds to the congestion on the roads from people

taking their cars instead of walking to a stop.

This makes for very little pedestrian activity in the

residential areas; with most pedestrians clustering

greater benefit, need, and use of mass transit. The

CHHA requests that annual household income of

residents along the Venice to Lincoln route, the

Venice/Sepulveda alignment and the Expo ROW

be studied and compared.

This is an interesting assessment considering

that they opposed the building of expensive

McMansions in the community. Essentially

they think that no one will use the transit since

the community is better-off relative to other

neighborhoods and, in turn, in need of less public

transit. Other concerns voiced was over noise,

environmental friendliness, sanitation, safety,

increased risk of terrorism, and the loss of privacy

and property due to eminent domain.

Reality of the Transportation Improvement and

restrictions say that buildings should range from

one story (up to 15 feet) to five stories (up to 75

feet). The parking structure cannot be more than

335 feet above sea level and buildings must be

25-45 feet from common property line.

The studio today lies across from the Cheviot

Hills Park. It takes up almost a whole block by

itself and has very little setback. Fox Studios

has a large parking structure and cars enter the

facility constantly. This suggests that the people

that use the facility and work there are not local

residents, which adds to the traffic congestion

in the area at rush hour. A big problem with the

commercial units along this particular stretch of

Pico Boulevard is that they are disjointed and lack

cohesion. The studios add to this problem with

their massive facades and overbearing industrial

look. The growth of the studios will remain a

constant struggle for the CHHA and residents in

the area. They do not want the studios to expand

into their neighborhoods; however, the studios

have already expanded into the eastern tip of the

neighborhood and will continue to grow. encroachment of Fox Studios

Page | 19

User-Groups An Analysis of the People that use the Space and When They do so

Page | 20

Cheviot Hills Recreation Center and

Park: Overview

The recreation center and park are located

along the South side of West Pico Boulevard on

the corner of Pico Boulevard and Motor Avenue. It

lies between the golf course and the country club

and separates the main street (Pico Boulevard)

from the housing further South. It is open from

6am until 11p and activities span the entire day.

The recreation center stands in front of the entire

park. The building itself isn’t imposing; it is a one-

story rather modest building with the supposed

responsibility to serve as a welcoming beacon to

the people entering into the parking lot. However,

the recreation center is hardly the only active part

of the park. The basketball and tennis courts

have a steady flow of people going in and out

throughout the day. The parking lot is constantly

filled with cars and people coming and leaving. The

informal park space consisting of the paths and

confined concrete areas in the back of the gym are

occupied by park-goers of all ages engaging in a

variety of different activities. The formal park space

contains grassy fields, tennis courts, basketball

courts, a playground, picnic areas, an archery

range, petanque court, and baseball diamonds.

Cheviot Hills Recreation Center and

Park: Demographics

Inside the park are a myriad of different

people of all ages and types. The park serves

as a space for families, friends and people going

solo. The majority of the people in the park are

White, however, people from different races can

also be seen at the park sporadically. The park

also caters to an assortment of different interests.

People come to the park to exercise, socialize,

practice, to get out of their house and for various

other reasons. Usually, people go for only one

primary activity and when they are there they will

most likely stick to that planned purpose and

hardly stray towards other activities. Some people

come, seemingly without a clue as to what they will

do at the park but bring possessions to offer hints as

to what they could potentially do there. Out of all of

the possessions that people bring with them to the park

dogs are the most common. In the morning, about 20%

of the people at the park have 1-2 dogs with them,

while in the afternoon hours; close to 1/3 of the

people are entertaining dogs at the park. At night,

there are only about 5% of people with dogs in

the park. Also at this time, the bulk of people with

dogs are couples, and during the day there are

relatively more individual people with dogs at the

park.

