🚀 go-pugleaf

To All and to Tom and Jamison:
The ball park is a sort of 'scam' in my really humble opinion. The
ideas may have been noble and good, but won't be realized. What will
happen is that in about 4 to 5 years, the park will be officially
closed, due to poor attendence by the law-abiding and due to too
-much- attendence by those who seek activities other than watching
a ball game.
The ballgame lovers will lose out; the players will lose opportunities;
and the taxpayers will be asking, "What happened?"
And the city will take over the land, or some specific people will 
take the land off the city's hands for a bargain price, and the park
will be torn down (and will probably qualify as a tax loss for the 
buyer). Then the buyer(s) will construct a building or parking deck
on the solid foundation, and on down the road they will get more
benefits (taxwise) for failed businesses. 
Why? Because no one is going to go to downtown when there is little
to entice them, and much to hinder them.
A ball park would be good for kids to attend, and for parents to take
them to. It would be good to encourage folks to get out and mingle and
for some kids to chose sports as an occupation. But it won't happen,
because it is putting the cart before the horse. In order to make 
a community activity benefit the community that a city is, one must
have a dang community to begin with. And communities begin in the
home and in the neighborhood streets. Just because a city builds a
structure it doesn't mean a community will use it -- especially if
there isn't a community there!
In my opinion, the taxpayers' money would have been better spent to
encourage the building of 'community.' For instance: spend $40,000
to throw a big neighborhood party in Ellet... have all the hokey
usual activites plus some bigger names to come and entertain...
have a giant cookout, and music and dancing in the moonlight while
kids play tag.
The next weekend, go to Fairlawn and do the same thing. The next
weekend, choose North Hill. 
After a summer of folks learning their neighbors' names, then
consider how best to serve that growing community.... plan with
the community(s) for the best interests of all.
After instituting a program like that, and helping folks join together,
then when the bad kids want to be bad, the 'whole thing' won't have
to be torn down: instead the bad kids may be easier steered in the
right direction. And other things can be built on the sound foundation
of a solid community. And the taxpayer sure wouldn't mind as much, be-
cause he/she feels safer at home and on the neighborhood streets and
there won't be a structure on Main St to memorialize the failure of
the city to address the true needs of its citizens.

(I really shouldn't write notes after midnight! Sorry....)

But it matters to me about the ball park, because it is a structure
representing a 100,000 missed opportunities -- money spent on it which would
have bettered the lives of our kids and our neighbors and the community
of our city of Akron, had it been spent more realistically.

Sorry: that dag gone ball park means exactly that to me. I am sorry
that I feel that way, but thank you Dear Reader for letting me get
these thoughts 'out there.'

G'night  :-)

Deanie