Dayton has shut down many of its pools. Private pools have also closed. Parks and Rec is not much more than a maintenance organization- that tries to keep ball fields groomed and nets on hoops.
This story in the New York Times about an improvised urban oasis just shows how a little imagination- and empowerment can go a long way:
a few enterprising developers recently discovered, is a secret pool party in a pool made out of a Dumpster on the banks of the Gowanus Canal in industrial Brooklyn.
On a rented lot that’s hidden from the street they have erected what they call a lo-fi urban country club: three connected pools housed in Dumpsters; a boccie court; some lounge chairs, grills and cabanas.
via Forget the Trash Bag, Bring a Towel to the Dumpster Pools – NYTimes.com.
In Dayton, if you asked permission to do this, it would never happen. If we empowered neighborhoods- we might see these kinds of ideas, and maybe even some cooler ones.
It’s ideas like this that inspire me to believe we can transform Dayton without a ton of money. All it takes is some imagination.
It gives a whole new meaning to the term “dumpster diving”.