Vista La Mesa Park Ranked Least Favorite in City Poll

Harry Griffen and La Mesita are the most popular parks in La Mesa, while Vista La Mesa and Northmont are the least used, according to early results of an online survey being conducted by the city of La Mesa and underwritten by federal stimulus funds.

Griffen—with its dog park, amphitheater and wide grassy expanses—is used just under every three months on average by respondents to the constantcontact.com survey available through the end of August. (See parks survey here.)

Results of the survey—plus park and walk audits and a recent community workshop— will be compiled in September for creation of a citywide parks master plan, said Assistant City Manager Yvonne Garrett.

 “The [parks] master plan will create a long-term plan for updating and upgrading city parks and bringing opportunities for increased physical activity into areas of the city that are more than 15 minutes walking distance from a park facility,” Garrett said Monday.

Fewer than 100 people had filled out the survey as of Monday afternoon—out of a population of 57,000—so the online poll “will not be a statistically valid survey,” Garrett noted. “It is just one more way to get community input.”

The survey asks 14 questions, including what people do at the parks and what keeps them from using parks more.

According to current results, by far the biggest reason people don’t go to the city’s 14 parks is “feel unsafe.”  Just short of half the respondents—45.7 percent— said this. The No. 2 reason, cited by 24 percent, was “trash and graffiti present.”

Vista La Mesa Park in southwest La Mesa at King Street and Hoffman Avenue received the lowest ranking in the online survey, with respondents giving this park an average mark of 4.9—with 5.0 standing for “[I] don't use [this park].”

The biggest reason people use parks is for walking or running, cited by 60 percent of respondents. No. 2 was for exercising/walking dogs, at 47.5 percent. Playground use for kids 5-13 and personal activities like reading and thinking were cited by about 44 percent.

The survey is being conducted as part of the parks master plan work made possible by the Healthy Works grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through the County of San Diego, Garrett said. 

“The Healthy Works is a countywide initiative making systems and environmental changes promoting wellness and addressing the nationwide obesity epidemic,” she said via email.

More information about the $16.2 million is here.

“Healthy Works, administered by the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency, is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and includes the University of California San Diego, SANDAG, San Diego County Office of Education, Community Health Improvement Partners and San Diego State University, along with numerous community-based partners.”

The project is part of the county’s “Live Well, San Diego! Building Better Health” initiative, a 10-year vision for healthy communities.

This survey isn’t the first done online by City Hall, Garrett noted.

“We started in 2006 with a survey about smoke-free parks,” she said.

According to La Mesa Focus, the city’s quarterly newsletter, the smoking survey online and print-based in spring 2006 led to a new ordinance.

“As a result of the total responses received through the public input process, the La Mesa City Council adopted Section 9.08.074 of the La Mesa Municipal Code designating all La Mesa City parks as smoke free and tobacco free environments,” Focus reported.

The ordinance took effect Aug. 10, 2006.

Another survey online involves transit options, with eight questions such as How often do you use the following modes of travel? And If you do not currently use transit, what factors currently deter you from using it?