Chris Billingsley sends in this pic these new posts ‘n chains set up along the gravel road in Glenlake Park, where reports suggest that parking on the grass has gone unchecked for quite some time.
Welcome to the new normal!
12 thoughts on “Grass-Parking Thwarted at Glenlake Park”
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Not just thwarted but attractively thwarted. The typical municipal go-to is black-coated chain link, so kudos on this one. Functional and pretty. And cheap. That’s encouragingly old skool.
I’m so glad they finally did this. Unchecked for some time? I’d say! Soccer parents were all up in that grass with their SUV’s and Mini Vans the very first soccer season in the newly renovated park.
Ridiculously enough, they also mistook that paved pedestrian/bike path you see in the background of this picture as their own personal driveway and parked all in that area as well.
This year they’ve started parking in the private property that is Decatur Square Condo’s grass.
What is/are the basic problem(s)? Is there adequate parking, e.g. on the lower level of the park, but the parents are just too lazy to use it? Is it not clear where to park? Or is there insufficient parking? Should the road beyond the house(s)/driveway(s) be blocked off? I haven’t been up there since the renovation.
Not to be judgmental, but I can only guess that it’s laziness. Although there isn’t enough parking spaces in the lower level parking lot of the park, there are Plenty of parking spaces on Church Street. Initially two lanes of Church Street was shut down to make parking for Glenlake Pool and Tennis Center while the park was under renovation. However, when the park reopened, Church Street was not reopened, rather it remained a parking lot. Which is fine, I mean it makes it hard to enter during the busy traffic hours, but it allows the park to actually be a park, and not a parking lot, so to speak.
It’s actually only during soccer season that parking on the grass is a Major problem. It is so frustrating to see these soccer parents (and yes, it is Only Saturday morning soccer parents that do this) park on the park’s grass, and on private property and then see that there is no one parked on Church Street just a few yards away. After complaining to the Active Living department, I was assured that the soccer parents are told to park on Church Street. I asked that they post “No parking on the grass” signs, which they did, but the flimsy yard signs did not last long.
Yes, I think it’s laziness.
@cinD – You guessed wrong. Try parking down on Church St. with a 5 year old playing soccer and a newborn. This park does not have enough parking to accommodate a full pool, tennis courts and the soccer game. The Active Living department suggested we park at the cemetery, never mind that it is being renovated.
This park was built with very little thought about how many people will be using it at once. If I lived nearby I would walk but when you live South of the tracks you need to drive.
Sorry, I disagree.
I do agree that the park does not accommodate parking for all who use it. I also agree that Church Street has heavy, fast moving traffic, but as I said before, there is plenty of parking on Church Street to accommodate, and for families with multiple children/infants, those parking spaces on Church Street used to be a whole lane for traffic, but were made into parking spaces, and are pretty wide considering, and I’ll not leave out that there are sidewalks, so it’s not like you would have to load/unload streetside.
Either way, I don’t think that parking on the park’s grass that the city (tax payers) paid to sod, OR parking on private property is a good solution.
sorry for the run-on sentence. (grammar police)
I have two young children who use the park often. No, there is not enough parking within the park itself, but if there was, there wouldnt be enough space for people to play. Unless you’re handicapped and all those spaces are taken, there is no excuse to park on the grass, the trail, or anywhere that is not a legitimate parking space. .
I like to park on Glendale and walk with my kids into the park. That two minutes of walking–it does a body good!
Can we put these in at Westchester?
Yes!
Frankly, we gave up on Decatur Active Living youth sports last year b/c it’s too poorly organized and there’s too much inside baseball with certain “favored” coaches being able to build their own “select” teams and too many kids of “favored” coaches being able to “play rough” without penalty. We’ve been using AYSA, Clairmont Pres, the YMCA and Druid Hills for our youth sports needs. They all have plenty of parking, well organized games, excellent volunteer coaches, and little or no inside baseball.
Parking on the grass is no longer a concern for us.
Church Street parking for the win. We have a 1-yr-old and a 4-yr-old. 1-yr-old comes out first, then 4-yr-old, with one hand holding the 4-yr-old firmly. We then walk on the sidewalk. I salute the protection of the grass.