Sustainable Landscape Tour

Los Angeles Design Festival is great. What a great way to spread awareness and have fun at the same time. Being in the design and architecture industry, I love attending events like these. Especially if they are free (but we gave a donation).
The Sustainable Landscape Tour was a bit disorganized but overall a very fun, educational and new experience. The tour was 4 hours and it hit 4 – 5 parks where sustainable plants, trees, and shrubbery were used as well as different water conservation techniques. Here are some of the parks we hit:
* Marsh Park — this was an adorable and pleasant surprise! Who knew such a beautiful and serene park existed right along the bike path and along the LA River! It has many different pockets of areas (children, grass, pavilion that you can rent, exercise machines) which were all neat. Well kept by MRCA, it’s a beautiful stop if you’re biking along the LA River or just strolling through the neighborhood. Plus they have their own parking lot!
* Elysian Valley Community Garden & Jardin del Rio Community Garden — we only got to go to the first one due to time constraints, but what a lovely piece of land for the neighborhood to use. We saw all sorts of veggies, fruits and plants being grown. From artichokes to corn, strawberries to kale and so much more. Very inspiring and of course, timely with the whole revolution Ron Finley has started.
* Vista Hermosa Natural Park — how can I not know about this park? Lived in LA all my life and passed by 1^st St. so many millions of times. Wow, this was truly a hidden gem. Gorgeous grounds, gorgeous views, just beautiful and peaceful. I definitely want to make another trip out to check out everything. People were picnicking, napping, there were photo shoots going on, kids were running around. You would never think you’re in the middle of LA in this park. There’s a children’s area, grass knolls, clean bathrooms, lots of benches and tables, and a soccer field. The views of the LA skyline are just breathtaking.
* Grand Park — we have been here before but never walked it in its entirety. There’s so much planning that goes into an urban park, it’s really amazing. I felt so educated on the process and the procedures these architects, landscape architects and city planners went through to create such beautiful, peaceful, green space for us.
Very educational as well as a great time exploring LA and parts that I would have never discovered by myself. I hope LADF keeps up the great work!