At any given time at the park, the numbers of

adults, people over 18 years of age and children,

fewer than 18 years of age, are equivalent if not

very close. There are some times of the day like

during school hours when there the age scales are

tipped and more adults fill the park. Furthermore,

when a camp gets out usually after 5:00pm, there

is an overflow of children in the park, waiting

for rides and practicing more of what they have

just learned. In the morning and throughout the

daytime, the amount of women and men are the

same but at night the amount of men is almost

three times the amount of women.

In the parking lot, cars with identifying

characteristics like stickers show that the people

that visit the park come from all over LA. There

are cars that come from Mira Costa, Glendale,

Santa Monica, Hollywood, Van Nuys, Culver City,

South Bay, Marina Del Rey, and USC. This goes to

show that people that visit the park are not all local

residents. By the number of cars in the parking

lot at most times of the day, it is obvious that the

majority of the park users are not local. This is not

surprising given that the culture of Los Angeles

is largely car-based. There is some chance that

these could be relatively local residents and they

just use their cars to travel to the park because of

the overwhelming Los Angeles car-culture. Hall

talks about the influences of culture on space,

which explains why the park has integrated a

parking lot with a capacity of close to 200 cars to

accommodate the driving-oriented culture in Los

Angeles.

Exercisers Versus Park-Goers

There remains a large and strict distinction

between the runners/walkers (exercisers) and the

people that play games and engage in activities

within the park (players). Internally, there also exists

User-Groups W h e r e W h 0 W h y

Page | 21

Park Users: time of day and activity

weekdays

The aforementioned ‘exercisers’ flock to

the park at all hours of the morning; at night some

runners can be seen but usually the ‘players’ are

the ones out in the park late at night. Working

professionals or adults come to the park after

work and dinner has passed for games with their

peers. At night, most of the users are age 30 or

above and there are about half as many users as

during the day. The dark also brings out more

men than women. However, unlike other places

in the community the park is a safe and inviting

late-night spot for numerous people. General

park-goers stream steadily in and out of the park

meeting others and going unaccompanied. They

go to classes at the indoor gym and flock to games

on the field. The playground is almost always

abandoned after 6:00pm or 7:00pm. The gazebo

and open space behind the playground is almost

always empty except for the occasional exception

of a couple who wants some private time or people

just wandering through. The busiest time of day

for the park is around dinnertime, the hours from

5:00pm to 7:00p.

talk while walking along, about their families and

problems they are having. Others run solo and

just hear the sound of their breathing. The open

space is filled with owners calling their dogs and

teammates yelling directions to others. Families

and couples are very common in the open-space

and play areas. Parents and family-members are

often found on the bleachers of the fields, and on

the sidelines of the indoor and outdoor basketball

courts. Siblings can sometimes be seen outside

of the basketball gym having their own pickup

game with each other while their brother/sisters

finish their game inside.

Exercisers and Park-Goers Schedule:

Night versus day, weekends versus

goers are frequenting.

Others in the park do not exercise at all; they

are waiting for people, relaxing, teaching, working

or taking in the various scenes of the park. These

people follow what Rapoport calls the two major

types of pedestrian activities; ‘dynamic and static

activities’.1 On the one hand, people stay in one

place and enjoy the space and activities that are

occurring but on the other hand, park-goers often

are caught wandering about the park. These non-

exercisers frequent the open space in the park for

more organized games and they usually are the

people playing on the courts. They infiltrate the

rest of the park, sitting on the picnic tables, playing

in the playground and playing baseball, tennis

and basketball games. The rate of movement of

the different park-goers varies noticeably. The

basketball payers can be seen going up and down

the court multiple times in a matter of minutes while

the people walking dogs may stand in the same

place for multiple minutes while watching their dog

play. The pitches of sounds vary between park-

goers and exercisers. Some social exercisers

1 Rapoport, Amos. “History and Precedent in Environmental Design.“ Plenum Press: New York and

London, 1990. Pp. 247.

