Accessibility Statement Skip Navigation
  • Why PRWeb
  • How It Works
  • Who Uses It
  • Pricing
  • Login
  • GDPR
  • Create a Free Account
Return to PRWeb homepage
  • News
  • Resources
  • Contact
When typing in this field, a list of search results will appear and be automatically updated as you type.

Searching for your content...

No results found. Please change your search terms and try again.
  • News in Focus
      • Browse News Releases

      • All News Releases
      • Multimedia Gallery

      • All Multimedia
      • All Photos
      • All Videos
  • Business & Money
      • Auto & Transportation

      • Aerospace, Defense
      • Air Freight
      • Airlines & Aviation
      • Automotive
      • Maritime & Shipbuilding
      • Railroads and Intermodal Transportation
      • Supply Chain/Logistics
      • Transportation, Trucking & Railroad
      • Travel
      • Trucking and Road Transportation
      • View All Auto & Transportation

      • Business Technology

      • Blockchain
      • Broadcast Tech
      • Computer & Electronics
      • Computer Hardware
      • Computer Software
      • Data Analytics
      • Electronic Commerce
      • Electronic Components
      • Electronic Design Automation
      • Financial Technology
      • High Tech Security
      • Internet Technology
      • Nanotechnology
      • Networks
      • Peripherals
      • Semiconductors
      • View All Business Technology

      • Entertain­ment & Media

      • Advertising
      • Art
      • Books
      • Entertainment
      • Film and Motion Picture
      • Magazines
      • Music
      • Publishing & Information Services
      • Radio & Podcast
      • Television
      • View All Entertain­ment & Media

      • Financial Services & Investing

      • Accounting News & Issues
      • Acquisitions, Mergers and Takeovers
      • Banking & Financial Services
      • Bankruptcy
      • Bond & Stock Ratings
      • Conference Call Announcements
      • Contracts
      • Cryptocurrency
      • Dividends
      • Earnings
      • Earnings Forecasts & Projections
      • Financing Agreements
      • Insurance
      • Investments Opinions
      • Joint Ventures
      • Mutual Funds
      • Private Placement
      • Real Estate
      • Restructuring & Recapitalization
      • Sales Reports
      • Shareholder Activism
      • Shareholder Meetings
      • Stock Offering
      • Stock Split
      • Venture Capital
      • View All Financial Services & Investing

      • General Business

      • Awards
      • Commercial Real Estate
      • Corporate Expansion
      • Earnings
      • Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)
      • Human Resource & Workforce Management
      • Licensing
      • New Products & Services
      • Obituaries
      • Outsourcing Businesses
      • Overseas Real Estate (non-US)
      • Personnel Announcements
      • Real Estate Transactions
      • Residential Real Estate
      • Small Business Services
      • Socially Responsible Investing
      • Surveys, Polls and Research
      • Trade Show News
      • View All General Business

  • Science & Tech
      • Consumer Technology

      • Artificial Intelligence
      • Blockchain
      • Cloud Computing/Internet of Things
      • Computer Electronics
      • Computer Hardware
      • Computer Software
      • Consumer Electronics
      • Cryptocurrency
      • Data Analytics
      • Electronic Commerce
      • Electronic Gaming
      • Financial Technology
      • Mobile Entertainment
      • Multimedia & Internet
      • Peripherals
      • Social Media
      • STEM (Science, Tech, Engineering, Math)
      • Supply Chain/Logistics
      • Wireless Communications
      • View All Consumer Technology

      • Energy & Natural Resources

      • Alternative Energies
      • Chemical
      • Electrical Utilities
      • Gas
      • General Manufacturing
      • Mining
      • Mining & Metals
      • Oil & Energy
      • Oil and Gas Discoveries
      • Utilities
      • Water Utilities
      • View All Energy & Natural Resources

