The Westside’s largest public playground space—the kids’ area inside Admiral Kidd Park, one of only four parks in the entirety of the westside, with Hudson, Silverado, and the sliver-of-a-space that is Tanaka rounding out the total—is getting a much-appreciated upgrade.
Officials broke ground on the playground today, which will expand accessibility thanks to an ADA-approved pathway as well as give West Long Beach residents another option beyond the playgrounds at Silverado and Hudson Parks
Though the city has impressively expanded its park access over the past five years—with 84% of the city’s residents being within a ten-minute walk of a space, a nearly 5% increase in access over three years alone according to the Trust for Public Land—our overall ranking across the nation has dropped significantly across the pandemic as we have yet to create any new park space and solely depend on existing space.
Even more, as has been the tale for decades, the disparities between the accessible and not accessible fall disproportionately on two areas of Long Beach: West and North Long Beach.
West Long Beach residents have maintained a a paltry acre per 1,000 residents or what amounts to about a soccer field for over a decade. As previously reported, this is far below the National Recreation and Parks Association’s standards for a healthy city, set at a minimum of 10 acres of parks for every 1,000 of its residents. In fact, it’s legally deemed “park poor,” particularly compared to East Long Beach, which averages a staggering 16.7 acres per 1,000 residents thanks to the massive 650-acre El Dorado Park.
Of the 31,066 acres of land within our city limits, 3,123 acres are dedicated to parks—a number that has not changed in years, with the aforementioned El Dorado Park representing the largest chunk of that acreage.
Admiral Kidd Park is located at 2025 Santa Fe Ave. in West Long Beach.
