GET THE FACTS
Why This Matters
The Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks (RAP, Parks Department) runs over 500 parks, 123 recreation and senior centers, and 52 pools on a shoestring budget. These are affordable places for kids to play sports and stay safe after school and in summer, for seniors to find services, and for families to gather. RAP facilities increasingly serve as cooling centers and emergency shelters for Angelenos in crisis.
Los Angeles parks are basic services for millions of Angelenos every year, yet funding has not kept pace with need or inflation. We have an opportunity to fix this - without raising taxes.
L.A. parks are severely structurally underfunded
L.A. Recreation and Parks charter funding allocation has not increased since 1937 — nearly 90 years — while our City parks and needs have grown.
Today, 40% of the City's Parks funding is diverted back to the City's General Fund rather than going directly to parks, leaving parks with far less than the charter intended
Since 2009, roughly $1.35 billion has been diverted out of the parks’ core operations.
LA is at the bottom of the national pack in park condition and per capita spending
Among comparable cities, Los Angeles ranks dead last in park spending per capita investing 70% less in parks than its peers.
The City’s own 2025 assessment found similar cities fund their parks two to three times more than the City of L.A.
L.A. ranked 93rd of 100 in Trust for Public Land’s ParkScore ranking of 100 US Cities in 2026 due to the poor condition of parks, inadequate parks funding and lagging park equity.
Maintenance & Repairs Backlogs
L.A.’s Parks and Recreation Department needs almost $3 billion just to address deferred maintenance and basic repairs of City parks.
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These backlogs lead to safety hazards and dilapidated conditions in parks and recreation centers.
Adjusted for inflation, the department is smaller than it was in 2009 - while our City’s needs have grown
The L.A. Parks budget has shrunk $40 million in inflation-adjusted dollars since 2009.
LA Parks funding has not kept pace with funding levels of other City departments.
The funding problem is poised to get even worse
Proposition K funding has been a critical funding stream for City parks for the last 30 years. But, it is about to sunset - making our Parks’ funding crisis even worse.
Without action, recreation and parks facilities will further cut hours or face closures.
L.A. Parks are at a crisis point and desperately need a boost of funding.
Los Angeles doesn’t have anywhere close to the number of employees or funding we need to keep our parks safe, clean, and beautiful
750 full-time positions were eliminated between 2008 and 2015 - and only 153 have been restored. Another 207 vacant full-time positions were eliminated between 2024-25.
Los Angeles has 80% fewer park rangers than there were 25 years ago despite 1000 more acres of parkland, making our parks less safe.
Angelenos have far less access to parks than their counterparts across the country
More than 1.5 million — one in three residents — lack a park within a 10-minute walk of home, among the lowest access rates in major U.S. cities.
Access to quality green space is not shared equally – communities like Pacoima and South LA where industrial use, extreme heat, and limited access to green space intersect, residents have up to 78% less park acreage per capita than wealthier parts of the city.
L.A.’s Park space per capita is the lowest since the 1860s.
Angelenos across the City are experiencing major service cuts at their local parks, just when Angelenos need them the most
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Many Rec and Senior centers have stopped opening Sundays.
Public pool hours have been cut back and some neighborhood pools have even closed due to disrepair.
Many parks and park restrooms lack dedicated maintenance staffing.