Back, and with a vengeance none-the-less…
Peace Officer Sez: “The problem is that that sign over there says the hours of this park are till dusk.”
– So I guess we broke the rules. Go figure, a bunch of church-going, frisbee-throwing, twenty-somethings (AND their pastor) got tossed out of a park. But we sure had fun playing Ultimate Frisbee with our fiber-optic lit frisbee (the Flashflight, and they’re local, w00t!). I guess what I’m thinking about is the fact that most parks do close at dusk. I understand the rule, and it mostly makes sense. Predators come out at night, and for the safety of the people it’s better to not be out in public spaces like that after dark. Also many parks are in residential areas, and that aspect makes sense too, people want a quiet neighborhood.
– But here’s where my thinking takes a turn. Look at all the places downtown, and in commercial areas, that are lit and patrolled late into the night. Our governments know that their citizens are out late, and they invest in those commercial areas that have night-time traffic. We pay good tax money, so why not have a park or two that is well lit into the evening, and patrolled. There are plenty of us active folk that would take advantage of it, I guarantee it.
(And I did positively ZERO research on this, so if anyone knows of a park or parks that meet this qualification, please do say so in the comments, I/we’d love to know about it.)
I had a similar conversation with a friend the other night, as we were walking from LoDo to Platte Street. The pedestrian traffic corridor of the 16th Street Mall more or less extends across the Millennium Bridge to Little Raven Street, across Commons Park, across the footbridge over the river, to Platte Street. (And soon, across a new I-25 pedestrian bridge into the vast reurbanified beyond.)
When we were at Little Raven Street, and about to step into Commons Park, I hesitated and said, “Wait a minute — is it okay to enter the park after dark?” My friend insisted that this corridor was like a “main street” and so it was okay to travel across on the sidewalk.
So… it would be interesting to find out if Commons Park has a closing time or not. Or, maybe they allow people to walk across but not play frisbee. :)
Tons of parks in CA have lights for after dusk use. That way you can use the light when needed, otherwise it remains off. You can use most parks in CA (both Northern and Southern) until 11p or 12 midnite, depending on the local ordinances.
Something to think about for CO??