My father is always griping about the money the homeowner's association demands each month. Apparently it is a large sum, and is spent mostly on maintaining a section of private road, a small private park, and a private gated pool area.
His main gripe is that not only does he have to pay, but nobody
uses them anyhow. Why? Well, 20 years ago, the pool and park were the bustling hub of the community, as the homeowners children dragged the parents out to use them. 20 years later, most of those children have grown up, and moved out, or are too embarrased to admit that they both still live with their parents, and enjoy parks or pools. If not this, the parents have installed private pools in their own back yards.
It is a tragic waste of a pool. On my various walks, I've noticed a number of other neighborhoods with similar pools, in states of pristine repair, and utter disuse.
A few blocks away, is "the ghetto" where inner city children get their recreation by sitting on crowded apartment steps, and get kicked out of the way by bustling laborers as they try to fit in a few games of dice, marbles, or jacks in a space so small that they often prefer the prospect of actually playing in the freeway as their parents may sometimes suggest.
If it weren't for the "Private Property" signs, and gates, these children could easily be frolicking in the parks and waters of gated communities. But there are the gates, so they can't.
Mores' the pity too, for while the school bus program has done quite a bit to improve racial sensitivity among people of similar ages, there is still often a great deal of tension between affluent older caucasians (Sometimes known as "Fogies," "the Man," or "Cracker asses") and poor younger minorities (Sometimes known as "Juvenile Delinquents," "Hooligans," or "Gang-Bangers.")
Now I've seen people of all ages and colors play in a pool, and I've come to the conclusion that they all find it fun. I suspect that if the older affluent generation were able to see the younger disadvantaged youths at play in a familiar setting, they would realize that rather than being shifty criminals on apartment steps, they're just kids trying to enjoy life.
Likewise, the youths, if they were able to see these older wealthier people in their natural setting, might not percieve them as anonymous suits trying to oppress them, but rather as just so many old folks doing a mediocre job at aging gracefully.
As the pools and parks are already designed with children's safety in mind, these areas could become new low-cost child care facilities... err, maybe.