Baldwin Hills in Los Angeles is home to the Inglewood Oil Fields, a vast and anomalous expanse of derricks, pump jacks, power poles, settling tanks, and other production-related infrastructure. While 452 of the field’s 1,400 acres have already been converted into Kenneth Hahn State Park and recreational facilities, the fate of the remaining 948 hangs in the balance, with a broad coalition of stakeholders envisioning a major regional park.
The goal of this project was to calculate the costs and benefits tied to the acquisition, construction, maintenance, and operation of an integrated, 1,400-acre Baldwin Hills Park.
The end result is a benefit-cost ratio of 1.72, a compelling economic justification for public investment in the completion of this project. More importantly, this study can also provide a better understanding of the long-term value that large-scale urban parks are capable of generating.
Presented at the Baldwin Hills Conservancy Regional Authority and other public meetings in the LA area, the analysis calculates nearly $2.7 billion in value attributable to the park over a forty-year period. It also suggests the framework for a public-private partnership to implement a value-capture financing approach based on the distribution of benefits to park users, adjacent property owners, and other stakeholders.
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