"Why did this ever have to become such a mess?" is the only pertinent question when one well-executed dog/skate park duo is observed

Talamae and Drew of suburban Phoenix enjoy bringing their two large dogs to the nearby dog park, whose simple design is appealing to them. Garland has proposed an elaborate $1.1 million dog park.

(Because photos are truly worth a thousand words, this particular blog contains more pictures than usual. Please see all photos including extras at the end.)
 
Many times in this blog I have mentioned intimate, first-hand knowledge of a successful dog park and skate park situated alongside each other and working splendidly.

As I have said, this park lies just more than a mile from some investment properties we own in Arizona.

While we visited Phoenix during the recent New Year's holiday to prepare for new tenants, Kay and I decided to do a more strategic, thorough job of checking these parks out than we had in our previous, casual visits with grandkids present.

So, with notebook and camera in hand, we made several targeted tours of the town of El Mirage's Gateway Park, interviewing users as well as those who keep these parks safe.

As discussed, this dog park and skate plaza combo is part of a major development that was planned as a complete unit from the ground up. Gateway Park also features walking trails, basketball courts, soccer fields, a children's play area, a water feature, a small restaurant, and the city government complex including a police station.

About a week after the December 21 so-called public-input meeting about design of a dog park and skate park in Garland's Central Park Kay and I set out to query ordinary citizens to see what their unvarnished take was on the suburban Phoenix park that they were using.

One young husband and wife, Drew and Talamae, who regularly bring their two large dogs to the AZ park, loved the way their park was designed separately for both small and larger dogs. They like the simple entrances and exits to both sides that provide better control for dog owners arriving at and leaving the dog parks. They also like the simplicity of the dog park's landscaping and elements, including some creative but simply designed water fountains that provide drinking water for owners as well as a pup-level drinking station for dogs.

When we commented to them that Garland was considering a highly developed $1.1 million dog park with water features for the dogs, they wondered why that huge cost was necessary. They saw it as an extreme luxury. They were puzzled why Garland would spend the money to put water features in the dog park when Central Park itself does not include water features for children.

They also said they would not bring their dogs to this particular AZ dog park if the city had placed the dog and skate features adjoining each other. In the AZ park, the dog and skate parks are about 75 feet apart, separated by a road and parking serving both elements as well as the other features, such as walking trails, basketball courts, soccer fields, the children's play area and children's water features, a small restaurant, as well as many other features of the park.
 
While the husband and wife said they wish their home were a little closer to the dog park, they personally would be offended if either park was situated right outside their front door and could imagine that others would, as well.

They said they constantly monitor their dogs' interaction with other dogs and leap in quickly if they detect any kind of burgeoning tension with another animal. They try fastidiously to abide by all the dog park rules and expect others to do the same.

Dog Park rules are precise and citizens try to follow them carefully.

These users said they felt certain the skaters, if operating immediately adjacent to the dog park, would annoy their dogs and create difficulty for them personally.

The combined acreage of the two dog parks, for both large and small dogs, would probably amount to under one acre. The couple said they believe the size is completely adequate for their dogs' needs.

Over at the skate park on New Year's Eve morning, we encountered a young family where the daughter had received a new scooter and her brother had received a new skateboard for Christmas. The father said this was the family's first venture to the skate plaza. He said the family liked the stringent rules governing this particular skate park, which itself was about one-half acre. He said the family especially likes the rule prohibiting bikes in the skate plaza.

This auxiliary sign in the skate plaza emphasizes only three rules. The larger, more detailed sign pictured elsewhere in this blog spells out plentiful details for the safety and protection of skaters and observers.

The father said it did not bother him that the dog and skate parks were situated in the same general area because the road, parking spaces, and landscaping dividing them provide a protective barrier.

On another day we talked with a police officer who is based at the city's station in the same complex as the two parks. Officer T. McCracken said this is the fourth jurisdiction he has served that has had both a dog and skate park situated within it. He said he believes this park works better than any of the other three, particularly because no bicycles of any kind are allowed in the skate park.

McCracken said that he was not aware of any gang or other illegal activity at this suburban Phoenix park during his time on the force. He said he considers the skate park a plus and not a minus for the city and is not a site that officers believe they have to "fuss over" constantly. He said he believes the skate park's location, which is down the street and within walking distance of a housing development but not situated immediately adjacent to it, contributes to the "targeted" use of the park. He said people who visit there seem strategically to have set out to skate as opposed to a park near a housing development where potential skaters or visitors might "amble by" and thus be induced in to cause trouble.

He said he did not believe necessarily that the police department's presence was the only reason for the skate plaza's success, since the skate plaza preceded the police department there by several years.

The presence of the police station so near the dog park and skate plaza helps act as a deterrent to crime. Security cameras in the skate plaza and the overall design that allows citizens utilizing other features in the park to observe activities at the skate plaza also help reinforce the security in the park.

