They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.. NOT HERE!!! Take one step inside Tongva Park in Santa Monica, California, and you'll find it hard to believe that this 6-acre urban oasis was once a flat asphalt parking lot just a few short years ago. Together with Ken Genser Square, these two public spaces were part of a community-sourced vision for a vibrant new neighborhood that would bring life to Santa Monica's Civic Center. Designed by a project team led by James Corner Field Operations, these new open spaces have made the community's vision a reality.
Landscape architects James Corner states "The design was inspired by the original arroyo [wash] that historically underlaid the site and is seen in the stone conglomerates of the Palisades escarpment. We also shaped it from a flat parking lot to a sculpted topography, with hills and hollows, which let us create various enclosures in the park, protected from the sight and sound of the adjacent streets. It also allowed us to create raised hills where views to the ocean, the pier and other features in Santa Monica could be made visible"
It features a native and locally-appropriate sustainable plant palette that changes subtly with the seasons. The dramatic topography of rolling hills and braided paths inspired by the arroyo wash landscape makes the park feel much larger than 6 acres, accommodating a range of uses that benefit the health and wellbeing of community members and visitors of all ages. Plant, tree, and turf areas are irrigated using water from the nearby Santa Monica Urban Runoff Recycling Facility (SMURRF) water reclamation facility. Irrigated water and stormwater are maintained on site through the natural movement of water into bioswales at the base of almost every hill in the park. Beyond just plants, the parks have been fundamentally modeled on healthy, native environments whose interconnected botanical, hydrologic, topographic, and agronomic systems work to provide restored ecosystem services to the site.
See for yourself why this thriving urban oasis is a favorite among locals and tourist alike.
http://tongvapark.smgov.net/explore/
1615 Ocean Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90401