If you’ve ever hiked in the Thousand Oaks/Westlake Village/Agoura Hills area, chances are it was on a trail managed by the Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency. While these trails are most accessible to the residents of the Thousand Oaks area, they are also fairly close to the San Fernando Valley and Ventura. more ›

Last week's car free party on 7.5 miles of Los Angeles streets -- aka CicLAvia! -- was such a success, there are talks of bringing it back at the City Council level -- after all, the route went through five political city districts -- and within the nonprofit that organized the event. "It’s all somewhat up in the air at this time - subject to change - but we decided to plan on 4-6 CicLAvia events in 2011!" more ›

By all accounts, Los Angeles experienced something amazing for five hours on Sunday. An estimated 100,000 people took to a stretch of 7.5 miles of streets closed off to cars and open to people. And those people responded with positive zeal. more ›

A Redondo Beach power plant that's been an issue of contention over the years could be sticking around longer than locals hope. That's why tonight a group of people tonight will be protesting at a corner on the Pacific Coast Highway. more ›

The national annual event known as [Park]ing Day, where city street parking spaces are turned into mini-parks for a day, is no stranger to Los Angeles. For some, however, parks and open space might be a stranger to their neighborhoods. more ›

Planned to go aside the Los Angles River, Long Beach's proposed expansion of Drake Park would include a boardwalk, community gardens, wetlands, recreation fields and more. This week the city revealed renderings of the project and announced funding for the next big step, the Environmental Impact Report (EIR), before construction can begin. more ›

A parking lot and construction staging area between two downtown lofts was set to become a park a year and a half ago. Now finalized designs have been released, finds blogdowntown. Spring Street Park will be 35,000 square foot and mainly feature green space. Planners originally proposed a more ornate space, but residents, who lack green space in downtown, wanted it to be simple. more ›

Now with the L.A. River defined as a navigable, there's a movement afloat to make it usable for residents. Today L.A. City Councilmember Ed Reyes, who leads the city's river committee on the river and spearheaded the river revitalization master plan, introduced a motion to establish a boating program. more ›

Before it was developed into the city it is today, much of Manhattan Beach was made up of sand dunes. Now, one dune spared from apparently being shipped off to Hawaii's Waikiki Beach is left as a park in a residential neighborhood. Last year a group of neighbors complained that the park was hurting the neighborhood and the city council promptly closed it to study the issue and come up with solutions. Nearly a year later, the park opens this Sunday. more ›

With recently-released proposals showing where tracks could be placed throughout Los Angeles as part of California's high speed rail project, some residents and environmental groups are ready to fight at least one possible route. That's because it could temporarily shut down Los Angeles State Historic Park, one of the few green spaces around downtown, for several years, according to the Downtown News. more ›

Thursday saw the groundbreaking of downtown's newest park venture. A $56 million project will transform Civic Center Park into a 12-acre open space that should be a celebrated space when it is completed. Ranging four sloped city blocks down Bunker Hill between the Music Center and City Hall, the park will include movable chairs, food trucks along Spring Street, pedestrian paths and performance spaces. more ›

Thanks to the efforts of thousands of Angelenos (and a handful of big donors like Hugh Hefner and with the Trust for Public Land at the lead), the money battle to secure over 100 acres around Cahuenga Peak for parkland instead of development has been finalized. On Tuesday, the acquisition of the land went through and it's now under the ownership of the city of Los Angeles to be part of Griffith Park. more ›

With Memorial Day coming this weekend, The Nature Conservancy is offering up what they think are the 10 most memorable state parks in California. Not all of them are local to Southern California, but they do make for a great bucket list of places to check out if you haven't already. more ›

A battle has been brewing over the past decade about a large swath of open space in Studio City along the L.A. River. Just north of Ventura Boulevard between Coldwater Canyon and Whitsett is Weddington Golf and Tennis, which owners want to turn into a condominium development for 200 seniors. But a faction of the community has asserted themselves saying the land should stay open and free of development. more ›

So much for people enjoying the outdoors, getting some exercise and using a successful community space. Manhattan Beach's Sand Dune Park will open in June--albeit with restrictions--after an eight-month closure prompted by neighborhood concerns. more ›

The Glassell Park neighborhood is getting a small, but nice public health boost this morning. City officials along with Council President Eric Garcetti will dedicate a 1/3-mile jogging trail on the perimeter of the park outside the Glassell Park... more ›

