All posts in the topic Our City Parks Need Help (Short link)
Summary
- There are 3 posts — by 2 authors — in this topic.
- Latest post made by Cristina Gonzalez at Jul 22 18:04 UTC
What are your thoughts on Las Vegas city parks?
I frequent Lincoln Park with my (nearly) three year old daughter, and it can be
disgusting: cigarette butts, fast food trash, dog poop, graffitied & broken
playground equipment...not exactly the quaint small-town park that I envision
for my children.
This list of what I have personally encountered doesn't even come close to the
first-hand accounts I've heard of urine & feces in the gazebo, broken alcohol
bottles and even used needles.
The recent repainting of the gazebo was a welcome and much-needed start to the
"beautification" of Lincoln Park, but I would like to generate discussion about
long-term, city-wide park rehabilitation and maintenance.
Besides the trash, we have tree problems: according to a recent Optic article,
Lincoln Park has lost 22% of its trees since 2000. And more need to come down
soon- not only in Lincoln Park, but also at the Plaza and other city parks.
Lincoln is the park favored by families in the summer because of the tree cover
and large, grassy areas. But it needs help. Sure, there are other, newer
playgrounds, but they remain inhospitable and under-used or unused. What mother
wants to take her child to play next to the freeway under the blazing sun?
In the city's efforts to scatter playground equipment throughout the various
wards, we've created a whole bunch of poorly-thought and uninviting public
spaces. To what end?
So where do we begin, Las Vegas?
Respectfully Yours,
Cristina Gonzalez
There are problems which may manifest at our city parks, but are not at their heart city park problems. Among them, I would include human feces, used needles, discarded liquor bottles. We have issues in this town, big ones, with meth and crack addiction, ETOH addiction, homelessness. Only a block away from the park, I did a walkabout and found a place in an alley behind tall weeds where homeless folk had been crashing. Human feces, discarded clothing. Nasty. We need a homes for the homeless in this town, and we need more effective rehab, and more importantly IMO we need things which we can rally around and give ourselves to that are more compelling in their interest than drinking and tweaking. We need community. What we have now is a number of dysfunctional communities infighting, and many people left off the bus completely. Many/most left off the bus are substance addicted, some mentally unbalanced, some consumed by the gang culture. What to do? The knee-jerk is to be inhospitable, to NOT provide portapotties, shelter, food etc thinking these people will go away, but that is no way to treat anybody. How can we welcome our lost Las Vegans back into the fold? Lee Cristina Gonzalez wrote: > What are your thoughts on Las Vegas city parks? > > I frequent Lincoln Park with my (nearly) three year old daughter, and it can be disgusting: cigarette butts, fast food trash, dog poop, graffitied & broken playground equipment...not exactly the quaint small-town park that I envision for my children. > > This list of what I have personally encountered doesn't even come close to the first-hand accounts I've heard of urine & feces in the gazebo, broken alcohol bottles and even used needles. > > The recent repainting of the gazebo was a welcome and much-needed start to the "beautification" of Lincoln Park, but I would like to generate discussion about long-term, city-wide park rehabilitation and maintenance. > > Besides the trash, we have tree problems: according to a recent Optic article, Lincoln Park has lost 22% of its trees since 2000. And more need to come down soon- not only in Lincoln Park, but also at the Plaza and other city parks. > > Lincoln is the park favored by families in the summer because of the tree cover and large, grassy areas. But it needs help. Sure, there are other, newer playgrounds, but they remain inhospitable and under-used or unused. What mother wants to take her child to play next to the freeway under the blazing sun? > > In the city's efforts to scatter playground equipment throughout the various wards, we've created a whole bunch of poorly-thought and uninviting public spaces. To what end? > > So where do we begin, Las Vegas? > > Respectfully Yours, > > Cristina Gonzalez > > > Cristina Gonzalez > Las Vegas > Info about Cristina Gonzalez: http://forums.e-democracy.org/p/1DoOZ3lq5da7INzKRaEz7v > > This topic's messages may be viewed at: http://forums.e-democracy.org/r/topic/3xL12ejq6QXrKPZczsBI86
Thanks, Lee, for your thoughtful response to my initial question.
I'm glad you bring attention to underlying problems which manifest not only in
city parks, but also (I suspect) in other public spaces and neighborhoods.
Tackling large issues such as homelessness, addiction, and mental health will
be critical for building "community", as you put it. But community is not the
only reason to commit to doing this hard and thankless work: it is also the
only humane and ethical response. You are right to call for shelters and rehab.
You are right to call for "more compelling" rallying points (what do you mean
by "drinking and tweaking"?).
IMO, healthy and accessible green spaces do build community.
And there are simple and immediately actionable measures we could demand for
our parks such as more trash cans, dog waste stations, and repaired playground
equipment.
This is not incompatible with your call for welcoming "lost Las Vegans back
into the fold." So, to return to my closing question:
Where do we begin, Las Vegas?