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).
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.)
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?
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