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Residents of Westwood, one of Denver’s predominantly Latino neighborhoods, celebrated the grand opening of a new park on Saturday, September 6, 2014.
According to District 3 Councilman Paul Lopez’s Facebook page the Cuatro Vientos-Four Winds Park is the first park to come to district 3 in nearly 30 years.
Local residents, members of Westwood Unidos—a coalition that works to promote healthy living and bring healthy options to the Westwood neighborhood—and many other key stakeholders, gathered between 11am-3pm on Saturday to celebrate the occasion.
According to the Westwood Unidos Facebook page, prior to the park opening, the community had less than 10% of the target acres of park per capita.
In 2012, when the Colorado Health Foundation announced a request for participation (RFP) in their Healthy Places initiative 26 communities, including Westwood, applied for technical assistance.
Later that year, Westwood and two other communities (Arvada and Lamar) were selected to be a part of the Healthy Places program. Through the program, they received support from national experts who helped members of the Westwood Unidos coalition with strategic planning for bringing improvements to the built environment. Now with a new park for the community of Westwood, children have more space to be active. Still, Westwood Unidos continues to pursue alternatives that will expand physical activity and healthy eating options.
To see more photos of how this park is being used, visit Mayor Michael Hancock’s Facebook post and the Westwood Unidos Facebook page.
By The Numbers
33
percent
of Latinos live within walking distance (<1 mile) of a park
