I’m a parent and my child has played in Dolores Park for six years, starting at four. Crime in Dolores Parkmwas at one time described as crack selling. The design of the new kids playground has sent a strong message. “Tables for large picnic gatherings no longer!” We enjoyed the benefit of large birthday parties before the earth berm cord anted off the kids on one side from dog ville and the wall landscaping from sunbathing beach. Inside the playground, it’s nice the kids have their own zone, crafted in play furniture safety style, but inset boulders and unmarked mounds in the soft overlying surface are still hazardous! New pieces of grass make the who,e place useable outside the playground and much less muddy. good design, but the picnic tables are gone…so parties can’t happen as easily. And surrounding families living up the hill on Chruch have been overheard talking about the park as haven for undesirable festivals, certainly those picnics arranged by huge Mexican families would also be unwanted if all you can expect from life is your owned view and a safety zone for your kids.

My son will be exposed to urban crime all his life and to drugs, and I’d rather be able to explain it and live with it than use childhood as a template for human behavior. These moves by police are to please the cleaned up yuppie class of the Mission rapidly deploying their sense of ownership. The Park should function as a commons…a public space…but, agreed not an overgrown bottle and can infested alcohol park. Some balance, please, on both sides. You can only protect your kids so far and upscale homeowners DO live still, like it or not, near the barrio, and hipster heaven, and we need to all live together. The park should be and is a place where political difference can be openly displayed. Problem is the lobby for the property class is powerful.