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'The deafening din of children from every corner of the city!"
By adamg on Tue, 07/15/2008 - 8:31am
Oh, the horror, the horror that would descend on the area around Jamaica Pond if swimming were allowed. Because you just know kids everywhere would drop what they're doing and charter buses to take them to THE POND and those buses would idle all day long outside those expensive condos and that would be quite distressing enough but then, before the buses left, all those urchins would run wild through the streets, mugging everybody they see and throwing rocks through windows and setting fire to the mansions and breaking out their cans of spray paint and writing on everything.
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Comments
I have to laugh at some of the reasoning
Some of the arguments against have such a subjective bias, I have to laugh. For example, "Fully, I grant that swimming is more than appropriate, but it would interfere with the appreciation of the nature." Whose appreciation is he talking about? If those "dirty screaming children" the opponents keep harping about had a voice in this debate, they might complain about "childless eco-tightasses" spoiling their joyous appreciation of the pond. The safety argument has little merit, since swimming is happening anyway, in the pond and elsewhere. Supervised/regulated swimming would be safer. The real opposition comes from property owners who live near the pond and have the political leverage and sense of entitlement to prevent "the dirty masses" from spoiling "their pond" and real-estate values.
Perhaps if the article spent
Perhaps if the article spent a little less time on skinny dipping and a little more time on the ecology the quotes so often reference, this ambiguity would not exist.
I'm not sure how delicate the pond actually is. It is connected as a source to the Muddy River. An expert on such things would have been helpful.
Instead, we get, in the majority, skinny dippers and local activists telling us how the pond work. Great. Super.
Very poor article as you
Very poor article as you say. I love that the person who wrote to the Gazette in opposition to the dirty, loud children lives on Sumner Hill which is nowhere near the Pond--exactly what one would want to hear from a resident of that uptight neighborhood to reenforce one's existing class resentments and smoldering realestate jealousies. I hate you Sumner Hill! I want to join the club, Sumner Hill!
I think we should give it a try and see what happens. But maybe someone who knows something about the ecology of the pond and how it might be damaged could convince me otherwise.
I'm in favor of it in
I'm in favor of it in principle, but the logistics would be a mess. A small number of skinny-dippers are no problem, but hundreds of families would need major facilities to make it work - like a big parking lot that doesn't exist now. The problem is that unlike Walden pond, where vistitors are restricted by the number of parking spots in the lot, in JP people would park on the streets and cross the Arborway in large numbers. The shallow area you'd need for children is very small now, so more than about 20 families would be too many for safety.
The ecological issues are bogus - the ducks and geese crapping in the water is a bigger problem that kids pissing. The biggest anti-vote - besides the abutters - would come from the hoity-toity "keep the masses out of "our nature" crowd. They want to close the gate after they get in.
In the end, the skinny-dippers and quick sneakers are probably the best option - kind of a "don't ask, don't tell" policy. What I would like to see is a return to the past of regattas on the pond. Wouldn't kayak races be cool? I don't even see the sail boats and rowboats any more when I drive by - what happened to them? There used to be fireworks on the 4th of July, but I won't even start with that one. Imagine having people building crazy boats and racing around the edge of the pond - wouldn't that be cool? The truth is, the city does't want too many people showing up at the pond - it's too much trouble, and too many people with pull want things just the way they are. The NIMBYs and the Olmsted-nutters are a very powerful force behind the scenes.
You make good points. And
You make good points. And perhaps that's true, regarding the wildlife and the alleged delicate balance the pond currently enjoys.
Would it have been too much effort for an editor to ask the reporter to get a local professor or state scientist to tell us something about what the actual impact of opening the pond to masses of swimmers could be? What about a ranger who could describe current trash problems versus larger visitors per week implications?
This article ran front page centerpiece, and it lacks any substantive reporting - short of a kind of shrug from one official, who says, essentially, "fine, if everyone can come to an agreement." It's a cutesy anecdotal roundup. Maybe that was the intent ... but it reads like something out of a resource-poor community weekly.
What's wrong with people parking on the nearby streets?
I don't see how this causes any kind of problem.
