Ascot Hills Park

During my stay in Los Angeles in early 2016 I was constantly searching for places that offer a good view over the city. With a little help from my friend Max who lives and works in LA, I found the by far most beautiful sunset spot: The Ascot Hills. The hills are located in a residential area not far from downtown. The gardens are overgrown, a large rusty barbed wire fence surrounds the territory. Benches, signs or sanitary facilities are missing.

Plans to transform the hill into a park date back to the 1930s. Generations already strived for the appointment of Ascot Hills to become a public park. Funds were approved and then canceled, plans created and discarded. In 2000 a citizens’ initiative successfully fought against the city’s intend to flatten the unkempt territory for football and baseball fields.

7 years later it was almost certain for the hills to become a park finally. The municipality built a parking lot and an entrance gate which today, only a decade later, is already dilapidated. Two small gravel paths stretch over the hills. The remaining building project has been left unfinished but the stagnation is thoroughly manageable.

Instead of a public green space the terrain is now home to a number of wild plants and animals. The ways are devoid of people and from the summit you can calmly enjoy the most spectacular sunset view over the city.

As the night falls coyotes take over the place and it is time to leave.