Los Angeles Park Report Cards
Los Angeles Park Report Cards: Grades for 40 Community Parks
In September 2017, Los Angeles City Controller Ron Galperin released the first-ever comprehensive report card system for Los Angeles parks. Using an independent evaluation team from KH Consulting Group, USC, and the RAND Corporation, 40 of the city's 95 community parks were graded across eight categories. The results — available in full at ParkGrade.LA — revealed both bright spots and significant areas for improvement.
How Parks Were Graded
Each of the 40 evaluated parks was assessed through a combination of on-site professional reviews and a community survey of more than 3,700 park users. The evaluation team made multiple site visits to parks with identified problems to confirm and document findings. Parks were graded in the following categories:
- Athletic Fields — condition of playing surfaces, field markings, and sports facilities
- Children's Play Areas — equipment condition, safety, accessibility, and maintenance
- Indoor Gyms — facility condition, equipment availability, and cleanliness
- Drinking Fountains — functionality, cleanliness, and availability throughout the park
- Park Cleanliness — overall grounds maintenance, trash removal, and litter control
- Graffiti Control — frequency and speed of graffiti removal
- Customer Service — staff responsiveness, signage, and program availability
- Restroom Conditions — cleanliness, functionality, accessibility, and maintenance
Overall Findings Across All 40 Parks
Taken as a whole, the 40 evaluated parks averaged A and B grades across most categories — a more positive picture than many Angelenos might expect. Indoor gyms and customer service led all categories, each receiving an A grade citywide. Athletic fields and children's play areas also scored well, reflecting investment in these high-visibility amenities.
Restrooms, however, were a different story. The category received a C grade overall, with 67 restrooms across 39 parks evaluated. Sixteen individual parks received D or F grades specifically for their bathrooms. The evaluators noted that while indoor restrooms were often "relatively clean" and functional, exterior and field restrooms were frequently "poorly maintained and foul-smelling."
Top-Scoring Parks
Several parks distinguished themselves with strong overall performances:
- Palisades Recreation Center — A-minus (highest grade awarded). Scored highly across athletic fields, drinking fountains, customer service, and indoor facilities. Received a B+ for restrooms.
- Westwood Park — A overall. Among the highest restroom scores at 85+.
- Culver Slauson Park — A overall. Consistently strong performance across all categories.
- Jim Gilliam Park — A overall. Strong scores for cleanliness and facility maintenance.
- Victory Vineland Recreation Center — B+ overall. A grades for facilities and children's play areas.
Parks with Significant Challenges
Other parks revealed the depth of deferred maintenance and resource constraints facing LA's park system:
- MacArthur Park — C-minus overall (lowest grade awarded). Chronic restroom problems and safety concerns tied to homelessness.
- Sun Valley Park Recreation Center — C overall. Received an F for restrooms and a D for cleanliness.
- David M. Gonzales Recreation Center — C overall. Received an F for graffiti.
- North Hollywood Park — B overall, but dropped to 65 for restroom cleanliness despite scoring in the 90s for children's play areas and drinking fountains.
- Wilmington Park — Restroom cleanliness was the weakest category despite otherwise acceptable grades.
- Delano Park — Similar pattern: strong in most categories but low restroom scores.
- Lemon Grove Recreation Center — B-minus overall, D for restroom conditions.
Geographic Patterns in Park Quality
One of the most significant findings was the geographic disparity in park quality. Parks in the Westside and west San Fernando Valley consistently received higher grades than those in the East Valley, Eastside, downtown, and south of downtown. This reflects systemic disparities in park funding and maintenance resources across LA's diverse neighborhoods.
The report highlighted that lower-income communities tend to have parks with greater maintenance challenges — and fewer resources to address them. Controller Galperin used the findings to advocate for more equitable distribution of park funding and maintenance staff.
The Restroom and Plumbing Infrastructure Challenge
The consistent weak point across LA parks was restroom and plumbing infrastructure. Beyond cleaning frequency, many parks face structural plumbing problems: outdated pipe systems, poor drainage, inadequate water pressure, and deferred repairs. These are not issues that additional cleaning staff alone can solve — they require capital investment and skilled maintenance work. For more detail, see our page on LA park bathroom plumbing challenges.
Individual Park Report Cards
Explore detailed grades for specific parks:
For the complete dataset and methodology, visit the full evaluation report page. To read what park users themselves said about conditions, see the community survey results.