Playground protest

August 16, 2011 - 9:50 PM by

Classic Jerusalem monster slide playground

As I ponder the housing protests and general public angsting about prices and costs in the land of Israel, I’ve been thinking about a protest of my own, against the abysmal public playgrounds in Jerusalem.

Tel Aviv 'adult' playground

True, it’s always easy to gripe after visiting the fabulous playgrounds of America’s northeastern cities; the sprinkler-filled parks in Boston and New York, the $1 merry-go-round in Philadelphia, and at New York’s Hudson River Park; the funky, sculpture-like climbing structures featured in all of these places, as well as adult-and-child swings.

It’s been a happy thing to come home, but I gotta say, going back to the local playground where the spongy groundcover is ripped, the swings are old and in need of some updating, and the entire area could use some sprucing up, is slightly depressing. At another local playground, in the Arnona Hachadasha complex that is populated by hundreds of families with children, there is only one — yes, one — swing in the entire place, complemented by a dinky slide, see-saw and a couple of other simple structures.

I'd be happy with this playground...

These are neighborhoods in which people pay thousands of shekels in arnona — property tax — and in which developers, particularly in the Arnona Hachadasha section, have made a nice profit on large buildings that house hundreds of apartments. I’m assuming they have to put playgrounds in when they build the developments, but clearly the guidelines for what they have to build and offer are modest, because they do not pass muster.

So, what do I do next? Put up a tent outside the developers’ marketing offices? Outside City Hall? Who’s joining me in this effort?

Let’s create safe, dynamic playground for our kids; spaces that keep kids in vibrant, lively environments and entice families to stay in Jerusalem and keep improving this city.

Tags: , , • Category: design, General, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, Life 

Comments

5 Comments on Playground protest

  1. Robin on Wed, Aug 17th 2011 8:09 AM

    2. The person in charge of playgrounds in Jerusalem is Yossi Chacham and his phone number is: 629-7753/4. That is where to start.

  2. Jessica on Wed, Aug 17th 2011 12:50 PM

    3. Sounds like you should be joining me…

  3. Marc on Wed, Aug 17th 2011 8:29 PM

    4. Drive through other neighborhoods, specifically Charedi ones that seemed to benefit from Lupolianski’s mayorship and you will find larger colorful slides and a complex for children to play (and no sand pits). I live in Arnona which has a pitiful playground – one slide, two horses, one see-saw, and a merry go round. Clearly the city planners didn’t consider or were not ordered to put in a more appropriate arrangement. Officials of course don’t live in the neighborhood to see the religious and secular families in Arnona annoyed that their children have little space and opportunities because when they come during the week everyone is at work and in gan.

    As a tax payer and a parent the situation is intolerable – especially when you go outside the city to the suburbs and see what the yishuvim and mo’etzot have done for their children.

  4. Romeo and Juliet in J’lem | ISRAELITY on Thu, Aug 18th 2011 9:30 AM

    5. [...] true that I’ve been posting a lot about parks, partially because I’ve been spending a lot of time exploring local ones with my two boys and [...]

  5. Julie on Mon, Aug 22nd 2011 4:55 PM

    6. As a resident of Har Homa, I find it amazing — and paradoxical — that Arnona Hahadasha offers so little in the way of playgrounds.
    Har Homa has lots of playgrounds, all of them new, as it is a new neighborhood. Most of these playgrounds feature a kind of standardized slide/climbing structure — if you tour the area you can spot very similar equipment in playgrounds that are exceedingly close to each other — in some cases, just across the street from one another.
    This monotony aside, the playgrounds in Har Homa are completely lacking in shade, making them unusable for most of the day. In my 9 years living in the neighborhood, I have grown used to taking my kids elsewhere, to parks in more established (read: “affluent”) parts of town.
    Arnona, to the eyes of a Har Homa resident, usually seems very attractive, human-scaled, and green. Hence my surprise at the playground situation there.
    I have lately undertaken to review Jerusalem playgrounds in depth — at least ones that I’m familiar with.
    For the sake of my own morale, I chose to begin my series with two of the nicer ones: the Hildesheimer Park in the German Colony, and the Lifschitz St. Park in Baka.
    It’s worth noting that these playgrounds have adequate, but not particularly fancy, play equipment. Of course play equipment has to have a basic level of attractiveness to children, while also adhering to safety standards. But sometimes it’s other things that “make” a park — a location that brings a diverse and colorful user population to it, an open layout conducive to “exploring,” a variety of uses so that the park can be different things to different people, or different things to the same people on different occasions.
    And shade, of course, is a must.

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