As plans and fundraising move forward to cap the 101 Freeway in Hollywood, a similar idea in downtown will take a step next month when Park 101 District organizers host a community meeting and open house. The event, which dovetails with the Downtown Art Walk is on May 13th from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Caltrans District 7 building. more ›

Two designs for Manhattan Beach's now-shuttered Sand Dune Park will be unveiled tomorrow night prior to a special city council meeting in hopes to find a compromise between users and neighbors, according to the city's calendar via the Daily Breeze. The designs come from a UCLA Extension Landscape Architecture Program led by a neighbor of the park. more ›

Plans to cap and build a park over the 101 Freeway between Hollywood and Santa Monica boulevards recently got a nice boost, according to the Los Angeles Business Journal. Congressman Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles) has said he will request $5.85 million to fund for planning Hollywood Central Park. If successful, it's a good move, but only a step in what will be a journey of many. The project in total is expected to cost an estimated $950 million. more ›

Take a look at the Hollywood Sign and you'll notice it's back to normal. Today, Trust for Public Land officials ended its awareness campaign, which had the sign covered with "SAVE THE PEAK," announcing that almost $2 million has been raised since the beginning of last week (about $1 million was raised since Thursday, when the campaign officially began). more ›

When the new LAPD Police Administration Building opened last Fall, a park was gifted to the community. But it wasn't too long before it was blocked off to the public for two weeks to make way for a Los Angeles Police Foundation gala. When all was said and done, the equipment used ruined the grass, leaving it brown and muddy during wet weather. Eric Richardson at blogdowntown has been following the lack of progress, finding that repairs should start with a few weeks at the expense of the foundation. Also, the palm trees are not doing so well, but police, who are in charge of the park rather than Parks & Rec, say that's a separate issue. more ›

When you're a park poor city with little room to designate more park space, where do you go? You build one on top of a freeway. Well, that's the vision of community and politicians a like and tonight is the Friends of the Hollywood Central Park's annual gala. more ›

It may be Halloween, but it is also the anniversary of a major environmental bill that affected close to 9.2 million acres of California desert back in 1994. The California Desert Protection Act brought us two national parks, one national preserve, millions of acres of federal wilderness areas, as well as other special areas from Death Valley to the Mexico border. more ›

Photographer and Manhattan Beach resident Jake Rome this morning let us know that officials decided to keep the popular park closed as city staff figure out how to solve neighborhood problems. In a comment, he writes: Just an FYI, the council decided to keep the park closed until they've developed and implemented a mitigation that discourages sufficient number of people from using the dune. more ›

In early August, Manhattan Beach officials closed the popular Sand Dune Park for maintenance after a busy Summer with a high rate of visitors. About a month later, it was ready to be reopened, but didn't. more ›

U.S. Forest Officials yesterday signed an order that lifted closure restrictions on a large chunk of the Angeles National Forest. However, 450 square miles of the San Gabriel Mountain range still remain off-limits to public-at-large as the Station Fire continues to burn and personnel comb through recovery areaa. The closure will remain in affect until next year September, unless a new order lifting restrictions is signed. more ›

In Los Angeles, new taxes, assessments and fee increases tend to fund a basic municipal services, such as growing a police force or renewing an aging power infrastructure. In smaller and younger cities, however, voters sometimes allow such monies to be directed elsewhere. more ›

Good news comes today as Governor Arnold Schwarzegger's office announced that that plans to close state parks have changed. Fewer parks will close and plans to release a list of those parks has been dropped. Although the Governor's office is downplaying the shift in direction, the Mercury News juxtaposes it with this point: more ›

Keep your eyes peeled for the perfect spot--not to park your car but to park your butt or two feet in a comfy, welcoming, back-to-nature focused space meant to remind us that in all this concrete we need to have some green space. You'll find spaces all over town converted into mini-green getaways, complete with all manner and variety of benches, greenery, decor, motifs, and opportunities to socialize with people from the neighborhood. Hosted by citizens, groups, architecture firms and others, these once-a-year spots are worth checking out today. more ›

The new Studio Oaks Park, officially a wide median along Ventura Boulevard with a walking path that straddles the border of Sherman Oaks and Studio City, is practically finished. The meandering walking path is open to the public, except for one block that was flooded out by a trunkline break on Coldwater Canyon, and all that needs to be done to complete the project is some landscaping, which has become an issue between neighbors. more ›