Comments on: Skatepark, Liberty Plaza Waiver Go to Council

By: John Floyd

John Floyd — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 01:41:59 +0000

“Geer, a Burns Park resident, is the daughter of Kirk Profit, a lobbyist for the city with the Lansing firm Governmental Consultant Services Inc. (GCSI). She is married to Christopher Geer, who serves on the Ann Arbor housing commission board.”

Is it just me, or is this a bit incestuous?

By: Rod Johnson

Rod Johnson — Tue, 25 Jun 2013 19:30:51 +0000

Yep, I read all about that.I guess my question is predicated on a shortage of Rockefellers and a somewhat dysfunctional history of public-private partnerships hereabouts.

By: C. Bultman

C. Bultman — Tue, 25 Jun 2013 18:21:06 +0000

WRT Bryant Park, when I was a kid my father worked up the block from there and he would never let his kids anywhere near that park. People called it 'Needles Park' at the time due to all of the drugs dealers. The site's rich history and its proximity to the public library (adjacent) made it especially troubling. Then "the Bryant Park Corporation was founded in 1980 with a charge to reclaim Bryant Park for the people of New York City." (from the BPC's website). So to answer part of your question, Mr. Johnson, the 'political will' came from private citizens taking the situation into their own hands. I guess it also helps to have people with names like Rockefeller on your team. There is some history of Bryant Park here [link]

By: Rod Johnson

Rod Johnson — Tue, 25 Jun 2013 14:36:24 +0000

Jim, your comment sent me on a little googling expedition. You’re right, those are really interesting examples, thanks. Now the question is, how did Boston and NYC generate the political will to get it done in the face of governmental apathy?

By: Jim Rees

Jim Rees — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 23:41:26 +0000

#2 is absolutely right. The idea of creating urban parks isolated from their surroundings to produce an “urban oasis” was thoroughly discredited by the early 1980s. It only works if the park is big enough to take on a life of its own, like Central Park in NYC. Examples of parks that used to be isolated and have since been fixed include Bryant Park in NYC (fixed in the early 1980s) and Copley Square in Boston (also fixed in the 1980s). This is Urban Planning 101 stuff, and I’m surprised the lesson hasn’t been learned here.

By: Jean Hoother

Jean Hoother — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 19:16:08 +0000

Liberty Plaza needs to be filled in and made a street level park. There are many places to get out of view there and that encourages bad behavior.

By: trevor

trevor — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 17:49:15 +0000

“Although skatepark organizers have been working on the project for more than five years, formal city council action on the skatepark dates back to Dec. 1, 2008, when the council approved a memorandum of intent between the city and the Friends of the Ann Arbor Skatepark. [.pdf of memorandum of intent]”

This may be nitpicking, but the above paragraph would be more accurate if it were to read, “BECAUSE skatepark organizers have been working on the project for more than five years, formal city council action on the skatepark dates back to Dec. 1, 2008…”