a decent mix of exercise levels among the people

that visit the park to run or walk. The seriousness

is a contributing factor to the difference in exercise

routines. Some display serious and appropriate

clothing implying that they are passionate enough

and frequently engage in their respective method

of exercise to purchase such things. Exercisers

have specific areas of the park where they partake

in their activities separate from the rest of the park-

goers. As seen on the socialization maps, there

are users that run and walk along the path running

along the parking lot. Sometimes these people

go in groups with matching fanny-packs filled with

water, but most times, runners and walkers are

spotted exercising without company. The bike

racks by the bathrooms right off the parking lot are

a common space for serious exercisers to stretch

and recharge. Other times people walk and run

along Motor Avenue, without every entering the

park at all. Aside from this pathway there are

hardly any other elongated stretches of concrete

within the park excluding the driveway that goes to

the archery and petanque court. For this reason,

exercisers hardly intrude on the spaces that park-

Mon

te M

ar D

rive

M o t o r A v e n u e

Cheviot HillsRecreation Center

and ParkRancho Park Golf Course

Key

healthy foliage: lack of use in this space

unhealthy foliage: lots of use in this space

user worn areas of the park

Page | 22

Rules of the Park

understood regulations as well. The policies that

are made by the people include are social and

physical. Social rules include gender limitations;

therefore, seemingly it is not okay for a woman

to walk in the park alone during the day without

being on her cell-phone. Also, women are hardly

ever found on the basketball court or the baseball

diamond, they often are sitting on the bleachers

off to the side. The parks are categorized into

the various social zones. Dog-owners associate

with other dog-owners, and dogs are a common

way to break the ice between strangers in the

park. In fact, there are weekly dog classes that

facilitate meetings between people that frequent

the park to walk their dogs and other people from

distant communities. The baseball players seem

to make it a rule to simply come for their came

and leave immediately after it is finished. Physical

rules restrict deep conversations to picnic spaces

only. As mentioned before, the runners stick to

the pathway along the parking lot while the other

users seem to fill out the rest of the park. Loud

sounds are allowed on the basketball courts, but

the baseball fields are relatively quiet. The tennis

People are exercising after work, kids

are getting out of sports camps and practices

that they attend after school, and the parking lot

gets loaded with parents picking up kids as well

as people coming in to play and use the park.

The least busiest time of day for the park seems

to be the middle of the day. People seem to be

either at their day job, at school, or having lunch

somewhere else.

2

Rules of the Park: Overview

Rapaport argues that open spaces

often abide by certain rules.3 It can be further

argued that people follow these same rules and

also create their own largely abided by rules.

The written rules of the park include signs that

display; “respect our referees,” “4-hour parking

only,” “no smoking,” “no littering,” no dogs in

playground area,” and “staff parking only.” The

people seem to honor some of these rules and

also create their own unwritten but also widely

3 Rapoport, Amos. “History and Precedent in Environmental Design.“

New York and London, 1990. Pp. 247.

Morning Assessment of Users

Female Alone

Male Alone

Socialization

Head on

Side-by-side

Key

Monte Mar Drive

Mo

t

or

A

ve

nu

e

Cheviot HillsRecreation Center

and Park

Page | 23

Rules of the Park: Conversations and Further Interactions

to talk at the park. Usually informal, friendship/

relationship-based discussions are constrained

to include two or three people, but not any more

exchange from time to time. The map shows that

most people engaging in sports games have side-

by-side and face-to-face conversations through

last-minute game strategies and directions on

the field or competitive remarks towards the

opposing team. Other activities such as walking

and private conversations highlight the face-to-

face interactions within the park. During classes,

there are a cluster of students, which interact

side-by-side, however, they all interact with the

teacher who is facing them. There is no clear

majority of either type of conversation occurring

more prevalently in the park. Even in the parking

lot there are a variety of different conversations.

