Piatt Park, Cincinnati, in the median of Garfield Place

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Compared with other major American cities, Los Angeles has an acute dearth of park spaces given its size and population density. While the city recognizes the need for additional parks, land acquisition can prove to be a prohibitive obstacle to building new ones, especially in the densest neighborhoods that are in greatest need of quality green space. On the other hand, Los Angeles has a relatively large portion of its land area dedicated to automobile travel and parking, much of it on publicly-owned roadways. Though the situation appears challenging, the abundance of road space may in fact provide a wonderful opportunity to meet the city's need for more parks while improving the sustainability of our transportation infrastructure.

New parks of varying sizes and uses can be built inside the medians of existing boulevards, leaving traffic lanes on the outer edges of the roadway. While uncommon in North America, median parks can be found in many European cities, particularly good examples being Boulevard Jules Ferry in Paris and the Ramblas in Barcelona. Since street median parks are built on existing public land, planning and construction costs can be greatly reduced. Though this is not a practical change for all Los Angeles' major thoroughfares, it has potential which deserves consideration.