Roberto (Bear) Guerra

A former Department of Water and Power yard at the North Hollywood intersection of Fulton St. and Vanowen Ave. is being converted into a new pocket park as part of the city's "50 Parks Initiative." The park is still under construction and is scheduled to open later this year.

Ashley Myers-Turner/KPCC

The 49th Street Park's sister park, McKinley Avenue Park, is located half a block away and also opens this week.

Park space accounts for under 15 percent of L.A's footprint, but most of that area is in the mountains or near wealthy neighborhoods. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa wants to change that.

He's pushing for a plan that would create dozens of so called "pocket parks," by converting small vacant lots or foreclosed homes into recreational space

KPCC's Molly Peterson followed the developing project. Click here for the full story.