Commends Weisman

[I] just want to thank Sharon Weisman for her fine piece on the Community Plan for North Glendale. Here is a copy of my thoughts sent to the Planning Commissioners:

I am writing to express my strong feelings in regard to the proposal for increased height limits on commercial structures along Foothill Boulevard in your jurisdiction. This is an area of our neighborhood that is crucial to the look and feel of this small town, semi-rural community that we all love. Recent projects here clearly illustrate the importance of maintaining the historical norm against the devastating effect for residents and visitors that an inappropriate and unwanted change will have. Successful efforts by planners and businesses to build conforming designs along this corridor include the new library at La Crescenta Avenue and the Walgreens store on Foothill Boulevard. These structures maintain the low profile architecture that maintains the attractive nature of our town. To increase height limits above the current 35-foot measure would be a serious affront to all who live in this lovely foothill community and a betrayal of the trust we place in our representatives and public servants.

PJ Hearn
La Crescenta

A Pratice Field Is Better Than No Field

As a kid growing up in Boyle Heights, there were no parks nearby so we improvised and made the city street a football field and my youngest cousin the “football.”

As a teenager in Glendale, my sister and I played tennis in the street. The city manhole was the center of our over-sized makeshift tennis court, the street curbs were out of bounds and the two nearby telephone poles were the back-court.

Recently, I visited the Adams Square Park in south Glendale and was delighted to see kids under the age of 13 playing soccer in an area no bigger than a postage stamp. Nearby on the park benches were the parents and grandparents of these youngsters … or were they just kids from the neighborhood who were looking for green space to play their favorite sport ¬ soccer ¬¬– unsupervised by city officials.

I became nostalgic recalling the years as a kid growing up when we had no “regulated” football fields or tennis courts. What we had was imagination ¬– something that the city Parks, Recreation & Community Services Commission (PR&CSC) is sadly lacking today.

[It was reported that] City PR&CSC stated the fields would not be regulation size based upon a survey they took from the city sports teams and, of course, there was always the money issue. But what the officials didn’t do is ask the kids if playing soccer on non-regulated size fields really matters as long as there was a large area of grass. The kids would make up their own rules and regulations as we did growing up.

Why not call the new playing fields “practice fields” or “pony league fields” rather than “regulation size fields?” I am sure the kids from Adams Square and throughout south Glendale would be content with a “half a loaf” rather than no loaf at all.

Once the new “practice fields” are in place, just watch the parents and grandparents walking over from the Adult Recreation Center getting involved with the kids playing soccer. They might in time help organize some teams rather than spending their time watching TV, playing cards, dominos, backgammon, etc. and becoming more involved with the younger generation.

Mike Mohill
Glendale