Bad Behavior - Ice Fishing and the real issue

Submitted by lmcshane on Fri, 02/18/2022 - 19:47.

 

Bad behavior happens everywhere. 

I know - and the Cleveland Metroparks will NOT advertise this - that importuning ( meeting up for anonymous sex), drug transactions, and, yes- prostitution- happen at the Cleveland Metroparks.  (sadly-so do suicides).

Dissect the viral news item about ice fishing in Hudson, OH.   I won't defend the mayor.  He is kind of an oaf, because he didn't know how to stop what has become a "problem" in Hudson, OH - the popularity of their 50 acre lake at Hudson Springs Park. See the listing at AllTrails:

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/ohio/hudson-springs-park

Was the Hudson mayor really concerned about ice fishing or was he concerned about bad behavior and non-residents using the residents' taxpayer-maintained park? 

If he wanted to limit use of the lake by non-residents, he could have considered a residential-only parking permit for the Hudson managed city park.  Hudson could also generate revenue by charging non-residents a fee for a parking permit (it would also let the City know who was using their park).  Plus, non-residents might consider a carfree route to the city-owned park.  

I WANT to see park systems charge people for the option to park their cars at PARKS.  What do you think?

 

( categories: )

Dog Whistle

A very good friend disagreed with me when I posted that the Hudson Mayor's issue with ice fishing was a "dog whistle."  I reconsidered and it may not be a black-white issue as much as a taxpayer issue.  

I do know that the entire east side of the Cuyahoga Valley has wrestled with integration of the many communities (a lot of townships) and access to public space.  Valley View is adjacent to Maple Heights.  Their community park has a prominent sign posted "RESIDENTS ONLY."  The Cleveland Metroparks acquired the Maple Heights' Dunham Park.  There will be some issues to resolve here.

Summit County funds Veteran's Trail

https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/news/2022/03/06/veterans-trail-would...

 

New funding has been approved for a 3.27-mile stretch of the Veterans Trail rails-to-trails project. The 10-foot bike and hike trail will go from Barlow Road in Hudson south to Springdale Road in Stow. Construction is planned for 2025.

Area transportation planning officials recently approved $700,000 for the work. The remainder of the project’s estimated $3.4 million cost will be split between the two cities.

It will be the second of the first two phases of the trail's construction.

The first phase is a 1.25-mile stretch of trail that will head south from Springdale Road to the pedestrian bridge over Route 8 to Roberts Middle School in Cuyahoga Falls. Construction on that trail, estimated at about $1 million, is expected to begin in 2024.

The trail may eventually extend a total of around 13 miles to the Freedom Trail in Akron, largely along a former rail line first built as the Cleveland, Akron & Columbus Railroad in 1851.

 

As depicted in the Akron Metropolitan Area Transit Study's Outlook 2045 plan, the proposed Veterans Trail hike/bike path includes sections numbered 3, 17 and 41. Section 41, a 1.4-mile path in Stow and Silver Lake, is funded for construction in 2025. Metro RTA owns the majority of property along the three sections.