The latest greatest idea: A big, expensive Community Center
Note to the Vision 2010 Parks and Sports Committee:
"Support" for a Community Center is when a room full of people who have been specifically instructed to refrain from employing any critical analysis whatsoever to an idea so as not to "hinder the free flow of brainstorming" then do as they were told and stay silent no matter how impractical and unwise they consider the idea.
"Demand" for a Community Center is something else entirely.
The proposed community center has some of the former and none of the latter.
And because of the nature of the process you are even over-estimating the actual "support".
(Hat Tip: Stewart Doreen)
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5 Comments
Ohhh come on Walsingham, you can always gin up demand. Remember Antioch Christian Church?
Midland really needs something for teenagers to do, besides each other. Maybe then the pregnancy rate for under aged in Midland would drop. I do not think investing in anything that some group of crazy people come up with is an answer, There are plenty of buildings that could use a little love and less money to make a great teen resort/play land.
Midland should focus it's brainstorming powers on improving the quality of young life, not crazy people with no reasoning skills.
My point exactly RoT !
History shows repeated fear of the Old (who have the wealth) of the Young (who have everything the old desire).
The Old make law after law to restrain the the Young ( for their own good , of course). It's always been this way because after a while people get to an age when the only thing they remember is how lovely and innocent their childhood was...and forget all the unpleasantness!
I can remember CLEARLY the old farts condamning rock and roll ! " That devil's music will lead our youth to SATAN "! A late buddy of mine , Link Wray , recorded an instrumental called "Rumble" that was banned from the airwaves ! No Words just Music and it was banned because it might incite the little kiddies !
They clearly forgot what their parents thought about the Turkey Trot and the Charleston .
I don't like Rap music but I'm not part of the generation that does . I'm sure a lot of kids don't like classic rock in the same way some music from the 30's and 40's leaves me cold .
So what !
I wish cities would quit trying to form children into being model citizens and perfect in every way (their ideal of perfect), and stomping on every ad-lib activity that isn't monitored by an ADULT !
Tax-payers would NOT have to fork out heavy bucks for youth to have a good time if adults would only remember the words of Pink Floyd , "Hey teacher , leave those kids alone!"
I think a rock climbing wall would raise teen pregnancy rates. I always feel a bit randy after climbing.
I caught this in the paper and was waiting for someone to respond .
A rock climbing wall . What a fine idea for my tax dollars ! Why stop at one ! I say four ! Five ! A dozen !
Some time back the question was for a study for Downtown Midland and I proposed a monorail and moving sidewalks . Which would you really rather have if costs were identical , a reeeally neat monorail traversing the city and moving sidewalks , OR a rock wall in a so-called community center where adults would not be allowed to smoke or drink beer and children of a certain age would not be allowed to loiter . . .
And Heaven help teenagers who gather in their cars to hang out with their peers..AFTER DARK !
Like computers , You can add tons of software if your system wasn't built after..say..2000 AD .
In Midland , You can build tons of things and have them work properly if the mindset of some wasn't set in the 1950's !
No one ever seems to take into account , during these sessions , that a handful of people will come along and screw things up at some point.
Alas...Say here's an Idea..lets NOT have a community center and lower property taxes which would allow citizens to improve their quality of life and make Midland more desirable to businesses . Oops , my bad (too radical), lets return to my suggestion of a monorail and moving sidewalks....do I hear a second....