Tongva Park, named for the indigenous people of the Los Angeles Basin, opened in 2013 on a site that was formerly a parking lot. The design by landscape architect James Corner (who also did New York's High Line) turns the sloped block next to City Hall into a series of terraced gardens with ocean views, a children's play area, a circular pavilion, and plantings that reference the native landscape of Southern California.
It is a genuinely good piece of urban design in a city not always known for them, and popular with locals for lunch breaks and weekend visits. The park connects directly to the Metro station and to the Ken Genser Square plaza, making it a useful gathering point in the civic centre of the city.