Environmental Justice (EJ) is a fairly new concept for urban planners, one that acknowledges the harm done to poor or marginalized communities that have been are adversely impacted by pollution, resource extraction, and problemmatic land uses from which they do not benefit. In recent years, the state began to require local General Plans to address environmental justice in their General Plans.   Accordingly, Alameda County has been preparing an Environmental Justice Element (chapter) for its General Plan. The County has identified several of its unincorporated communities as priority areas for EJ. Ashland, a member of our California (un)Incorporated coalition, is one of those places, along with several of its other unincorporated Bay side communities.

So it was great to learn about a new Hayward Area Recreation District (HARD) park in Ashland. Unlike unincorporated Ashland's municipal services provider - Alameda County - HARD has recognized that Ashland suffers from a historical lack of essential services and amenities and is doing something about it. Earlier this month HARD cut ribbon on a new park for Ashland, one that aspires to make the community better. Funded by a $7.3M state park grant, the new park addresses the diverse needs of the community by providing  specific features for healthy and safe recreation and community gatherings. Located on a prime 1-acre site in the heart of the Ashland, the park - known as Ashland Zocalo ("town square") Park - was designed as an urban plaza that welcomes pop-up markets and food trucks and offers intergenerational fitness and play areas. It has an outdoor stage, walking loops, and open green spaces along with modern restroom facilities adorned with stunning mosaics crafted by local Oakland artist Debbie Koppman. The park's unique multicolored shade structures make the park easily identifiable as a new outdoor space that will foster wellness, recreation, and social cohesion for the people of Ashland.

Readers of our California (un)Incorporated website are no doubt aware of our quest for a better quality of life for people who live in our state's unincorporated communites. We speak up for the 5 million Californians whose civic fabric and related urban infrastructure is typically overlooked. Special Districts are political subdivisions authorized by state law to provide specialized, tailored services not offered by a local city or county. There are thousands of them in California, some of which deliver park and recreation services. HARD is one such Special District. It serves the City of Hayward and the unincorporated communities of Castro Valley, Fairview and the Eden Area (Ashland, Cherryland, Hayward Acres and San Lorenzo). The lack of parks in the area is not HARD's fault, it is just another instance where the County historically failed in its municipal duties. To HARD's credit, the district has set a course to better serve the  EJ areas within its territory. In collaboration with other entities for affordable housing and environmental remediation assistance, HARD is now working on another park in Ashland, a few blocks from Ashland Zocalo Park. The planned "Ashland Grove" will include a community center, a daycare facility and 3 acres of recreational park land. California (un)Incorporated is grateful for the many Special districts that serve unincorporated communities around the state. With their limited focus on specific aspects of a community's infrastructure, those districts do not provide municipal governance. But by checking the boxes on one or more parts of the urban infrastructure, they make the establishment of new cities more cost-effective. The cities we hope will be formed for the sake of  better municipal governance can focus on providing services that the former unincorporated community does not already get from a Special District. If a new city was to be formed to serve the unincorporated area residents of Alameda County's Castro Valley, Fairview and/or the Eden Area, it will be able to rely on HARD for its park and recreation service delivery, just as the City of Hayward does.