General Plan Update - City of Inglewood

5.4 Visual Resources
such as parks, and landscaped areas are also considered natural elements because of their
visual importance to the surrounding areas.
A major focus of the City of Inglewood has been the creation of two basic man-made
types of open space. One is the traditional city park, providing either active or passive
recreation. There are ten traditional city parks in Inglewood today, most of which are
smaller one-to-two-acre neighborhood parks with the exception of three larger parks
which provide a full offering of recreational and community facilities. These parks include
Centinela Park (51 acres), Darby Park (14 acres), and Rogers Park (10 acres). Inglewood’s
parks are further discussed in Section 4.2 (Recreation and Parks) of this TBR, and their
locations are illustrated in Figure 4.2-1. The second type of man-made open space that
exists in the City is non-park open space that also provides visual relief from the
increasing urbanization of Inglewood and its environs. Examples of this latter type can
include public plazas, landscaped boulevards and even greenbelts between buildings on
private property.
Views and Vistas
The City of Inglewood is characterized by
moderate hillside areas mostly to the north
(Baldwin Hills residential areas) and the southeast
(Darby Park, residential areas along Manchester
Blvd. between Crenshaw Blvd. and Prairie Ave,
and south Crenshaw residential areas between
Century Blvd. and W. 108 th Street), with relatively
flat areas in the remainder of the City (See
View from Darby Park looking southwest
Figure 5.3-1 (Topography/Slope Analysis) in Section 5.3 of this TBR). Elevations within
Inglewood range from approximately 42 feet to 250 feet from ocean level. With the
exception of the northern and southeastern hillside areas, the majority of the City
(approximately 92 percent) has a ground slope between zero and five percent. Views onto
and across the City include views of the hilly residential areas that are situated in the
north and southeastern portions of Inglewood and adjacent communities. Inglewood is
largely built-out and characterized by residential, commercial and some industrial uses.
Scenic Highways
California’s Scenic Highway Program was created
in 1963, and the scenic highway designation serves
to protect and enhance California’s natural scenic
beauty and to protect the social and economic
values provided by the state’s scenic resources.
Presently, there are no scenic highways officially
designated by the state within Inglewood.
Landscape elements along north section
of Hillcrest Boulevard
City of Inglewood General Plan Update Technical Background Report
5.4-3