      • Environ­ment

      • Conservation & Recycling
      • Environmental Issues
      • Environmental Policy
      • Environmental Products & Services
      • Green Technology
      • Natural Disasters
      • View All Environ­ment

      • Heavy Industry & Manufacturing

      • Aerospace & Defense
      • Agriculture
      • Chemical
      • Construction & Building
      • General Manufacturing
      • HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning)
      • Machinery
      • Machine Tools, Metalworking and Metallurgy
      • Mining
      • Mining & Metals
      • Paper, Forest Products & Containers
      • Precious Metals
      • Textiles
      • Tobacco
      • View All Heavy Industry & Manufacturing

      • Telecomm­unications

      • Carriers and Services
      • Mobile Entertainment
      • Networks
      • Peripherals
      • Telecommunications Equipment
      • Telecommunications Industry
      • VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)
      • Wireless Communications
      • View All Telecomm­unications

  • Lifestyle & Health
      • Consumer Products & Retail

      • Animals & Pets
      • Beers, Wines and Spirits
      • Beverages
      • Bridal Services
      • Cannabis
      • Cosmetics and Personal Care
      • Fashion
      • Food & Beverages
      • Furniture and Furnishings
      • Home Improvement
      • Household, Consumer & Cosmetics
      • Household Products
      • Jewelry
      • Non-Alcoholic Beverages
      • Office Products
      • Organic Food
      • Product Recalls
      • Restaurants
      • Retail
      • Supermarkets
      • Toys
      • View All Consumer Products & Retail

      • Entertain­ment & Media

      • Advertising
      • Art
      • Books
      • Entertainment
      • Film and Motion Picture
      • Magazines
      • Music
      • Publishing & Information Services
      • Radio & Podcast
      • Television
      • View All Entertain­ment & Media

      • Health

      • Biometrics
      • Biotechnology
      • Clinical Trials & Medical Discoveries
      • Dentistry
      • FDA Approval
      • Fitness/Wellness
      • Health Care & Hospitals
      • Health Insurance
      • Infection Control
      • International Medical Approval
      • Medical Equipment
      • Medical Pharmaceuticals
      • Mental Health
      • Pharmaceuticals
      • Supplementary Medicine
      • View All Health

      • Sports

      • General Sports
      • Outdoors, Camping & Hiking
      • Sporting Events
      • Sports Equipment & Accessories
      • View All Sports

      • Travel

      • Amusement Parks and Tourist Attractions
      • Gambling & Casinos
      • Hotels and Resorts
      • Leisure & Tourism
      • Outdoors, Camping & Hiking
      • Passenger Aviation
      • Travel Industry
      • View All Travel

  • Policy & Public Interest
      • Policy & Public Interest

      • Advocacy Group Opinion
      • Animal Welfare
      • Congressional & Presidential Campaigns
      • Corporate Social Responsibility
      • Domestic Policy
      • Economic News, Trends, Analysis
      • Education
      • Environmental
      • European Government
      • FDA Approval
      • Federal and State Legislation
      • Federal Executive Branch & Agency
      • Foreign Policy & International Affairs
      • Homeland Security
      • Labor & Union
      • Legal Issues
      • Natural Disasters
      • Not For Profit
      • Patent Law
      • Public Safety
      • Trade Policy
      • U.S. State Policy
      • View All Policy & Public Interest

  • People & Culture
      • People & Culture

      • Aboriginal, First Nations & Native American
      • African American
      • Asian American
      • Children
      • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
      • Hispanic
      • Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual
      • Men's Interest
      • People with Disabilities
      • Religion
      • Senior Citizens
      • Veterans
      • Women
      • View All People & Culture

  • Hamburger menu
  • Cision PRWeb provides efficient communication tools to continuously engage with target audiences across multiple online channels
  • Create a Free Account
    • ALL CONTACT INFO
    • Contact Us