At the very beginning of the current public discussion about Garland actually building dog and skate parks, I spoke with Garland Parks Director Jermel Stevenson, whose resume includes the Phoenix area, and several Garland city councilmembers about our admiration of this AZ park. I've even provided Stevenson and others with Internet links to information about this park. As has been their styles in recent months, their responses have been more formality than listening ears. (Not until the December 21 meeting was I sure that Stevenson could remember my name. After I introduced myself to him for about the 20th time, he insisted he knew who I was, but this had never previously been apparent.)

My previous contention surfaces again here: Do Garland citizens REALLY count? Here was a vitally impactful suggestion by a citizen that earlier might have helped prevent the current mess in which the city finds itself. But did anyone ever take the time to follow through? Are only the high-priced consultant services that take taxpayer dollars the only ones that are given a nod?

Obviously, we are very fond of this AZ park and have believed for many years that it could serve as an excellent role model for Garland in its quest to figure out what to do with set-aside funds for both a dog park and a skate park. But to our knowledge, NO ONE has EVER taken us up on our suggestion to learn more about it.

What we like about this AZ park are:

1. Its simplicity: the dog and skate parks and other elements in the park are functional, practical, reasonable, and effective. The whole park itself impresses and draws visitors—not just the skate and dog features. For Garland to build these two features at its Central Park without a major plan supported by citizens for all of the park would be a disastrous mistake.

The skate plaza at the suburban Phoenix park prohibits bicycles and does not try to be "all things to all people" like the proposed skate park in Garland. Skaters and police say prohibiting bicycles in the skate plaza is especially effective.

2. The way the dog-and-skate elements blend into the overall planning and design of the entire larger park in which they are situated—all the elements work together as a whole. Unlike Garland where projects too often are done piecemeal and helter-skelter, this park was planned and developed as a complete unit from the ground up. The situation in Garland's Central Park is a total mess because of local politics and a complete lack of thorough, businesslike, professional management—also because everything being done there right now appears to be totally uncoordinated and completely random and unfortunately often based on political whim! Pieces of a puzzle need to all fit together so that the completed work appears logical, coordinated, and well planned.

3. The fact that these two AZ themed parks—very controversial in our own Garland community—are widely loved, accepted, and used in the Arizona community in which they are situated. If building that park was ever controversial, we never heard about it. We watched it being constructed from the ground up and often asked each other why Garland couldn't build the same kind of park the same way.

Precise and carefully administered rules make the skate plaza safer and more appealing to citizens. A graffiti hotline is one of the items the sign mentions.

4. The intricate governing details about how each of these two elements in the overall park are managed is impressive and appealing. One has the feeling no stone was left unturned in planning how the dog and skate parks would fit into the overall community life of the park and the neighborhood where they are situated. Rules for use of both elements in the park are precise, well-thought out, and carefully administered. (See photos of posted rules accompanying this blog.)

Appropriate and abundant signage throughout this entire park give an overall impression of professionalism and quality.

Back in Arizona, everyone seemed to like the fact that the AZ skate and dog park elements are controlled with very precise rules that are enforced by the nearby police station and on-duty parks personnel.

Kay and I are particularly impressed with posted signs asking citizens to call 911 immediately if they see anyone attempting to mark graffiti in the park. Based on the design of the park with only one entrance, we have the impression that if such a call were received, the police would immediately seal off the park and go in after not only the graffiti artist but anyone else acting illegally there.

The sign advises to call 911 anytime a park visitor sees anyone trying to deface the park with graffiti or other matters. A graffiti hotline is also mentioned.

Garland spends way too much time trying to deny that crime and other illegal activities occur in our parks, when rolling up our sleeves and going to work to find creative solutions would be a much better use of time and city funds.

The integrated nature of the whole park with its interwoven features, such as the walking and running trails, also allows citizens not utilizing either the dog or skate parks to immediately spot and report problems to the police or park employees—kind of like an informal "citizens on patrol".

And the nearby police station? An added bonus that not only provides security but also leaves the impression that the city makes safety in the park a top priority. As I've said many times, Kay and I wish we felt that same sense of safety and security at Garland's Central Park, located about the same distance from our home in Garland as the AZ park is from our investment properties.

Garland CAN learn from other cities—and from its own citizens. We don't always have to try and reinvent the wheel based on local politics at a given moment! When others anywhere in the U.S. do it right, Garland needs to stop, listen, and learn.

After spending time in these well-executed facilities accomplished so effortlessly, Kay and I could only shake our heads and ask ourselves, "Why did this ever have to become such a mess?" in light of the current political upheaval in Garland.

The population of El Mirage, situated 10 miles from Phoenix, is 31,000. The park is called Gateway Park.