Monday, March 8, 2010

Parks and Trash

Many years ago, during my "formulative" years, I recall my Mom coming into my room and telling me I need to learn to pick up behind myself. I replied "No Mom - cleaning up behind me is an entitlement and it's something you are supposed to do". That only happened once.

Now that's not exactly how it went down, but it illustrates the attitudes of some within our city: somewhere down the road we (collectively) decided that we are "entitled" to have the city pick up behind us, especially in our parks.

Our city currently maintains over 17,000 acres of land dedicated to parks, recreation, and cultural services. Maintenance costs continue to rise - for instance, our 123 neighborhood community parks cost around $8,200 per park to maintain, and those costs are expected to rise to over $11,000 per park in the near future. Add in the cost of the 7 regional parks, 10 community parks, 6,000 acres of open space, 265 miles of multi-sport trails, recreation centers, visitor centers, cemetaries, etc and you are soon into some serious city assets that help to contribute to Colorado Springs being consistantly rated at the top of most "Healthiest Cities" lists.

As a boy scout I learned to "pack in and pack out" - leaving my camping or picnic area a little bit cleaner than I found it. Most campers and hikers I know adhere to this code of individual responsibility. Why not use this as an an opportunity to teach our kids an important lesson - to value the good things you have, and that government may not always be there to solve your problems. When it comes to the principles of limited government we need to practice what we preach.

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