      11AM ET Sunday – 8PM ET Friday

  • Send a Release
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Resources
  • RSS
  • GDPR
  • News in Focus
    • Browse All News
    • Multimedia Gallery
  • Business & Money
    • Auto & Transportation
    • Business Technology
    • Entertain­ment & Media
    • Financial Services & Investing
    • General Business
  • Science & Tech
    • Consumer Technology
    • Energy & Natural Resources
    • Environ­ment
    • Heavy Industry & Manufacturing
    • Telecomm­unications
  • Lifestyle & Health
    • Consumer Products & Retail
    • Entertain­ment & Media
    • Health
    • Sports
    • Travel
  • Policy & Public Interest
  • People & Culture
    • People & Culture
  • Send a Release
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Resources
  • RSS
  • GDPR
  • Send a Release
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Resources
  • RSS
  • GDPR
  • Send a Release
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Resources
  • RSS
  • GDPR

Parks with Benches - Including in Los Angeles - Lauded in National Media and Awards

Thriving example of an urban natural park, Vista Hermosa Park created by MRCA and Studio-MLA, offers model for successful, equitable park designs


News provided by

Vista Hermosa Park

Feb 03, 2022, 08:45 ET

Share this article

Share toX

Share this article

Share toX

Vista Hermosa Natural Park in Los Angeles, exhibited by the Smithsonian for the Cooper Hewitt National Design Awards. Photo by Hunter Kerhart
Vista Hermosa Natural Park in Los Angeles, exhibited by the Smithsonian for the Cooper Hewitt National Design Awards. Photo by Hunter Kerhart

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 3, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Covered in leading media including The New York Times Magazine and igniting a national conversation on successful park design, Vista Hermosa Natural Park has been lauded for boldly returning the serenity and diversity of nature to the Los Angeles urban core — including ample park benches to sit on and marvel at it all.

Highlighting recent choices in cities worldwide, exacerbated during the Covid-19 pandemic, to eliminate park seating and other amenities, the Times article by novelist Jonathan Lee derides the "hostile architecture" increasingly found in parks, illustrated with an image of an idyllic alternative — amid native plantings in Los Angeles. The photograph of Vista Hermosa Natural Park underscores its inclusion as part of an exhibit this year at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, honoring the park's chief designer, Studio-MLA.

Studio-MLA says only about 33% of city of Los Angeles residents live within a quarter-mile of a park, versus 97% and 91% for Boston and New York, respectively

Post this

As Lee writes, a park bench "allows for a sense of solitude and community at the same time," fostering human connection as it "encourages the art of observation." In places like Vista Hermosa Natural Park, benches become places of memories: One may sit and observe their child playing a game of soccer, and many years later, watch that child take wedding photos from the very same perch.

Underscoring the park's value, U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland met local officials at Vista Hermosa Park in December to laud the park's success in reimagining a historic oil well site. Haaland spoke about opportunities through the new infrastructure bill to fund the remediation of more idle oil wells, noting there are 5,000 in California alone.

Located at the western gateway to Downtown Los Angeles, the 10.5-acre Vista Hermosa Park is a project of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA), with Studio-MLA as the lead landscape architecture firm, undertaken with a design that boldly returns the serenity and diversity of nature to the Los Angeles urban core. Developed in collaboration with the Los Angeles Unified School District and the City of Los Angeles, Vista Hermosa is the first public park built in this densely populated area in more than a century, as Los Angeles Times wrote. It opened in 2008.

"A successful, popular destination in this neighborhood, Vista Hermosa is a local resource comprising walking trails, streams, meadows, and oak savannahs along with picnic grounds, a nature-themed playground, and welcoming seating and amenities for residents to enjoy," says Sarah Rascon, environmental equity officer for MRCA. "We are pleased to see this approach recognized and critically acclaimed on the national stage."

