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Citizen complaint of the day: Out of control basketball hoops in West Roxbury
By adamg on Mon, 11/27/2023 - 9:34am
First hoop asks: Wanna piece of me?
A determined citizen spent part of Sunday night cruising West Roxbury looking for wheeled basketball hoops just sitting on sidewalks like they owned the joint, and reported not one but two hoops on Willowdean Avenue and another 1.5 miles down the parkway at Temple Street and Temple Terrace.
The city wasted little time springing into action, telling the aghast citizen to settle down, um, marking all three cases closed and "noted" at 3:38 a.m.
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Comments
I get that it seems silly but
I get that it seems silly but if you are in a wheelchair or using a walker or have any mobility issues at all it is an issue when the sidewalk is occupied like this. Why even bother having ADA requirements for sidewalks if the city will allow cars to park sticking out of driveways, basketball hoops to sit there in the way and any number of other obstacles?
Most of us could just pop down onto the sidewalk and pop right back up. If you do not have mobility issues try walking down the street pretending you have a cane and can not bend your knee. The sidewalks of this city become much more treacherous if you go into it with that mindset.
ADA pearlclutching
Even a wheelchair can pop down from the sidewalk and back up. They'll just be doing it from the driveways instead of at the curb.
Of course obstructing public sidewalks with unnecessary crap is a bad thing, but ADA fundamentalism isn't good either.
Go play…
… in traffic.
Then tell us how easy it is to pop on and off the sidewalk in a wheelchair.
"ADA fundamentalism"
"ADA fundamentalism" is not the flex you think it is.
Do you use a chair for mobility?
I'm guessing "no".
One of the first things that many architecture students are assigned to do is to get in a wheelchair, visit various assigned buildings and try to find their way in, and then write a report on it.
You should try this sometime and get back to us about how "easy" it is. I think the number of chair users that I see (and support) using bike infrastructure speaks to the challenges that even normal sidewalks impose.
Really?
We looked at a nearby house. Having those hoops up was a plus in our book. That neighbor would be a negative.
Wheelchair users
may differ with you on that.
Chair users
Have issues with this, but the uncalmed traffic in the neighborhood is even more hazardous.
Get Your Chainsaw Out
Because, if you are going to take this to its logical end, that tree in the back has to go too.
If it's blocking wheelchair usage
then yeah, it should.
It is normal for this site
It is normal for this site and it’s commenters to not be able to see the trees through the forest.
It is normal for anons
It is normal for anons to make pointless comments like the one above.
Say what you want
But it does appear that the tree that would block ADA access is being overlooked in the discussion of the plaything that people are obsessing about due to ADA issues.
Because you didn't see it?
Because you didn't see it?
There was a comment on this thread yesterday stating that yes, the tree should go. Now, given that both hoops and tree should go if they impede ADA access, surely you can see that there's a difference in how they got there, and therefore perhaps a bit of a false equivalence being made as to how the two situations should be treated? Someone had to put the hoops there, someone can remove them and put them elsewhere, on their own property, easily enough. The tree, on the other hand, needs to be cut down.
No. Just widen the sidewalk.
There's plenty of room on the street side of the tree to widen the sidewalk near the tree. It would double as traffic calming. Car lanes and parking spots are not sacred or holy, no need to sacrifice sidewalk OR trees.
Slight disagreement
The purpose of a sidewalk is to accommodate pedestrians and people using mobility-assisting devices such as wheelchairs. It's transportation infrastructure, not a playground. When you start giving up sidewalk space to recreational activities, decorations, alfresco dining, etc., whatever it is ought to have a 100% universal benefit.
He’s not suggesting that the sidewalk ..
.. be made into a playground. He’s saying the sidewalk could be widened to properly accommodate pedestrians without cutting down a tree that provides shade, oxygen and other 100% benefits to all.
Good point
Good point, I thought it was the hoops and not the trees being referred to. In fact, I was thinking of trees; hence the "universal benefit".
Theoretically
If they're on public sidewalks, they can be removed by anybody.
Also, just as it's illegal to park your car sticking out from your driveway onto the sidewalk, impeding wheelchairs or even someone with a baby stroller, the owner of the hoops can be fined with the same. Of course you can't prove who owns the hoops, so just have the city come by with a truck and remove it. Give it to a youth center maybe.
Do wheelchair users live near here?
I like basketball hoops, but the ones shown in the photos would make it impossible for a wheelchair to pass.
I have no issue with these
I have no issue with these nets. What I have issue with is that anyone in a wheel chair or that has mobility issues can't get by.
The adults in the house should know better.
I wonder if they're against the road diet and that's why it's on the sidewalk and not the street...lolol
Both are quite streets
Hence how kids are able to play basketball IN THE STREET.
Just like a non wheelchair user (the person who filed the complaint), a wheelchair user could use the street due to the lack of traffic.
The road diet has nothing to do with these hoops, however the person complaining about a neighborhood basketball hoop is exactly the type of person advocating for a ridiculous "road diet".
You wonder why people from the area dont like the newer residents. "I've lived here for 2 years, i know better than you" is the mentality of most Karen/Todd's on this site...
Wait until trash day, you might faint!
How do you know it's a newcomer?
This comes up all the time in other neighborhoods - everything was fine and peaceful until the Richie Riches moved in, harrumph, nobody who has been here down through three generations would EVAH complain, because things were always completely perfect until roughly June 28, 2021.
Long term residents are …
…. more likely to be older and have mobility issues. Except for the babies in strollers.
Go play in traffic.
Bad idea
Only if "lack of traffic" means no traffic whatsoever. How easily do you think the average driver in the average contemporary behemoth vehicle is going to see someone in a wheelchair? How likely do you think the average driver is to expect wheelchairs in the street?
This is my thought
Leaving them on the curb but on the street shouldn't cause any problems. The second one could probably also go on the lawn when not in use.
Traffic calming
Given that parking on this street isn't an issue, curbing them seems to be the right answer.
Hauling them into your own driveway is even better.
Westies have discovered secret exam school points.
Basketball skills can offset negative zip code rankings.
Wow
Just ... wow.
It's not just wheelchair users
It's anybody with mobility difficulties who use canes, walkers, etc... or who may not use a mobility aid at all. But the extra effort and risk involved in having to move around obstacles like this make it dangerous for people with disabilities.
Street would be a better place
I've seen them placed curbside in the street close to the owner's driveway cut. You can't park within five feet of a driveway so you're not taking any spots and it leaves the sidewalks free.
My neighborhood growing up
My neighborhood growing up had a few basketball hoops which people had put on telephone poles without permission. That would be a better way to do this, since it doesn't block the sidewalk.
Multiple downsides to this fancy bs
They're blocking the sidewalk for people with mobility devices, and it's ridiculous that the city won't come take them for that reason.
In the hood, people just affix cheap hoops to existing posts. I know of a few near me that have been up for decades. The city and neighbors don't seem to mind these.
About the only partially
About the only partially mitigating circumstance I can think of would be the somewhat-thoughtful but insufficiently thought-out "moved them out of the road for street-sweeping day or garbage pickup day".
Space savers on standby.
Space savers on standby.
Wheelchair users are highly
Wheelchair users are highly discouraged from residing in West Roxbury.
According to Google Street view...
Not a new or temporary occurrence.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/LvyUS9yFW9wGGHGd9
https://maps.app.goo.gl/DbAmaFyi8JTZXVjs8
Looks like a neighborhood
Looks like a neighborhood tradition.