Neighborhood poverty, park use, and park-based physical activity in a Southern California city

► High poverty neighborhoods have a higher population density, but their parks are used less than low poverty area parks in a California city. ► Part-time staff, programs, and organized and supervised activities correlated with observed park use. ► Lack of familiarity with park staff, time watching media, and poor self-rated health correlated negatively with reported park use. ► Low perceived safety correlated negatively with park use among residents, but not among park users.