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Map: L.A. County Has A Lot Of Pools, But Most Of Them Are In The 'Burbs
(Photo by Karol Franks via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr)
A
fun map
uses tax parcel data and aerial maps to take you on a tour of L.A. County's private swimming pools. In
a blog post
, journalist and programmer Ken Schwencke describes reading
a 2013 story in the L.A. Times
about graphic designer Benedikt Gross and researcher Joseph Lee and their project to map Los Angeles County's many pools using satellite imagery and other data. They counted over 40,000, but noticed that some neighborhoods—including Watts and Florence—were sorely left out. Schwencke thought of the story again when looking through data from the L.A. County Assessor's office.
Schwencke noted that there are actually over 250,000 pools, with a great majority—96%—attached to big, gorgeous single-family homes. About 18% of these homes are in Los Angeles. Most pools can be found in the hills, the San Fernando Valley, Beverly Hills and Santa Clarita. When it comes to Los Angeles' inner city, residential pools are scarce. Those findings are somewhat unsurprising. Of course wealthy people in affluent neighborhoods have pools at their multi-million dollar estates.
"I was struck by just how dense pool ownership was outside of the central part of the city...it makes sense on a lot of levels. But I think when you see it it's sort of striking," Schwencke told Co-exist .
And some of those pools, Schwencke noted, are empty or full of trash.
Sponsored message
"It turns out that South L.A. and other neighborhoods do have a lot of single family homes. It's just that they can't afford the space, the upkeep, of everything that goes into a pool," he said.
If you enjoy looking at real estate listings and the like, it's fun to click around the map and peek at L.A.'s pools. Each click will sweep you to another home, tell you how many bedrooms and bathrooms the house has, and where it's located. You can check out the size and shape of the pool using the aerial shots from Google maps and dream about sunny days and mimosas.
You can also check out Gross and Lee's short film, L.A. Swimmer: 43,123 Pools I Have Not Visited And Never Will. The title says it all.
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But the game has changed: Congress voted to eliminate funding for public media across the country. Here at LAist that means a loss of $1.7 million in our budget every year. We want to assure you that despite growing threats to free press and free speech, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust. Speaking frankly, the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news in our community.
We’re asking you to stand up for independent reporting that will not be silenced. With more individuals like you supporting this public service, we can continue to provide essential coverage for Southern Californians that you can’t find anywhere else. Become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission.
Thank you for your generous support and belief in the value of independent news.
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