People converse more with strangers face-to-

face as their significant other usually converses

with the same person while standing beside

them forming a triangle. There are also a lot of

runners and walkers that converse while walking

side by side, a practical compulsory choice when

finding it awkward to try to engage in a face-to-

face conversation. The majority of large groups

that communicate with each other are attending a

class there; rarely do people come in larger groups

shown by the distance and angle of people during

discussions; an attribute of conversations that

can also be seen widely in the park.4 On the

user-map, conversational activities can be seen in

almost all areas. However, more specifically, the

conversations take on an assortment of different

forms. Some people are yelling across the field in

conversation while others are intimately discussing

their life with friends. The rules of conversations are

that park members are prohibited most of the time

from conversing with strangers. Hall also outlines

guidelines for the positioning of people and the

interactions that ensue5. He says that dialogue

occurred when people were across from each

other, side-by-side, at either end of an object, or

diagonally situated. The user-group socialization

map shows the prevalence of two different

socialization methods according to Hall, the side-

by-side and the face-to-face conversation. The

majority of the people in the park are either talking

side by side while looking at various places in the

park, or sharing conversation face-to-face while

taking in the scenery by looking past the private 4 Hall, Edward. The Hidden Dimension. “The Anthropology of Space: An Organizing Model.” 1969. Pp. 109

5 Hall, Edward. The Hidden Dimension. “The Anthropology of Space: An Organizing Model.” 1969. Pp. 109

courts are never filled to the brim, but there are

always at least a few courts filled. It is understood

that the gazebo area and the area around the pool

and locker rooms are not to be used. It seems

acceptable to go to the park alone and wander

without purpose if one is an older male. Rarely

are there any teenagers or kids between the ages

of 17-25. It is also a rule that one must come with

a tennis partner to use the courts, if one absolutely

does not have a partner then they can come solo

once to put their name on a note card, place it on

the community board for others to see and then

contact others to play with. The park also lacks

any other form of transport other than a car to get

there. It seems to be a rule that bikes, scooters,

skateboards and other transportation devices are

forbidden. Dog-owners are entitled to take their

dogs anywhere in the park, they take them on the

court, on the fields, in the gym and even in the

playground where they are forbidden according

to signs.

Rules of the Park: Conversations

Hall talks about the dynamics of conversation

Loren

zo D

rive

Lorenzo Place Monte Mar Drive

Motor A

venue

West Pico Boulevard

Patric

ia A

venue

Rancho Park Golf Course

Cheviot Hills Park

User-Group Specificity Map:The Separation of Exercisers

N

Key

Car Territory

Running Route

Golfer’s Land

Game-Players’ space

Distinctions and divisions between us-er-groups

Page | 24

Rules of the Park: Activies

eating his lunch at a picnic table, there are hardly

ever people using the picnic benches for anything

other than talking or sitting and waiting. Hardly

do people weight lift or do other strength training

activities in the park. Activities are confined to

what are socially acceptable forms of exercise in

open space, namely games that include handling

of a ball.

Dictated activities occur inside the gym

and often on weekends in the outside basketball

courts. The activities are available for all ages.

There are adults in dance classes as well as

children in sports practice, however not a lot of

people that are of the ages in between the two

groups participate in dictated activities. Directed

activities that occur outdoors include dog-training

classes, agility training for dogs and basketball

camps for young children. Stemming from these

organized events are the other activities that

happen along the sidelines and outside the gym.

Often parents can be seen walking their dog in

the park while their children attend camps. Other

times, basketballs are taken outside and siblings

start their own game. Even at the tennis courts,

park include, yoga, sitting in one’s car, teenager’s

skipping class, jazzercise and archery. Perhaps

the most common activity and reason for going to

the park is what Clare Cooper-Marcus describes

as ‘connecting with nature.’7 She argues that,

“people make continuing efforts to ‘connect’ to a

natural environment.” This is true of the park and

recreation center; there are numerous people that

seek it out to perform certain activities. Activities

within the park are segmented into different regions;

it is similar to a town in this sense, with specific

places (land allocations) for every operation

within the district. As mentioned before, people

often only come for one activity and leave have

only done that one sports game, fitness routine

or chore that they came originally to do. Activities

are concentrated in certain areas of the park like

the baseball field closer to the parking lot and the

outdoor basketball courts shown by the map with

the worn areas of the park highlighted. Fences

and material boundaries such as concrete courts

and the sand in the playground further segregate

these activities from each other. The park lacks

people eating, beside the very rare, lone man 7 Cooper-Marcus, Clare. Design as if People Mattered. Pp. 122

silent support to their kids while they are on the

field or playing in the playground. Others giving

silent support are dog-owners at their weekly

classes. They affirm their dogs and for doing

tricks and sitting still while they walk away and

lead them through the pseudo-agility-course.

