Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 44(6): November 2018 293 and property costs rising throughout the county the prospect that low-income residents could be priced out of their neighborhoods looms large. With regard to the study topic, there exists Figure 1. Community-Based Social Marketing is an evidence- based approach to fostering sustainable behavior that involves five steps. The Pilot Community of Huntington Park, California Huntington Park is an incorporated commu- nity located in southeast Los Angeles County, California. With a population of 58,114, this 3 mi2 (7.77 km2 ) city has one of the highest pop- ulation densities in the county, as well as one of the highest percentages of Latinos: 97.1% of residents identify as Latino, predominantly from Mexico, and many are recent immigrants (U.S. Census Bureau 2010; Los Angeles Times 2017a; Los Angeles Times 2017b). The median age is 24, young compared to the rest of the county (Los Angeles Times 2017c). Almost 60% of house- holds have children under 18, and nearly 95% of residents speak Spanish, with more than half having difficulty with English (U.S. Census Bu- reau 2010). About 60% of adults have not ob- tained a high school diploma, and only one in 20 adults has a four-year degree (SCAG 2015). The median household income is USD $34,887, lower than the county’s median of $56,196 and the state’s median of $59,540 (U.S. Census Bureau 2010). Nearly three-fourths of homes are renter- occupied (U.S. Census Bureau 2010). Average household size is 3.9 people, which is high for the county, and over one-third of households have five or more occupants (SCAG 2015; Los Angeles Times 2017d). It is not uncommon to have up to 10 people in a home, with multiple generations in a household; non-relatives may also live in the house- hold (C. Basurto, personal communication). As in other parts of southeastern Los Angeles County, concerns over gentrification exist. Huntington Park has no rent control ordinance, and with rent within the community a general appreciation for plants, caring for land and community, and enjoy- ing parks and public outdoor spaces, which are frequently used for a range of family and commu- nity celebrations (C. Basurto, personal communi- cation). Huntington Park is subject to a number of environmental inequities relative to other com- munities in the region and state, and has a history of activism aimed at addressing environmental injustices, led by such groups as Communities for a Better Environment. Cal EnviroScreen, a tool developed by the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) on behalf of the California Environmental Protection Agency to help identify communities disproportionately bur- dened by multiple sources of pollution and with population characteristics that make them more sensitive to pollution, classifies Huntington Park’s neighborhoods in the 81%–85% and 91%–95% groups for experiencing high levels of pollution and vulnerability (OEHHA 2017). Huntington Park is the site of several brownfields, a result of both heavy manufacturing in the community until the 1960s and a proximity to the industrial city of Vernon (U. S. Environmental Protection Agency 2015). Huntington Park has an estimated 15% canopy cover, lower than the county’s overall num- ber of 28% (TreePeople 2011). This is consistent with the inequitable distribution of tree canopy in the region, with research confirming that lower- income communities of color, especially those in arid climates, experience disproportionately low levels of canopy cover (Schwarz et al. 2015). Health and environmental conditions made Huntington Park a compelling candidate for this study. Additionally, City staff was support- ive, collaborative, and responsive. As community interest grew in the tree planting program, the City partnered with TreePeople, an urban for- estry organization, to plant hundreds of street trees in residential areas and make space avail- able in a Public Works Department yard for trees, mulch, stakes, and secure tool storage for TreePeople staff. Founded in Los Angeles in 1973, TreePeople helped launch a city-based ©2018 International Society of Arboriculture
November 2018
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