unGrid

First the arts, and now the parks! Is Greg Ballard really on a mission to destroy the quality of life in Indianapolis? As you read the headlines, it seems he is. After last week’s announcements he wants to cut public funding for the arts, his newest plan includes selling off some of our smaller parks to save money.

The Ballard administration is considering selling some of the city’s “pocket parks” (parks, which are 2 acres or smaller) because they are a drain on city finances.  Instead of selling, why not consider engaging community leaders in a discussion on how to save the parks with citizen involvement? 

Examples, there are two small parks in Washington Township where I know this has been done effectively.
      The first is located on busy 86th street is maintained by members of the Nora North Side Community Council, who take turns picking up trash, and repainting the signs.
    The second Daubenspeck ( sp?) is located on Ditch Road, neighbors, school groups, and other volunteers have planted, and managed this unusual nature park, because they wanted it to succeed.

I am sure there are many other examples of community groups participating in the management of their neighborhood park – why aren’t we reaching out to those groups before hiring Venture Real Estate Services LLC to produce an inventory and analysis of all city property.  Since they will also be responsible for the sale, any guess on what they will recommend?  (Can you say CONFLICT OF INTEREST?)

By focusing on the small stuff, he is missing the big picture.  We need to build our tax base, by attracting and retaining, jobs, companies, and members of the creative class. If we do that, we won’t need to cut our city’s budget.