The Madison Park Neighborhood Association wanted to see the residents of their neighborhood use their park and trail system more often. The Association would like to help the community experience the serenity and beauty at these green places all while getting more fit and healthy. To help reach this goal, they recently suggested a partnership with the City of Santa Ana to realize an initiative that would have a positive impact on the issues of illegal camping, graffiti, trash, and also help to improve maintenance as well as the look of the park and trail system.

The result of this interest was the creation of the first Safe and Active Living District (SALUD) initiative. Madison Park SALUD is a committee of residents that meet once a month with the City of Santa Ana’s Parks, Recreation, and Community Services Agency to discuss ways to reduce safety concerns in the park and trail system, improve the look of these areas and most importantly organize the neighborhood to develop a passion to use the park and trails to stay healthy and fit. They kicked off this new mission with the walk-a-thon event which started at Madison Park and looped into the trail and back. This was the start of the festivities for the Association’s annual Community Fair and concert. The association, made up of group of people that are focused and eager to help the community, worked hard to accomplish this unique day. There is also a SALUD Walking Club that was formed as a result of their efforts in the Madison area.

The City of Santa Ana Parks, Recreation and Community Services Agency has used this first SALUD as a model to implement these “healthy” districts in 4 out of the 60 neighborhood associations in Santa Ana. The SALUD Districts are supported by ALISA (Active Living in Santa Ana) via the Opportunities Funding Initiative of Active Living by Design.

City of Santa Ana Profile: The population that is served by the initiative is one with limited resources for exploring recreational opportunities. The city is 97 percent built out, with only 0.9 acres of open space per 1,000 residents and less than 10 percent of the State standard of three acres per 1,000 inhabitants. There are 371,837 persons living in a city that is 27.2 square miles and approximately 76 percent of the residents are Hispanic. The median household income in Santa Ana is approximately $20,000 less than that of other Orange County residents.