Tracy Press

Public parks built for adults would be a wonderful thing, and Town Crier Pam Case says all it would take is a little vision and community involvement.

The Olympics is a great time for reflection. It is clearly a time for national cheerleading and pride, but it is also a time for ruing our physical fitness ruination. This fortnight of celebrating physical achievements should give each of us a chance to assess our own health practices and wonder what can be done.

Most of the public parks in Tracy are decent and well-appointed for children, but usually there are just benches or picnic tables for the parents. Imagine a park with the children’s playground surrounded with outdoor fitness equipment designed for teens and adults — rugged rowing machines, skiing machines, treadmills and elliptical trainers, all free to the public.

Picture a bench where you can sit and watch your children play while also peddling. Imagine lifting fixed weights while never taking an eye off your child. Imagine that shade shelter at Hoyt Park packed with fitness machines for parents and caregivers. Imagine a serious playground for adults.

If you watch the Olympics, you will doubtless see examples of fitness parks installed in China. I saw my first one in a posting on an Internet discussion group. I e-mailed the poster to ask where the park is.

Alas, it is in Sada, Spain, but with further research, I found information about "family fitness zones" in neighborhood parks in the Los Angeles area.

Such a vision for Tracy parks would be great, but it comes with some caveats. First is the issue of liability. America has become a nation where people demand from their government perfect protection from all possible risks. Even a casual look at the lawsuits generated by injuries on public property would give pause to any city contemplating installing such equipment. Cities and subdivisions have been sued when a kid was hit by a dirt clod thrown by another kid, when a toddler was burned after he walked barefoot on a playground pad, when a car plowed through a park fence and when a kid slipped while climbing.

What might happen if Jane Doe suffered a heart attack on the elliptical trainer, or when Baby Doe gets knocked silly when he runs up behind his mom on her skiing machine? Yet if you cordon off the machinery with fences or other barriers, much of the benefit of being near your child is lost.

Given the litigious nature of our society today, we are not likely to see these fitness parks proliferate until some serious case law defines the degree of risk an exerciser assumes versus the city’s responsibilities.

The other cause for pause, of course, is Tracy’s challenge with vandalism and abuse of our parks. When park landscaping is torn up, when equipment is tagged and vandalized, when sprinklers are destroyed — just for fun — we automatically close ourselves off to opportunities such as this.

It is easy to complain about these problems and demand the overworked police somehow prevent this, but it simply isn’t possible. They can investigate incidents, try to break up gangs, even guard areas to some extent, but there is no way we can expect them to solve all the problems while we ignore our own contributions to the issue.

Our homes have become fortresses. Most of us come home from work and head to our TVs or computers to while away the hours. While a few will head to the gyms for workouts, anonymous and intense and private, and others will venture out for a run or walk, our general retreat into the fortresses clears the way for vandals, gangs and others to abuse our parks.

If we want decent parks, we need decent oversight, not just from the police but from all of Tracy’s residents. We need more parents aware of where their kids are at night. We need more Neighborhood Watch groups watching over the parks. We need more people "taking back the streets." We need people invested in the parks and having equipment there for everyone, not just kids — that might mean more involvement.

In the 1840s, a city in the Midwest had a problem with vandalism and hooliganism from roving gangs of troublemakers. Its solution was "whistling and whittling brigades," groups of men and older boys who would trail the hooligans, whistling and whittling to let the hooligans know they were being watched. Eventually, the troublemakers would tire of the attention and moved on to less protected cities.

Whistling and whittling brigades are not exactly workable today — especially that whittling part — but we do have cameras and cell phones to take the place of the brigades. With diligent citizens,and people who, like me, ought to be up and moving outdoors more in the evenings, we might have those parks like you will see at the Olympics this week.

• Pamela Case, a local freelance paralegal, is among a select group of local residents with columns in the Tracy Press.

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written by fortheunderdog , August 05, 2008

I agree, physical fitness is probably at an all time low for the public. Having a park outfitted with exercise equipment seems a little beyond the scope of reality. I cannot foresee a park so equipped without the vandalism or theft that accompanies all cities. Who will service the equipment? What about the weather? What about security when parks close?

You speak of liability which would be risked by any city choosing to go this route. Will the city have to purchase an outrageous insurance policy to cover any lawsuits?

And will all parks be fortunate enough to have this equipment?

If you've researched this you should know that gym equipment does not come with a small price-tag. And if this is going to outside, all-weather equipment the price may be higher.

This idea is interesting but it seems like a long-shot to me. I do not see it happening in this city any-time-soon.

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written by Dave Hardesty , August 06, 2008

While I totally agree there is a massive problem that needs to be addressed before anything approaching this topic can really be accomplished with any success.

The American Disabilities Act needs to be rewritten.

This is why you no longer see swings, slides, teeter-totters, and merry-go-rounds in the parks like many of us used when we were children. That law mandates things like these have to be removed because of safety and liability issues.

As much as commissioners, City Counsels and park employees would like to see things like this and even more like suggested in the article, under the laws today they simply cannot be done.

The result is the park has to be designed for the lowest common denominator of physically able person to use it. And this is not to be intended to be a despariaging remark towards people who have physical or even mental problems. It's just a statement of fact.

And the results of the strict mandates of the ADA are exactly why a small plastic playground ammenity in a park can cost upwards of $250,000 and more. It also explains why restrooms cost $500,000 to install and exactly why, given vandalism problems, many parks today are now built without restrooms.

I agree with fortheunderdog, I do not see it happening in this city, or any other city, any-time-soon.

You really need to understand the problem before you attempt to fix it.

Dave Hardesty

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written by k.l.vosburg , August 08, 2008

The reality is, very soon 42% percent of Americans wiil fall under the obesity category as health ammenities continue to be addressed through a flegling medical system.

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written by patricia13 , August 11, 2008

We won't be able to have these types of parks until parents learn to teach their kids to respect people, property and themselves. My kids would never dream of damaging property belonging to someone else. It amazes me that so many kids think it is fun and ok to do!