Page 11 - cp19331935delinquency

--nine--

At the inception of the project the question of physical facilities was an
immediate and pressing one, especially in the large unincorporated areas where mushroom
growth was many jumps ahead of playground planning and development. The Belvedere district

for example, had sprung up within a comparatively few years to a population of 75,000

in Si square miles with a maximum population density of 16,120 per square mile, the

highest Mexican population of any area of its size in California as well as one of the

highest juvenile delinquency rates in the county. There was the Hollenbeck Heights area

with a population of 97,000 in 7½ aqua.re miles, a maximum population density of 19,150

per square mile and the highest delinquency rate in the county, running up to as high

as 72 per 1,000 of juvenile population. It was imperative that recreation areas and

leadership be found immediatelye Many of the more remote areas and communities which had

never had organized playgrounds and ~iie not particularly interested constillited another

another problem. Community leaders had to be found and convinced of the importance 6f

organized recreation under trained leadership. At first opposition had to be overcome in

certain quarters. An approach had to be found to provincialism, sometimes in the appeal

of one single activity in the hope of leading to a broader program. This work was en-

trusted to Marion Miller with her experience in program planning and activities organiza-

tion. Frequently the more spectacular events were resorted to such as doll shows, pet

shows and the children's Fiesta. in order to arouse community interest. Invariably they

were successful.

Generally in the large incorporated cities the problem was partially solved due to
7"""""'
the fact that there were already in existence 268 supervised playgrounds.~ it was

that only 68 of this number were being used to capacity because of curtailment of personnel.

These playgrounds were about equally distributed between school grounds and recreation

departmentrcenters. If the project had not had the advantage of having these playgrounds

available it is obvious that it could not have been so quickly successful.

As it was, the majority were located in the urban centers which left the sparsely

settled areas where delinquency is often a serious problem wit(playgrounds. This was

remedied with the establishment of 85 new playgrounds in 37 communities. Where the school

grounds were not adequate ttue to their location or lack of sufficient space, private

owners of unused and suitable lots and tracts were appealed to to donate the use of th\er