Cooling Centers Can Protect People From Extreme Heat — If Only LA Can Get People To Use Them

Cooling centers — designated locations where people can retreat when it’s baking hot outside — are a key public health strategy during extreme heat waves in L.A. The trouble is, relatively few people are using them.

Technically, pretty much any building that’s open to the public and offers a free spot to rest and cool down could be considered a “cooling center.” The city promotes more than 200 city and county libraries, senior centers, and rec centers, in addition to over 50 pools as “cooling centers.”

Then there are what the city and county call “augmented” cooling centers, which are rec centers or libraries that have extended hours, additional staff, water and snacks to offer, and a dedicated air-conditioned space within the building for people “to huddle, watch TV, play games — whatever the center can accommodate,” said Joseph Riser, a spokesperson for L.A.’s Emergency Management Department. These designated centers also allow pets.

Four “augmented” cooling stations will be open over the weekend, when temperatures are expected to peak. (You can find a full list of those centers, along with a list of participating public libraries and a link to a map and other resources, at the end of this story.)

Deciding which cooling centers to open

The city decides how many and which cooling centers to “augment” in accordance with National Weather Service forecasts for different areas across the county, as well as through feedback from city councilmembers, neighborhood councils and other government departments, such as the L.A. Homeless Services Authority and the Department of Aging, Riser said.

Officials pay particular attention to the forecast for nighttime temperatures, he added, as well as how extreme the temperature highs will be and how long the heat is expected to last.

Do people use them?

The city of L.A. only collects data on how many people use the cooling centers that have been augmented, Riser said. During the record-long and hot heat wave in September 2022, when we just barely avoided rolling power outages, the city ultimately opened 11 of them. But it was Labor Day weekend, so many of the city's libraries, pools, and other “cooling centers” had limited hours or were closed.

In total, according to data provided to LAist from the city, only 2,254 people went to the 11 cooling centers over the 10-day heat wave. Still, it was a marked increase from the year before, when only 83 people visited five augmented centers that were open during a shorter, but still intense June 2021 heat wave.

David Anguiano, Recreation Coordinator for Mid Valley Senior Center, stands in front of the area set aside as the "cooling center." The Senior Center will have extended hours through the weekend but was empty of visitors on Friday, July 14, when temperatures were in the high 90s.

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Ashley Balderrama

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LAist

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The hottest regions of the city had the most augmented centers: three in the San Fernando Valley, four in South L.A., and two in central L.A. The final two were on the Westside.

Those hotter neighborhoods also have some of the oldest housing that can’t keep heat out. The cooling centers there had the most visitors by far.

The Fred Roberts Recreation Center in South L.A. accounted for more than 20% of all the visits. The center is in one of the areas most impacted by the urban heat island. South L.A. has some of the least tree cover and green space in the city, the result of a legacy of racist housing and zoning policies.

But many Angelenos in the hottest areas don’t know anything about these cooling centers and what they may offer, said Agustin Cabrera, policy director at Strategic Concepts in Organizing and Policy Education, or SCOPE-LA. The grassroots group organizes for environmental justice and green jobs in South L.A.

“What we hear from South L.A. residents is they generally don't have an idea of where these cooling centers are located, and so that sort of matches up with what we're actually hearing from the city,” Cabrera said. “When we talk more about what they can provide, they’re generally interested, because for the most part folks either don't have access to central air or have cooling systems in their homes, or they don't want to turn them on because of fear of a high utility bill.”

Some of the free water and activity supplies at the Highland Park recreation Cooling Center, which will have extended hours through the weekend.

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Ashley Balderrama

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LAist

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Riser said the city spreads the message primarily via social media, mainly Twitter, and not always in other languages.

“We typically do things in Spanish — not nearly as much as we probably should,” Riser said. “If the council office knows that area well enough to know [language barriers] are an issue, they will get things translated and put things out to their constituents.”

But the message misses most people, said Cabrera. Organizations like SCOPE-LA work to fill in the gaps, using their close relationship in the community to spread the word.

Cabrera said it's important for the city to use culturally relevant communication, which includes not just Spanish in communities like South L.A., but other languages, as well — including indigenous languages.

The limits on cooling centers

Cooling centers are open to everyone. They can also be one of the only options for people living on the streets or in vehicles, but unhoused advocates have long said cooling centers don’t serve their needs. Among the reasons they cite:

• Not being able to bring pets to many locations (when activated as cooling centers, like this week, all city park and rec facilities always allow pets. Service dogs are allowed at libraries.)
• Being worried about leaving their belongings on the street unattended
• Past negative experiences of being kicked out of places such as libraries
• Many unhoused people are disabled or have other health issues that may make it impossible or dangerous to even get to a cooling center amid high heat

When a cooling center is open to everyone, it may serve no one.

“It's important to have the city understand who they're trying to serve when it comes to these centers, because then they're able to ask very specific questions about what those folks need from these centers,” Cabrera said. “And so apart from just being a place where people can find relief from the heat, if it's targeting unhoused folks, what other services do they need? It allows for a more focused conversation, an engaging conversation to make these centers actually useful."

What’s next?

Riser said the city is working to prioritize opening augmented cooling centers in the hottest, highest-risk areas, including low-income and older neighborhoods where housing is least likely to have air conditioning or is poorly insulated.

The city’s Chief Heat Officer Marta Segura has also emphasized the need for what are called “resilience hubs,” trusted community spaces that can be retrofitted with solar panels and battery storage to help communities ride out disasters and power outages.

Augmented centers open this weekend

The following centers will be open through the weekend of July 14 to Monday, July 17 from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. They all allow pets and provide water. Stay up to date with the latest information on cooling centers here. You can also follow LA's Emergency Management Department on Twitter @ReadyLA.

Canoga Park Senior Citizen Center (CD 3)
7326 Jordan Ave., Canoga Park

Fred Roberts Recreation Center (CD 9)
4700 Honduras St., Los Angeles

Highland Park Recreation Center (CD 14)
6150 Piedmont Ave., Los Angeles

Mid Valley Senior Center (CD6)
8825 Kester Ave., Panorama City

Cooling centers at public libraries this weekend

Additionally, the below public libraries will be open on Sunday, July 16 from 1-5 p.m.:

Arroyo Seco Regional Branch Library 
6145 N. Figueroa St., Los Angeles (323-255-0537)

Exposition Park Regional Branch Library 
3900 S. Western Ave. Los Angeles (323-290-3113)

Goldwyn-Hollywood Regional Branch Library 
1623 Ivar Ave., Los Angeles (323-856-8260)

Mid-Valley Regional Branch Library
16244 Nordhoff St. North Hills (818-895-3650)

North Hollywood Regional Branch Library 
5211 Tujunga Ave. North Hollywood (818-766-7185)

San Pedro Regional Branch Library 
931 S. Gaffey St. San Pedro (310-548-7779)

West L.A. Regional Branch Library 
1360 Santa Monica Blvd.  Los Angeles (310-575-8323)

West Valley Regional Branch Library 
9036 Vanowen St. Reseda (818-345-9806)

Maps and other resources

You can find a map of all cooling centers and other heat safety resources from the city of L.A. here, and view the county’s cooling center map and resources here.