Coaches interact with their team more directly.

They yell commands, set up drills and make sure

that their team is having fun and also learning and

preparing for competitions. Sometimes tennis

coaches can be seen working one-on-one with

their students but other teams seem to consist

of more than one person learning at one time.

Coaches can also be seen playing along with

their students especially for camps that run on the

weekends. They play with them so that they can

teach while being inside the game and, as a result,

being more aware of how the teammates work

together as a whole and individually as well.

Rules of the Park: Activities

Park activities consist of the aforementioned

sports and personal fitness exercises. Other,

more obscure and rare activities that occur in the

than that.

Rules of the Park: Further Interactions

What Hall says about intimate distance, personal

distance, social distance and public distance6 all

do not apply in the park setting. People run close

to others to navigate around them and continue

with their exercise routine without breaking their

stride. Others, engaging in tennis, baseball and

basketball games get competitively close to others

on the field/court without any regard to spaces

and comfort of themselves or other players. Dogs

come into this analysis as well because they hardly

have the strong and complicated social space

interactions that humans carry in public spaces.

A dog can come in and out of one’s personal

space at will while other park users interact close

to and far from dogs alike. In addition, kids stray

from parents and are not shy about approaching

others or playing close to other people as well as

their peers.

Parents at the park use listening and watching

to interact with their environment and their kids.

Their gaze lets their children know that they are

watching them and that they care. They also give 6 Hall, Edward. The Hidden Dimmension. “The Anthropology of Space.” 1969. Pp. 107

Page | 25

Connections: Park and People

about how “the environment is a way of enabling

connections to occur;”8 meaning that there exists

some connection between the supposedly divided

spaces and therefore the people in the park. The

park is a place that provides an environment for

people to meet one another. People can be seen

bonding over their common love for dogs and

for the outdoors. The community board at the

tennis courts, mentioned before, serves as a way

for strangers to connect and play together. The

games draw in spectators and offer a lively safe

feeling for others to enter the park comfortably

and use it at all times. The classes offered at the

recreation center are a mechanism for people from

several different communities to come together

one or twice a week. The office in the recreation

center has three male employees that usually give

customers information about the park and the

programs that the center offers. This, along with

the parking lot helps to draw the park together

physically and socially as well.

8 Lindheim Roslyn. New Design Parameters for Helalthy Plcase. Vol. 2, #4. Pp. 17.

Connections within the park and its

people

So far the park and the recreation center

have been portrayed as heterogeneous and

scattered but in a polar manner. The people

seem to stick to their own parts of the park and

the segmentation of the different activities makes

it hard for people to engage easily in another

experience of the park without feeling like they

are intruding on other another visitor’s main

purpose in the park. However, Lindheim talks

the farther they venture into the park. The trends

show that there is a higher percentage of people

going farther into the park because of the team

activities that are deeply embedded away from

the lot, however, loads of users crowd around the

parking area just not clustered together in huge

groups.

friends and family of the players sit along the

sidelines and watch the game while socializing

and/or waiting to play.

