Standing beside a coast live oak he planted along Murchison Street, William Guerrero looked out over La Loma Park and reminisced about his childhood.
As a kid growing up in Ramona Gardens, he ran through the once-neglected park to buy chips with nacho cheese. Today, the oak’s holly-like leaves curve downward to conserve water, and the tree can live for centuries — a symbol of resilience in a neighborhood surrounded by freeways, freight trains and factories.
“When I look at Ramona, I see my roots,” said William Guerrero, 33, an urban forestry manager for North East Trees and a fourth-generation Ramona Gardens native. “Every single plant and shrub I put in with love and the thought that hopefully this will ignite a young person to fall in love with nature like I did.”
La Loma Park sits inside Ramona Gardens in Boyle Heights, just north of the 10 Freeway. The public housing development is one of LA’s oldest and largest, home to about 1,800 residents and among the most polluted communities in California. This month, North East Trees completed a roughly 70,000-square-foot redesign of the park, transforming it into a green buffer and gathering space for residents with limited access to nature.
Local nonprofit Legacy LA began organizing youth around environmental justice in 2016, conducting air quality studies, organizing cleanups and proposing a four-acre pollution buffer at El Agachón, another open space that sits along the 10 Freeway. Two years later, North East Trees received a nearly $1.8 million grant from the California Natural Resources Agency to expand greening efforts decades in the making. Pandemic delays and funding gaps pushed the project’s total cost to $2.2 million. In 2022, Legacy LA helped get a new playground and basketball court at La Loma.
North East Trees, an environmental justice organization, hires and trains local youth to create greener spaces in Northeast LA, East LA and South LA.
“You can’t have a successful project without engaging the community,” said Guerrero, who previously worked in construction.
Youth from Legacy LA helped build an ADU- and stroller-accessible ramp at La Loma. Freshly paved decomposed granite trails allow residents to walk to nearby markets, bus stops and Murchison Street Elementary School. Rain gardens filled with river rock capture and clean stormwater for native plant groves.
White sage, long used by Indigenous communities, grows alongside milkweed that supports endangered monarch butterflies. More than 350 trees were planted in and around Ramona Gardens, connecting residents to nearby Ascot Hills and Ernest E. Debs Regional Park.
“It’ll be awesome to see kids come out and play again,” said Bryan Hernandez, 29, who grew up playing soccer at La Loma. “I don’t see anyone playing outside anymore. Maybe the park will bring the community together.”
Boyle Heights has significantly fewer trees than wealthier, predominantly White neighborhoods, according to LA’s Urban Forest Equity Report, a reality rooted in historic redlining. Limited tree cover contributes to extreme heat and poor air quality, increasing rates of asthma, heart disease and other respiratory issues. A 2025 Park Needs Assessment found Boyle Heights to be an extremely high-need area.
While green spaces can accelerate gentrification, groups such as the Trust for Public Land have created anti-displacement strategies.
“We believe in beautification, not gentrification,” said Alyza Gonzalez, a natural park campaign lead and program coordinator at Legacy LA. “We understand the urgent need for quality green spaces.”
Ramona Gardens is also known for its iconic Chicano murals, including Judithe Hernández’s 1976 piece “Homenaje a las Mujeres de Aztlán,” and Carlos Amaraz’s depiction of the Mexican revolutionary red scarf-wearing “La Adelita.” The artwork reflects a neighborhood shaped by hardship and resilience.
“I got beat up a lot playing outside, but I had some great times,” said Guerrero, who was raised by a single teenage mother and found solace in nature.
“I’d sit beneath a tree, look up at the birds, hear the wind and leaves and think I’m a part of this.”
Editor’s Note: This story was updated at 3:34 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026, to include additional details about greening efforts by nonprofit Legacy LA.