Skip to main content

Back at the Basketball Court…


I want to tie up some loose ends from yesterday’s post because I seem to have unwittingly given some folks the impression that the County took away the basketball court permanently. Not so. It was moved to a different location nearby.

In this image you can see where the old one was (in orange) and where it was moved (blue).

Image from hocogov 

You see below that the basketball court was moved away from the residences on Early Spring Way and rather closer to the apartment complex. (Though not right on top of it.)

Images taken from a Google search

This has apparently been a solution that everyone is happy with and when you add in the new bicycle park it looks like the county has done everything in its power to meet the needs of the community. That’s great.

It still doesn’t change the fact that there’s a very real trend to remove basketball courts and not just in Howard County. While the usual reason given is that they are “too noisy,” the underlying attitudes often lean more towards the old “attracts a bad element” tropes. 

In short: we make a big deal out of standing up against racism and championing diversity here but that doesn’t mean there isn’t any racism to stand up against. It can be quiet. Subtle. It can wear reasonable clothing and fit in where you’d least expect it. 

While talking with a friend yesterday we realized that the ongoing reframing of basketball courts as undesirable is yet another blow against places where teenagers can hang out without spending a lot of money.

“Unruly” at the Mall, “too noisy” on the basketball courts. What’s a teenager to do?

A shout out to Safa Hira, Director of Communications for Howard County Government, who answered my questions about the Huntington Park project and provided the image above which shows the before and after of the basketball court. 

A tip of the hat to reader and (well-known blogger in his own right) Jeremy Dommu who added this information to the bigger picture:

The other really nice thing that the County has done recently is add an ADA path up from Vollmerhausen to Huntington Park.  There used to be a "desire path" up this small hill (another recent subject of yours!) but now the County has formalized it with a nice curving gradual incline paved pathway.

In looking at a plan for improvements to the park I’m guessing that he is talking to what we see proposed toward the bottom of this photo slightly to the left of center. Correct me if I’m wrong.


Huntington Park Renovation Plan, 2017


Did you know there’s a place you can go to find out what events are happening in Howard County Parks? Here you go. (Take note: some are run by HoCoRec & Parks, some are rentals by private individuals/groups.)

The weather predictions look fairly reasonable for today. Perhaps a trip to one of our HoCoLocal parks is in order. Which one is your favorite? 


Village Green/Town² Comments 




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Teacher Gifts

Today is the last day of school before the Winter Break. It’s a good time to remember the far-reaching nature of our public school system. You may not have children. You may have sent your children to independent schools. It matters not. You will be impacted one way or another. Yesterday I read a long thread on Facebook about several waves of illness in the schools right now. There’s influenza A and norovirus, I believe. And of course there’s COVID. Apparently in some individual schools the rate of illness is high enough for school admin to notify parents.  When I was little the acceptable holiday gift for a teacher was one of those lovely floral handkerchief squares. (I don’t know what it was for male teachers. They were rare in my elementary years.) These days the range of teacher gifts is wider and I have fond memories of Target gift cards which I have written about before. I think it’s safe to say that giving one’s teacher Influenza, norovirus, or COVID is not the ideal holiday...
1 comment
Read more

They Can Wait

This is not a typical Saturday post. That’s because, in my community, it’s not a typical Saturday.  Oakland Mills High School, after years of deferred repair, needs massive renovation. It’s pretty simple: when you don’t fix a problem it gets bigger. The school system itself said the the OMHS school building was  "no longer conducive to learning" back in 2018.  2018 .  But Thursday the Boad of Education voted to push it out of the lineup of important projects which will be given the go-ahead to proceed soonest.  In my opinion it’s a terrible decision and sets a dangerous precedent. To explain, here’s the advocacy letter I sent in support of Oakland Mills High School. I was rather proud of it. I am writing to ask you to proceed with needed renovation at Oakland Mills High School in the most timely and comprehensive manner humanly possible. I have read the letter sent to you by the Oakland Mills Community Association and I am in complete agreement. You are extremel...
1 comment
Read more

Columbia Chance Connection

  Last night, as my husband and I were about to sit down to dinner, our front door swung open and a cheery voice announced, “I’m ba—ack!”  We weren’t expecting anyone. Clearly the only people who’d walk right in to our house would be one of our offspring. I had my reading glasses on so I wasn’t seeing too clearly. It seemed too tall for our youngest, but we knew our eldest was at work. I took off my glasses to see a friendly but confused face scanning our living room. When her gaze landed on us we all had a sudden realization. We didn’t know eachother. “Oh I’m so sorry! I’m in the wrong house! My daughter just moved in and she needed hooks for the kitchen so I ran out to get them.” She waved the package. “All these houses look the same and I don’t know the neighborhood yet. I thought this was my daughter’s house.” We were all getting a bit giggly. “That’s okay. For a quick second we thought you were our daughter,” said my husband. I told her our names and said she should defin...
Post a Comment
Read more