According to Studio-MLA, the landscape architect for Vista Hermosa working with collaborators KPFF Consulting Engineers, ERW Design, and JFAK Architects, this nature park sits on a former brownfield site at the edge of a historically disadvantaged neighborhood, exemplifying sustainable practices and equitable access to nature and recreation. "As the pandemic has reinforced, we see a need for more places of respite and renewal like Vista Hermosa that offer opportunities for playing, relaxing, and learning about our environment and natural history," says Mia Lehrer, Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) and president of Studio-MLA.

Studio-MLA adds that only about 33% of city of Los Angeles residents live within a quarter-mile of a park. In Boston and New York, it is 97% and 91% of residents, respectively.

Nationwide, park space per 1,000 residents averages between six to 10 acres, yet in Los Angeles, residents only have 3.4 acres.

Located at 100 North Toluca Street in Los Angeles only a few blocks from a major freeway interchange, Vista Hermosa Natural Park transports visitors into a setting not unlike what preceded the settling of this city. It also epitomizes the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA) mission to preserve, manage and ensure public access to local open space and parkland as well as the wildlife habitat, regional watersheds, and trails throughout the region. The MRCA is a joint powers authority that includes the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, a state agency chaired by Irma Muñoz, president of the environmental equity nonprofit, Mujeres de la Tierra.

"Vista Hermosa Park is more than just a beautiful place to look out at the city," said Joseph T. Edmiston, FAICP, Hon. ASLA, executive director of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, upon its opening. "It is a place where visitors can take a deep and restful look back into the natural world."

MRCA is also one of the lead agencies revitalizing the Los Angeles River and its tributaries. Earlier this year, MRCA and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy earned wide recognition for their award-winning, influential Upper Los Angeles River and Tributaries Revitalization Plan (ULART). Developed with Studio-MLA and TetraTech, ULART creates a comprehensive framework containing 300-plus multipurpose, new and enhanced environmental opportunities accessible to over 625,000 residents and communities adjoining the Upper Los Angeles River and its tributaries.

Walking amidst native Mediterranean vegetation, residents and student naturalists enjoying Vista Hermosa Natural Park will find views to the mountains, a FIFA-regulation soccer field, public programs, and an outdoor amphitheater in a grotto used for interpretive programs led by Community Nature Connection.

They will also find comfortable outdoor furniture in this natural environment, too, offering many ways for visitors to foster human connection and create memories.

Media Contact

Alex Abarbanel-Grossman, C.C. Sullivan, +1 9738973940, [email protected]

SOURCE Vista Hermosa Park

Modal title

Oil wells formerly occupied the site of Vista Hermosa Natural Park. Image courtesy MRCA
Oil wells formerly occupied the site of Vista Hermosa Natural Park. Image courtesy MRCA
Vista Hermosa Natural Park, Los Angeles, exhibited for the Smithsonian's Cooper Hewitt National Design Awards. Photo: Tom Lamb
Vista Hermosa Natural Park, Los Angeles, exhibited for the Smithsonian's Cooper Hewitt National Design Awards. Photo: Tom Lamb
Oil wells formerly occupied the site of Vista Hermosa Natural Park. Image courtesy MRCA Vista Hermosa Natural Park, Los Angeles, exhibited for the Smithsonian's Cooper Hewitt National Design Awards. Photo: Tom Lamb

Contact PRWeb

  • 11AM ET Sunday – 8PM ET Friday
  • Contact Us

About PRWeb

  • About PRWeb
  • Partners
  • Partnership Programs
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Resources

Why PRWeb

  • Why PRWeb
  • How It Works
  • Who Uses It
  • Pricing

Accounts

  • Create a Free Account
  • Log in
  • Contact Us

Do not sell or share my personal information:

  • Submit via [email protected] 
  • Call Privacy toll-free: 877-297-8921

Contact Cision

Products

About

My Services
  • All News Releases
  • Online Member Center
  • ProfNet
Cision Distribution Helpline
888-776-0942
  • Legal
  • Site Map
  • RSS
  • Cookie Settings
Copyright © 2025 Cision US Inc.