The parking lot seems to be the physical

hub of activities. All activities that happen in the

park start and end with the parking lot. This is

the place where families reunite, where some

spectators sit and watch the games and where all

park activity can be easily accessed. The parking

lot is the user’s first impression of the park and the

recreation center and also the biggest indicator

of how many users are at the park at any given

time. Kids can be seen waiting in the parking

lot, people can be seen meeting up, loading and

unloading their cars. It is the most direct spot

from which to scope out the rest of the park as it

spans the entire width and the length along the

one side with the baseball courts. The parking

as a hub of activity can be seen in the distance

user map, which displays how far the users stray

from their cars into the park and how it is a short

distance from each attraction at the park. It also

shows the relative distance that people venture

into the park and the more specialized the activity,

Cheviot Hills Recreation Center and ParkParking Lot Hub Diagram

Recreation Center

Running Path

Outdoor Basketball Courts

Group of Two Tennis Courts

Group of Twelve Tennis Courts

Sandlot Playground

Baseball Diamonds

Open Space/Dog Play Area

Farther Open Space/Dog-Pay Area

*Relative distances of each location of activity from the main parking lot. Plus, average percentage of people doing each activity in the respective sights throughout the day. All users in the park are not accounted for in this graphic because of the people in the parking lot, passing through and doing other activites. *Drawing not to scale

14%25%17%4%6%3%2%

1%15%

Page | 26

Overview of Park Users

Synopsis of Users in the Cheviot Hills

Park

The users in the park are very diverse and

numerous, there is never a time when the park

is empty, except for at night when it closes. Still,

there are multiple people that work hard to take

care of the park and provide its users with great

services and a clean park. Surprisingly, and

further reinforcing of the rules of the park, the

users take care of the space and respect other

users. It is the choice space for countless dog-

owners, families, elderly and single individuals to

get a taste of nature in a busy and traffic-congested

city. It seems that kids grow up around this park

and others use it to house their commitment to

exercise or get out and relax once in a while. The

users seem to enjoy the park at all times of the day

and on all days of the week. It remains a place of

solace and competitive fun for Los Angeles city-

dwellers amidst the surrounding scene filled with

colossal buildings and studios.

Page | 27

Reclaiming the Park An effort to recognize barriers

Page | 28

Reclaiming the park

Thus far, this project has concentrated on the

history, the land-use, and the users within the park

and we have come to know it as a place with no real

owner and lots of barriers to the outside community.

However, the park does not need to be under the

ownership of any one individual or any group of

people; instead the reclamation signifies a more

value-driven breaking of barriers to connect the

users and the surrounding community in a more

intentional way. In the analysis of the history of

Rancho Park and Cheviot Hills, it was clear that the

historic, private nature of the park and golf course

affected the nature of its design and interaction

with the surrounding community today. The past

privatization along with the geography of the area

gives context to the presently divided situation.

I will discuss two levels of such disjunction; the

first is the divisions of users and activities within

the park, and the second is the divide between

the two communities on either side of the park

(Cheviot Hills to the south side of the park and

Rancho Park to the north).

Problems of Ownership

The key problem of ownership plaguing the

park is the way that it is symbolized. Ownership

can be positive when displaying a sense of care

and maintenance of the park; however, I would

argue that the Cheviot Hills Park does not display

this same type ownership. The distinction lies in

the objective; are fences meant to keep certain

assets within the park displaying pride or do they

aim to keep people out? In the Cheviot Hills

Park it is the latter. Clues as to this generalization

are clearly value-driven but as I define negative

barriers, these are high fences and a car oriented

perimeter. There is also an overwhelming

prevalence of these aspects within the park, with

large, open spaces broken up by fences and

trees. The most common and tallest of fences are

the chain link fences around the perimeter of the

baseball diamonds, the tennis courts, the archery,

petanque courts and the pool. Fences like this and

the perimeter fence that separates runners from

the park, provides enclosure but also at the same

time, create divides between activities that seem

exclusive, from one another and from the outside

visitor. These fences are secure and uninviting to

visitors that come to a chained atmosphere where

they cannot be sure of where they belong from

there.

