HayDuke Asks Some Good Questions
HayDuke askes some good questions:
What activities would you like to see to provide more for teenagers to do so that Columbia can truely be a community for people of all ages? I for one think a pool hall is greatly need. I use to go up to Rt. 40 all the time in high school to play pool, but the pool hall up there is in Baltimore County and normally pretty smokey and unpleasant.
What if, instead of more signs, we had more activities for teenagers? What if we installed lights on a few public basketball courts and let kids play all night? What if we had at least one night of teenage garage bands every week at a CA facility? What if there were a few nightspots in Columbia that weren’t solely intended for use by over-21 residents?
What activities would you like to see to provide more for teenagers to do so that Columbia can truely be a community for people of all ages? I for one think a pool hall is greatly need. I use to go up to Rt. 40 all the time in high school to play pool, but the pool hall up there is in Baltimore County and normally pretty smokey and unpleasant.
posted by Evan | 12:36 AM
5 Comments:
Aren't there some nightspots for the under-21 crowd, the CA Teen Center being one?
Whatever happened to basketball all day, when lighting was free and natural? Basketball all night? Shouldn't people keep to healthy schedules? Early to bed, early to rise...
Starbucks does have music, does stay open late, and does cater to the under-21 set, too. There are some other venues that provide similar ambiance.
Trouble starts with T, which rhymes with P, which stands for Pool.
The CA Teen Center? That's a great place for some teens, but probably not for those who are causing problems by drinking at the tot lots, which was the focus of my original post. What I was looking for are places where teens could go at night without feeling like their still part of some after school program. Lighted basketball courts, pool halls, and coffee shops (most of which close at 10 or 11 pm, still fairly early) offer teens some autonomy, but what about music/dance clubs (the 9:30 club in DC let's under 21s in), a real skate park, or just a fun, open, happening downtown area?
Also, "healthy schedules" is a pretty subjective concept. 3:36 am on a Thursday is not, in my mind, a healthy time to be awake, before or after sleeping. The sun won't even be up for three hours!
Ok, so you want to supplement the Tot Lots with Teen Lots? Unfortunately, regardless how many additional under-21 past times are made available, some will still seek being out of the public eye to engage in some activities that are detrimental to themselves and the community. Also, blaming every tot lot woe on teens isn't fair since others are to blame at times, too.
Private venues do appear where there supportive markets exist. I think Magarita Maggies (now Fudds) did do teen nights occasionally. The market didn't support Maggies, teen night or not, for it to stick around.
Lit basketball courts? Couldn't school basketball courts serve this purpose as they already exist and are within walking distance from most Columbia homes? Then it's just a matter of Co. Rec&Parks coming up with the $ to install, maintain, and operate lights.
A real skate park? What's the matter with playing in the road, I mean on the sidewalk?
Fun, open, happening downtown areas already exist - the Mall, Merriweather, and the Lakefront. Would be nice if CA still had their ice rink at the Mall.
Won't the Smith property in Long Reach offer a lot of this when developed?
If Blandair Park (what the park on the Smith Farm will be called) will be run like other County parks, no, it won't have lit all-night basketball courts. Typically, rec sports use of parks shuts down around 11 p.m.
And I doubt any dance clubs are planned for Blandair, but a multipurpose building is planned, which is kind of odd when there are at least two schools within walking distance that offer similar public facilities.
Is this another case of unnecessary decimation of greenspace and duplication of facilities and costs because Rec & Parks and the Board of Ed. aren't cooperating enough to make the most use of existing facilities?
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