Keeping Los Angeles beautiful
The Olympic Games Los Angeles 1984 were used as an opportunity to clean up the city, creating a legacy of reinforced civic engagement in Los Angeles.
The Keep Los Angeles Beautiful – Olympic Youth Beautification Programme was launched in the spring of 1983. It constituted an environmental partnership that organised community groups to clean up various parts of Los Angeles, specifically those neighbourhoods that surrounded competition and training facilities.
More than 20,000 trees and rose bushes were planted across Olympic competition venues, training locations, schools and parks, as a result of the 1984 Olympic Games.
As part of the programme, clean-up projects were implemented on school campuses, led by school children themselves. Official Olympic sponsor Coca-Cola provided uniforms for those involved in the programme.
The spirit of community engagement can still be seen in Los Angeles through programmes such as those supported by the City of Los Angeles Board of Public Works Office of Community Beautification.