Medina 1

Efren Medina
English 114B
Professor Lawson
2/19/2014
Word Count: 1250
A Space for Everyone
Salt Lake Park is a place where people from around the Huntington Park community can
go to be surrounded by people similar to them. A space like this reflects the community and
easily shows which cultures it is influenced by. This space is very important to many people in
the community as this is a place where they can go to forget about their worries and have fun
while interacting with others. Salt Lake Park is a safe place for people who live near by.
Parks are created for recreational use. In the case of Salt Lake Park, it was created so that
people from around the community can enjoy it. Salt Lake Park has a soccer field, 5 basketball
courts, and a playground for children. It is designed to attract everyone from the community to
be active and be able to interact with each other. I think it includes what it does so that it can
accommodate to the needs of everyone in the community. Huntington Park is primarily made up
of Latinos who mainly enjoy the sports soccer and basketball. Although the park is relatively big
it chose to only include areas to play those two sports because everyone knows that those are the
only sports that will be played there by most people from the community. Although the park is
mainly visited by latinos because of the area it is located in, people from all different races are
welcomed. Salt Lake Park is widely visited by people from the city of Downey, South Gate,
Cudahy, and South Central. Although all these other cities also have their own public parks, I
believe that our park is visited far more because of its friendly and safe environment.
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People from all ages visit the park, and while most believe that the park is almost only for
people who do sports, studies show that Recreational participation declines with age, but park
use does not. In fact, people between the ages of 65 and 74 use local parks more frequently than
any other age group from those 15 and older. The times the park is most visited are on
weekdays after seven because many people go after school and work. It is a place where they can
relieve their stress. Many people are influenced by trends in the park like listening to the music
they hear, wearing similar clothing, and speaking very similar. Having a place like that in our
community is very important because it allows us to understand each other better and become
closer. I always see people I meet at the park around the city and I feel this allows us to be
friendlier to each other. The park is very important to many people in the community. No matter
the reason, many positive things come to people because of the park. Many people who I have
met there say they dont have many fun things to do but feel that going to the park is something
productive. The park connects to our community by allowing us to go there and do things we are
accustomed too. Our culture is reflected at the park by the food, people, and the tendencies of the
people who visit it.
Parks can also give many health benefits to people. Besides allowing people to have a
place to work out, it also gives them a place to interact with nature. Studies have shown that
interaction with plants, animals and the wilderness have many positive effects on a person. Some
of these benefits include lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels, enhanced survival after a
heart attack, more rapid recovery from surgery, fewer minor medical complaints, and lower self-
reported stress. The benefits a space like this can have on people are very important and have a
great effect on us. Parks even have a positive effect on people who do not visit them. One of the
positive things about having many different plans at a park is that they improve air quality for the
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areas surrounding the park. They also create a place where ground water can recharge, something
that is very important in cities that do not have many open spaces. Furthermore, parks also raise
the property value of homes in communities that are nearby. The benefits of a space like a park
are unparalleled by any other.
I visit the park around 4 times a week. I live about five minutes away and I go there for
many different reasons. Sometimes I play either basketball or soccer, which are both completely
different experiences. Basketball is generally played by younger more Americanized people
while soccer is played by people of all ages and a lot of Spanish is spoken while in the game. I
also jog at the park every two days because it is safe, fresh, and has beautiful scenery.
Furthermore it is a great place to enjoy time with my family. There are many benches at the park
where we can picnic and there are also places where in the park where people are allowed to
have barbeques and host parties. Salt Lake Park has been around since before I was born and has
always and will continue to have a huge impact on my life.
Vandalism is a very serious thing in my neighborhood. Many gangs reside around where
I live and have a very negative impact on the people from my community. A positive thing about
the park is that it is always patrolled by cops and has many programs to help keep people off the
streets and the park offers many job and volunteering opportunities to people from the
community and also hosts many free events. They also have many cool events like a fair and
circus. These are events that even people from neighboring cities attend to have a great time. I
remember throughout my high school years that everyone would always attend these events
because they were very fun. In many cities like south central, parks are controlled by gangs and
are used for many illegal things. Other parks just go uncared for and have many homeless people
living in them and are polluted with trash everywhere. I really appreciate that my park is not like
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that and I know that many people from my neighborhood take pride in keeping our park clean
and safe for everyone.
A space is a place where people can go and allow themselves to relieve from stress. The
space will usually reflect the culture and people who surround it. Spaces are all designed a
certain way so that it will be comfortable for the people who are using it. It is very important for
everyone to have a place like that because it will affect their lives in a positive way. It allows
them to become more social and do something productive. Salt Lake Park is very important to
my community and will always have a huge positive impact in the people who live around it.















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Works Cited
Frumkin H. 2001. "Beyond toxicity: The greening of environmental health." American Journal
of Preventative Medicine, 20:234-40
Payne, Laura, et al. October 1998. "Local Parks and the Health of Older Adults," Parks and
Recreation.