What if we transformed one of L.A.’s least used freeways into one of the county’s largest urban parks—reconnecting a historically divided community and drastically expanding affordable housing in an underserved district?
Marina Central Park, a vision co-developed by SWA and the nonprofit Streets for All, proposes a transformation of three miles of the unfinished Marina Freeway (CA-90) into a 128-acre linear park including almost 4,000 new units of affordable housing, a network of new multimodal trails, dedicated lanes for a future Bus Rapid Transit line between Lincoln and Sepulveda Boulevard, expanded retail frontage, and enhanced access to the Ballona Creek Trail and Ecological Reserve.
Altogether, the vision addresses a suite of problems shared by Angelenos citywide: declining air quality, stormwater flooding, a critical housing shortage, and Black and Brown neighborhoods rent apart by 1960s-era highway infrastructure fueled by racist planning policies—reimagining the corridor as a model for sustainability, walkability, and improved quality of life.
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Read about it in Urbanize LA.
Elk Grove Civic Center
SWA’s design for this community resource improves upon part of a 56-acre master plan with a civic center campus set within a beautiful park, and an added public outdoor commons. The pedestrian-friendly commons weaves new buildings together with mature trees and an outdoor living space linking together a community center, an aquatics center, and a future librar...
Great Park
One of the world’s largest municipal parks, the 1,300-acre Great Park in Irvine, California, is currently under construction with phased openings continuing through 2029. The conceptual framework encompasses redesign and implementation of near- and longer-term uses, with the intent to “put the park back into the park.” The vast site, which was once the Marine ...
Jeffrey Open Space Park
The Jeffrey Open Space Park represents approximately 96 acres of park and trails, with an average width of 265 ft. The three-mile long spine is designed for passive uses with a network of trails that connect to residential neighborhoods and active recreation parks.
The design process included a series of community workshops to solicit community’s commen...
Homecrest Playground
Part of the larger Shore Parkway, an 816.1-acre collection of parks that stretches across Brooklyn and Queens, Homecrest Playground originally opened in 1942 with a baseball field, basketball courts, handball courts, and benches for community use. This park redesign focuses on providing different playground and recreation amenities for surrounding residents.