This park is awesome!  A great water feature / splash area for kids and two play structure areas with sand.  There are basketball courts and grass for (maybe) soccer?  Lots of parking on the street and the lot.  It's a little hard to notice on first time visit, but that makes it great because they set the kids area back far enough away from Pico that it's not a hazard.  It's pretty clean to boot!

This is te most adorable little park.  The weather of course in California helped contribute my opinion of course but it was really hip and a nice little run in while I was visiting Santa Monica for work. It was clean also and really just was a cute little play ground for kids too.

I am at this park almost everyday with my 4.5 month old. It is beautiful and has two kids play areas, a water wet area, basket ball courts, free parking, and tons of trees and grass. Note, dogs arent allowed off their leashes here. If this park once had a gang problem it is not present now. there are police available at all times if there was a problem which i have never seen.the bathrooms are large and clean, but bring your own hand soap or sanitizer cause there is none by the sinks. great place for birthday parties as last weekend i saw three at once!

Virginia Park is a small community park nestled in te 20s off Pico Blvd.There is a farmer's market regularly, basketball, fountains for kids to play in, playground, large grass area, dogs on leash, and some picnic tables. There is also parking for free.  Mostly locals and lots of soccer and flag football being played.

If we were going to go for park alone, I probably wouldn't choose this park (it is maybe three stars for park alone)   But I gave it five stars for the water area. Wow, the kiddos had a blast here.   If you drive around you will see there are two parking lots. One is right behind the water area, although there is a 2 hour limit.   There were tons of kids in the water the day we went (it was a hot day).       The water squirts high up in the air and there are water cannon-type things. Bring a swimsuit, they will definitely get soaked.  There is a little island just outside the water area where you can sit and watch. A little further back is more grass, but if you want to sit in the shade under trees you have to go pretty far back where it is hard to see them.  The park area is decent. They have 2 play areas. One for the smaller kids, which if I remember right,  was fenced in to keep them from running towards the street.

This is a super unfriendly place to non-locals. I did end up going there again. My dogs and I were in the play area (sand) and there were no children there (no one at all). I was told that the dogs weren't permitted there. I had seen dogs there before. I said there were no signs saying that dogs weren't allowed. They told me the signs were at the entry ways. So I walked to the entry way signs. No such regulation. BTW, after my last experience there--getting a ticket for parking there while not using the park--I DO NOT park in the parking lot. I park somewhere else so I won't be targeted by parking enforcement.

Very dangerous park!! Not only did one of my former high school friends get shot and killed here, my boyfriend and i were strolling thru the park to get to rite aid, we both got viciously and brutally attacked and beaten by officers LOZANO AND COONEY!! we went to rtial, they lied and said that my bf and i were "disturbing the peace" and "assulting an officer" now correct me if im wrong, but since when has walking thru the park for a short cut in any way threatining or assulting or disturbing the peace?? Soo sad too, ive lived in sm my whole life 21yrs of it and this town has seen worse days , but the cops are more agressive and violent, which i'd understand that agressive force used on hoodlums and gangsters and theives, but on innocent ppl!! Thats croocked!! Not only have i had an incident with these cops and this park but many of the old school residents thatve lived here as long as i have!! HORRIBLE HORRIBLE park, i get scared just being around that park thinking something may happen to me for my being in the wrong place at the wroong time!!Most ppl who havnt been here or lived here as long as i have wont know how dangerous this park is!! It may look all safe n sound but nope!! Dont b fooled, i walk the extra 4 1/2 blocks to rite aid just to avoid this park let alone walk thru it!!!

Small park. But has nice green grass and the essential courts such as the basketball court. Not much to say except good location in the city.

This park is dangerous.  It is a place where there is lots of gang violence.  I was playing soccer there last night and a man was shot and killed.  I will NEVER be going back there!http://latimesblogs.lati…

True about the gang violence.  It is sad.  I live nearby and despite all the wonderful things that have been said about the park, it has been a magnet for gang violence.  This should be a park for law abiding families!

this park is wonderful!  it's huge with lots of different areas for the kids to play - 2 playgrounds, lots of sand, big grassy field...  the water park is amazing.  my son had a grand old time running through it.   the bathrooms were surprisingly clean too, which is a relief for the recently potty trained little ones.it's a little overwhelming for one mom and two toddlers (especially on a crowded day like today) but we will definitely be back on the weekend when i can bring a helping hand (aka Daddy!)

This elegant park in the Pico neighborhood was carefully & laboriously renovated a couple of years ago.  It's a green park!  Not just green 'cause of grass and trees, but green in the environmentally friendly way:  It's been constructed of sustainable materials, using low-water plants.  They even moved the large trees around to create balance.There are a couple of very large grassy areas....in fact I estimate at least half, maybe more, of the space is open area.There are two parking lots, landscaped beautifully with trees and pavers.  Prettiest parking lots in a park I've ever seen.There are 2 basketball courts.There are multiple buildings, for various uses, including a senior center and......The Park Center building (see photo) which contains two state-of-the-art gyms with a boxing ring.The kiddie playground is pretty snazzy too, with equipment like none I've ever seen, on a huge sandy setting.And the piece de resistance:The "splash area".It's got water geysers and also water spouts that the kids can aim at one another. Needless to say, there were fully-dressed kids who were completely soaked.So I got 20 photos of this appealing, well-designed, modern new park.  I'm sure that in the future there will be more green parks to come, and that's a very good thing.

Located in the heart of Santa Monica's Pico Neighborhood, Virginia Avenue Park provides a broad variety of educational and recreational programs, as well as social services and employment assistance.  Virginia Avenue Park also has a    2.9 -acre open lawn area with a meandering path, picnic tables, barbeques, two full size basketball courts, two playgrounds and free Wi-Fi internet access. Don't miss the Farmer's Market on Saturdays (8am to 1pm) or the Splash Pad - interactive water play area for children.