User Evidence

The users display this disconnect between

the various areas of the park and the outside

community, by most occupying the park with

one or more people in accompaniment. In the

evening, as shown earlier in the report, we can

see that in the evening, almost all people are with

others in a group, socializing. This may be due

to the nature of the evening hours in the area or it

could be correlated with the high amount of people

frequenting the park with others. There is a very

low frequency of solo park users. This may be

due to the fact that the fences divide the activities

within the park making a barrier too great for just

one individual; instead, gated activities are done

in large numbers of people (i.e. teams). Even on

the potentially more solo activities like basketball,

tennis, walking ones dog, there are many people

with others. Also, as mentioned before, the users

Reclamation W h e r e W h 0 W h y

Gates as Bars of Entry in Rancho Park Golf Course and Cheviot Hills Recreation Center and Park

7. & 9. Swing Gate: Bordering the north side of the park dividing the golf course from the park space indicating space for car use

4. Swing Gate: Separation between the parking lot and the outside community when the park is closed

10. Chainlink Fence: Bordering the north side of the park dividing the golf course from the park space and indicating

car use5. & 6. & 8. Chainlink Fence surrounding baseball diamonds

and denoting dugout space. Gates contain activity and separate it from other areas of the park

1. & 2. Chainlink Fence with Covering: Bordering the Tennis courts suggesting privacy of court activity.

Monte

M

ar D

rive

Contextual Map of Divisions

Motor Avenue

Gated Areas

3. Steel Gate: Bordering the southeast side of the park dividing the park’s parking lot from the steet and indicating a closed park with

limited access

11. Bamboo Gate: Bordering the north side of the park dividing the golf course from the park space

1

2

34

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

1213

Gates and other barriers within the park

Page | 29

Reclamation: Barriers

that come to the park are usually there to proceed

with a single activity and then leave. Many kids

also come for a one to a few hours of camp and

then proceed to go home without taking advantage

of the gated sandbox or the fenced baseball

diamond. These recreational divisions inhibit the

flow and unity of the park, creating a problem of

ownership, because everyone is made to feel like

a visitor. No matter how many times you go there,

it is unnatural to partake in more than one activity

or play on the gated baseball diamond without a

team. In this way, the gates within the park require

of users the justification to use the space within.

Barriers to mix-ability and

socialization

The Recreation Center

The recreation center lacks transparency, which

further divides the park. This should be the main

aspect of the park, responsible for welcoming

people to the space and giving them a hub for

which to socialize and a space of reprieve away

from vigorous activity. The building is a brick

monstrosity directly adjacent from the parking

lot; however the parking lot commands more

respectability through socialization and constant

activity. The building is in need of repairs in the

brickwork, the vandalized electricity boxes, the lack

of any identification features and imposing foliage.

Surrounding the building are trashed storage

areas, lack of efficient drainage mechanisms, and

an absence of meeting areas. The building serves

as a barrier because it is difficult to tell where the

entrance is. As it turns out, the entrance is between

the pool and the recreation center; however, the

opposite side of the building, which faces the park,

could obviously be mistaken for the main entrance.

Furthermore, the building is tall and imposing,

completely obscuring the basketball courts and

the dark, open space behind the facility. The

sloping grassy area in front of it remains unused

because of its steepness. There is also too much

vegetation to even read the sign on the very top

of the building above the main entrance. This

means that it is incomprehensible to visitors and

just serves as an obstruction, barricading visitors

from the landscape of the rest of the park.

The Pool

The pool is a degraded site sitting directly south

of the recreation center. This facility is only used

in the summertime, so it remains underutilized

and neglected space for the rest of the year. The

building is run-down with the same aesthetic

issues as the recreation center with the inclusion

of broken windows. The signs are faded and the

storage gated and unorganized. There are also

signs threatening a fine for trespassing, on the

property, yet again, creating more barriers for

the user, and an exclusive nature. However this

site has potential to be a beacon of welcoming to

visitors. Although gated with a chain link fence, the

site is relatively open in nature with a horseshoe

shaped, one-story building enclosing the pool.

CHEVIOT HILLS RECREATION CENTER

Pool and recreation Center

Areas for Improvement

Recreation Center blocking the rest of the park

Page | 30

Reclamation: who assumes responsibility

This offers the swimmers some enclosure while

also displaying approachable fun for visitors and/

or passersby.