A few people going for walks
A few people going for walks around the pond are not problem for local parking. A beach in that neighborhood on a hot July day? There simply aren't enough spaces, so people would start parking in front of driveways, etc. Parking is tight in JP on a good day - this kind of usage would require a dedicated parking lot, which there is no space for. One hundred years ago, it would have worked, but the neighbors were able to block it even then.
I think you have conceived of this all wrong
The lack of parking isn't a flaw, it's a feature. It would allow people who live nearby or who are willing to bike or take the bus to partake of the pond, but discourage people from driving in from way the hell away, thus keeping usage down.
Contrary to popular belief, we don't have to bend over backward to accommodate motorists.
The pond isn't that big
... but relatively speaking there's a lot of wildlife in it, including lots of nesting waterfowl. I'd prefer to leave it as it is.
Also, I'd be too concerned about what's on the bottom of the pond -- broken glass and other refuse -- to comfortably swim in it.
I agree with another commenter that better use needs to be made of the Curtis Hall pool.
Divide the pond into swimming and non-swimming areas?
Seems to work out OK at Sandy Beach (Upper Mystic Lake) in Winchester and Walden Pond in Concord.
Win Win Win
Yes. Two possible sites: The west beach, where the ice factory used to be has a drop-off that may be a safety issue and limited parking. The east beach, in the narrow part of the pond, has less slope, better parking, and is farther away from any residences. The east beach, I think, was the site of the mill mentioned by rememberjamaicaplain. If we restored the natural hydrology of the emerald necklace by re-establishing a spillway from Jamaica Pond to Wards Pond, it would cleanse both ponds and flush the Muddy River. That would be real progress for birds and humans alike.
How about swimming at Curtis Hall on weekends?
It's incredible, but the new Curtis Hall schedule doesn't have any swim sessions on the weekends through August! If we made better use of that wonderful pool, there might be less pressure to use Jamaica Pond.
Here's the Curtis Hall schedule
Here's the Curtis Hall schedule, which is strangely difficult to find elsewhere online.
Petition for use of pond
MASSACHUSSETS GENRAL LAWS
PART I. ADMINISTRATION OF THE GOVERNMENT
TITLE XIV. PUBLIC WAYS AND WORKS
CHAPTER 91. WATERWAYS
Chapter 91: Section 18A. Public access to great ponds; petition
Section 18A. Upon petition of ten citizens of the commonwealth that in their opinion public necessity requires a right of way for public access to any great pond within the commonwealth, the department and the attorney general or a representative designated by him sitting jointly shall hold a public hearing and receive such evidence thereon as may be presented to them. The joint board may make such additional investigation as it deems desirable and if it appears to said board that such a right of way exists it shall present a petition to the land court for registration of the easement. If it appears that no right of way exists it shall submit a report, together with recommendations thereon, to the general court on or before January first of the following year. This section shall not apply to any body of water used as a source of water supply by the commonwealth or by any town or district, or water company, nor shall it affect the right of the commonwealth or any town or district or water company to the use and control of the waters of any such pond for the purposes of a water supply, nor shall it affect or diminish any existing right to the use of the water of any such pond for mercantile or manufacturing purposes.
http://www.mass.gov/legis/laws/mgl/91-18a.htm
I think the small beach area
I think the small beach area is safe to swim in, but on the other side of the Pond it's not-so-safe with a lot of roots and quicksand-like ground. I was there and witnessed the woman who drowned last year being taken out in a stretcher.
Well, now that the whole city knows...
...that 24-year olds go there to skinny-dip, that does cast a palpable "end of an era" pall over the whole thing. The shoreline's gonna be three deep with men in raincoats.
Seriously. Now that our spot is blown up...
I can't wait to get down there some Saturday night and find the pond packed. and then everybody gets arrested. and then THAT will be a story worth reporting on.
"37 Naked Trespassers Arrested at Local Pond"
Been there, done
Been there, done that....
rememberjamaicaplain.blogspot.com...bath-house.html
Jamaica Pond is a beautiful pond.
Jamaica Pond is a beautiful pond that's located in or near a beautiful city oasis--the Arboretum. Some places are meant for swimming, while others aren't. I think Jamaica Pond falls into the latter, plus there are a lot of wild ducks and geese who swim in it, which could cause a health risk, I'd think. Best to leave it alone.