LA County Analysis
Understanding access to nature and open spaces for LA residents in consideration of social and financial factors.
LA County Parks and Open Space (10 acre+)
Los Angeles County is home to 9.6 million people, spanning 4060 square miles from high desert to Pacific coast line. Within its boundary there are 2789 parks and open space over 10 acres. Our analysis looks to compare the location of these areas and access to the residents of LA county with median home value, median household income, and race / ethnicity.
LA County Parks and Open Space Resident Proximity
This map shows parks and open spaces within a 10 mile radius of an array of homes across LA county.
These findings depict more parks -and therefore more public access to green space- as residents move out from the downtown LA area, either North towards the San Fernando Valley, North East towards El Monte, towards the West Coast, and in South LA going towards Orange County.
The positive correlation between park access and distance from the urban core of LA also correlates with the median home value as seen below.
Median Home Value Hot Cold Spot
The median home value throughout LA county by tract depicts a positive relationship between green space locations and home value; as prices go up, we observe a higher density of parks and open space.
Unsurprisingly, we see yet another strong correlation and similar hot/cold spot map when we observe median household income.
Median Household Income Hot Cold Spot
Similar to median home value, we observe a cold spot effect in the more developed downtown and urban areas like South Gate and downtown. As we move towards the periphery of the city finding places like the coast or foothills, we observe an uptick in the median household income alongside the amount and access to parks and open spaces for residents.
Within our findings, we find that race and ethnicity is also grouped together across LA county.
Population by Race/Ethnicity
This map reflects the race/ethnicity of the populations within each tract. In consideration to our previous maps, we find a similar distinction between the urban / downtown areas versus the city periphery.
When viewing this map it is shown that in the foothills, coastal areas, and Northern part of LA county the majority of the population is White (red), with some integration of Asian (dark blue) populations in Alhambra, Puente Hills, Cerritos and near Torrance.
As we move towards the urban city centers of LA, we observe a majority of Hispanic (light blue) populations stretching from the North East of Covina down to the South West of Downey. In the Inglewood and Westmont area, below and around Baldwin Hills, we find a majority Black (yellow) population.
Our findings from this analysis of LA County illustrate the correlation between house prices, household income, ethnicity, and green space access for LA residents.
We have found that there is a positive correlation between the access to open and green spaces for residents of LA when they:
- are further from the urban city centers
- have a higher household income
- have a high home value
- are White or Asian.
We have found that there is a negative correlation between the access to open and green spaces for residents of LA when they:
- live closer to urban city centers
- have a lower household income
- have a lower home value
- are Hispanic or Black