Who reclaims the park?

Does the park belong to the local residents

or to the visitors and, if it belongs to the local

residents, do the Cheviot Hills residents take

responsibility or do the Rancho Park dwellers

take ownership. When taking about issues of

wrongful ways of going about ownership that are

reflected in design, stakeholders will want to know

whose responsibility it is to make sure that the

park is inviting in nature and open to all in simple

physicality.

Geography

The park greatly divides the two areas; it stands

at the base of the hill while the gold course climbs

the slope leading to Cheviot Hills on the south side

of Pico Boulevard. The park serves as a strong

division of the two communities. On the top of

the hills to the south are mostly single-family, low

density houses that are in danger of mansionization

whereas to the north of the park, there are more

high density dwellings along the larger streets as

well as some single-family housing units. The

communities are divided by their class inherent

characteristics and also the nature of their living

styles. The hill residents are used to having their

own space on the hill while many of the south side

residents share a building with many other tenants

and do not have their own backyard. These people

have a clear understanding of the parks and they

see the golf course sprawling fence along many

blocks of Pico Boulevard. The northern residing

individuals do not enjoy a full view of the golf

course but overlook the Westside of Los Angeles

atop their hill residences. These residents also

enjoy their own space and sparse activity or traffic

congestion on their street. Therefore it is hard to

tell who should take ownership of the park since,

judging by the amount of cars in the parking lot

at all times, there are many residents from other

parts of LA that use the park.

Page | 31

Community Ownership Assuming responsibility for an asset of the community

Page | 32

Creating a sense of community and

redefining ownership

Engaging the Community

Breaking down these barriers will require the

efforts of both communities and the visitors that

travel there from other areas of the city. Although,

the burden of the transformation will fall on the

local residents, this will offer a good lesson in

bridging the wide gap between the people living

in the two communities, which is largely mirrored

within the disjointedness of park activities. By

engaging the two distinct communities, they will

create a different sense of privacy together in

the park in order to become more aware of one

another in the larger community.

Breaking Barriers

Barriers will have to be broken in non-conventional

ways; this will mean breaking barriers between

people socially, breaking physical barriers within

the park, and also creating a way for the character

of the park to be inclusionary and unifying. The

existing barriers should be transformed into the

Ownershipbarriers that people care for, which keep in the

assets instead of keeping certain people out.

Uniting the users will mean integrating the

running paths with the rest of the park in a safe

yet visible way. To use the Cheviot Hills slope as a

natural barrier that will create opportunities instead

of divide as it does now. This will create a sense

of belonging for local residents, which will be

reflected to others that also see a distinctive and

engaging character to be a part of. Opportunities

for socialization will natural happen throughout

this process; however, those involved must make

sustainable efforts towards creating socialization

hubs by creating more benches, events, and

opportunities for involvement of the community.

Breaking physical barriers will be more

symbolic than just tearing down fences. The

community will have to work towards creating

installing safety-preserving barriers only were

necessary and in a transparent and welcoming

manner. This will mean careful consideration

of the user patterns, further than what has been

done in this study and also an attention to the role

that the park will play in the future.

Redesigning the park to serve

as a node for the now disjointed

community

Creating a unifying nature within the park will

require a linking of areas accounting for a holistic

park experience that should be created for the

user. If successful, the park-goer will have many

outlets of activities while at the park. Furthermore,

it will not just serve as a locale for people to get

exercise but it will serve as a place to meet and

relax, enjoying nature and activity while being

able to take the whole park in, instead of just one

activity in a segment of the park.

W h e r e W h 0 W h y

Breaking down barriers with special Thanks to:

Carol Goldstein

Cheviot Hills Homeowner’s Association

All of the unassuming users observed

My classmates for their input and support(aleessa atienza, john char, kevin finkel, anne gervais, alexis lantz, john scott,

chanda singh, and sasha wisotsky)

Rancho Park Neighborhood Analysis