On Council open on skatepark site
Posted on August 5 at 6:39 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Lakennedy, I'm sorry you misread me on this subject, but I believe all the kids deserve equal recreation "rights and privileges". If there was a good location readily available that was unbiased to one particular point of the city I would be all for it. I find that in this town people get very defensive of "their side" (East and West, typically). When we built Whitewaters park (granted its much smaller) this was never a topic of discussion. This is commonly the case with most town, its more about the fact that they are getting a park then where its located (and who is getting favored). I'm truly not biased as I believe I technically fall under Franklin's jurisdiction, I just know that someday I don't have to drive to go ride (and I spend a lot of money doing it right now).
+
I guess people need to ask themselves why they are getting up in arms about the location. Is it truly because there is a better place for this particular park, or is it because of what is "fair".
+
Perhaps its hard to understand the shade issue, or the wind issue, honestly these things sound trivial to most. The thing is I encourage anyone wishing to throw out advice to go to a park and check out the things I'm talking about. On blazing hot days how many kids are out in parks that have no shelter? On windy days how many kids are riding? Go to Beloit, Whitewater, or Delevan and see for yourselves what its like. Then come back and speculate with me on the issue.
+
I would also encourage you to ask the kids how far they came from to ride. I think you might be surprised how many kids are willing to make the sacrifice or "commuting" a few miles to do their sport.
+
As for money, I have a hard time understanding why now would be the time that it will actually get built, but I have hope. Most people don't even realize that this is something that has been going on for over 5 years. Beloit, Whitewater, and Delevan's projects were all started after Janesville's had been started, and all were completed with Janesville no where near breaking ground. The thing is that was when economically things were much stronger, Janesville just avoided the issue. Now, interestingly enough, we have finally gotten the attention of the council and it seems like they are taking things more seriously. They have enough money to throw $1million at baseball, I should hope they have $250,000 for a sport that they are banning from the streets. The kids need a place to go. Trying to raise money from citizens like you and I, buisnesses, etc is hard work, especially when there is no obvious city backing (and the harder economic times that we are finding ourselves in makes things even worse).
+
As I have stated many times in this blog, its imperative in a project like this that the city shows support. Start up capital, a pad, and land are what donors need to see to know they are investing in something that will happen. Build the pad and you will see the money.
On Council open on skatepark site
Posted on August 5 at 4:09 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
From a parental stand point I think as of right now Jackson street is kind of dilapidated. There is plenty of room for improvement, but that would require more city dollars, which seems to be an issue for some. Sadly, that area is dominated by bars and the looming, soon to be closed factory. If kids want to get drinks for food the only place to do so within close riding/skating distance is the gas station (which wouldn't rank in being one of my favorites). The Palmer location conveniently has several fast food places, not to mention gas stations to snag food and drinks (not to mention over the summer when the concession stand is open). As always, I'm not saying the Jackson street idea should be nixed, I can sympathize with people on the far side of town, but...
Whybesad, I am constantly frustrated by the way my tax dollars are used in this town, but it would be ever so nice to have something done for this group that has been banned and overlooked in this town. Ask any DT business if the skateboarders need a place to go, I'm sure they can help you understand why this could be considered a pressing WANT (not NEED, of course :-)).
On Council open on skatepark site
Posted on August 5 at 1:19 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Oh, and people I talked to were from all areas of town. My students would be more biased to the East side.
Another way I see it, regardless to where the park is put in its still closer then Beloit, Delevan, or Whitewater. I can easily ride to any location, and no matter what part of town the kids are in there is a max ride of 3 miles or so on a bike path (sorry, I have raced for years and 3 miles doesn't strike me as bad). Most kids will be using the park on weekends and over the summer and they have all day to trek around town. I imagine that most will just be delighted to have something to do (and back to my more sheltered idea, if its hot out they will be more likely to come and play if they know they sun won't be beating down on them).
Oh, and on that topic again. The sun beating on the ramps warms them substantially. Again, having them in a more sheltered area, even a little will cut down on that issue.
On Council open on skatepark site
Posted on August 5 at 1:12 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
That last part about Steve brings up an interesting point. At one point in talking to a city official it was pointed out that after the flood there is a lot of properties that will have to be torn down, hence opening up some potential green space. There is something to be said with that, would that be more central?
I would encourage you all to use a little tool called mapmyrun.com. I use it to plot my wife's run routes, but you can also measure distances from different points in any location. I plugged in Janesville and ran some numbers off of Palmer and Jackson street. People could choose to feel jaded for either location.
Personally, here is another way to look at this whole thing. When riding a skatepark two outside circumstances can play havoc with you. One is the sun, and elements, which is the case for most outdoor sports. Palmers location has the park settled among trees. This will provide a cooler area to ride, which really is important. Second, the area is more protected from wind. I will suspect that few of you have ever aired out of a quarter, or jumped a spine or box jump. Speaking from experience, things get a little hairy when you get in the air and a gust of wind blows you off course like a kite. Jackson street is pretty wide open. There is little if any protection from wind or the sun, unless they nestle it close to the tree line to the north. Palmer is naturally in a bowl area, plenty of trees, much more comfort and shelter. I know this point doesn't mean much to some of you that feel slighted by the location, but perhaps consider what I'm saying (and for me, its probably closer to go to Jackson, but I will still prefer Palmer due to the reasons I just stated).
