work sample from ucla urban planning design studio
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A neighborhood analysis of Rancho Park. One of Los Angeles' historic neighborhoods.TRANSCRIPT
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
Page | 2
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
Page | 3
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
Page | 4
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
Page | 5
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
Page | 6
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
Page | 7
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
Page | 8
Background A Look at the Historical Context of the Community
Page | 9
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