On Council open on skatepark site
Posted on August 5 at 10:47 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Lakennedy, if you go back through the posts I think you will find your preaching to the choir. I believe most people, including Fern and Roger are open to Jackson street. I do have to impress that MOST of the people I have talked to on the subject have been for Palmer. Those people would include a goodly number that I discussed the situation with at the fair (when I worked the skatepark booth), students at my schools, their parents. etc, etc. I also worked Benifest (a fund raiser for the park) and overall people were very in favor of the Palmer site. Again, I'll say that it isn't locked in but I hope this won't turn into another battle to further impede this process.
Opinionsforfree, your ignorant stance is a thing of beauty. Way to be proactive!
On Council open on skatepark site
Posted on August 5 at 7:38 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
In case anyone is still reading this, I emailed Fern about the article and this was her response
"The statement about the donated money not being used (turned over) for the
skate park----never was said. Also, it had never been said another site
wouldn't be considered-----we had explained about putting it in a safe,
accessible site with necessary amenities. They used parts here-and-there,
dropped or cut off many parts of the conversation. The gal, Marcia N., was
going by memory & hadn't even written anything down. Roger had a meeting
with Greg Peck, the author of the editorial, this morning."
On Council open on skatepark site
Posted on August 4 at 3:12 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Hey Unidentified. First off, I'm sorry for your situation. I'll just leave that at that.
As for commuting, I have plenty of friends (and family) that pull the driving gig every day. For some moving will be a choice, but for most I would imagine that having to find a buyer for their homes, find affordable living, etc etc is going to be a task much harder then some might think. By all means I like the fact that I live within a mile of my job and can ride my bike to work, I would hate to have to commute for 30+ minutes everyday. I just think that right now is going to be a really hard time for people to pull the eject button.
The injury stats, I would encourage you to look into it. Many studies have been done on the subject. Yes I see your point about the sheer numbers, but I would argue that more kids ride bikes then play baseball, or basketball, or football, combined. This is one of those "life sports". Inline skating could be considered the same, skateboarding, well, you might have me on that one, but kids playing the mainstream sports are not the majority. Many of the kids doing the sports typically do all of them. A far greater group choose not to participate in such things. I'm not going to argue about which group is bigger, but again, I think you would (and hopefully will) be surprised.
Finally, as in all of my responses, I am fine with Jackson street. I think a lot of people are, thats fine. BUT, if there is no benifit (ie grant money or some other capital) I'm not so sure its the best choice.
Oh, and I'm an optimistic guy seeking results through my actions :-)
On Council open on skatepark site
Posted on August 4 at 1:48 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Unidentified, I’m a glass full kind of person. I imagine with this particular issue you will continue to find negatives regardless to how good the proof is to having a park in Janesville (at any location, which you keep arguing about and I keep saying, I’m fine with just getting a park at ANY LOCATION). Also, again, I agree with the poor parenting, lets move on from that particular issue.
It’s interesting that you bring up the injury aspect. Studies have shown that kids typically are LESS likely to get hurt in these sorts of activities when compared to other sports (basketball, football, soccer, etc). Kids seem to be more likely to wear pads and helmets, which assists this. Falling is also a part of the activity, it comes with the territory and the more you do your sport the better you get at it. I remember playing football when I was in HS with my friends. We never wore pads, played on frozen ground, and we got hurt a lot. Crashing on ramps actually breaks a persons fall and alleviates a lot of injuries. That’s of course not to say a person won’t get hurt, I have gotten hurt plenty of times, but not because I was “forced into it” by my friends. Watching kids at parks it is quite the opposite. Generally users start small and work their way up. Again, I’m going to have to question your amount of time involved with viewing the sport. For me, 100s if not thousands of hours I’ve spent at parks (going on 10 plus years of riding them). It’s amazing how FEW injuries you will actually see.
As for babysitting, that could be said about every sport facility. Will you see kids with out parents, yes, but you will see SOME parents, and you will see older participants falling into mentoring roles to help kids learn about flow, taking turns, where to start, and what to do. It’s a learning process; one I have witnessed many times, and one that I think you could perhaps try to have a bit more faith in.
As for retaining people in Janesville, and why we are where we are, we can choose to speculate why that is. Spending by the city on activities, I’m going to wager not. Based perhaps on non-progressive thinking, perhaps more accurate. And as for people moving to Madison, have you seen what houses go for up there, because I have. Most people in Janesville that are commuting will do much better for themselves to retain their low cost of housing and get a nice hybrid car to do their commutes. I have a feeling that given the right circumstances a lot of Janesville will stay right where they are
Page 1 of 4 | Next
On Skatepark effort closing in on goal
Posted on October 13 at 9:40 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Anyone who thinks that this will disrupt the dog park should really think hard about what they are saying. The park will be nestled down in the trees to the left of the parking lot. The dog park extends straight out and to the right. If you want to complain about the quiet dog park, do you complain when kids are a little loud playing on the playground equipment, does the sound of voices and laughter really bother you? How about when the dogs start barking, will the sound of some kids talking bother you that much? Cars drivng by on the road will make more noise then the wheels on the ramps. Hopefully knowing that kids have a place to go, like you do with your dog, to recreate will be consolation enough for the "disruption" it may cause.