More Attention to Parks Needed

Regarding your article on the recreational needs of the Silver Lake community (Times, Nov. 7): It’s too bad the officers of the Silver Lake Residents Assn. and the Committee to Save Silver Lake’s Reservoirs didn’t offer a balanced view of our neighborhood’s needs and problems at the meeting about an enhanced recreation center.

Many of them have been here long enough to know how bad our traffic congestion is, but few of them--if any--have been a parent or a senior long enough to understand that Silver Lake urgently needs more recreational opportunities.

In the late 1970s, neighbors complained of drug deals and gang members hanging out at the park. A group of parents and a supportive recreation director formed the Silver Lake Advisory Council and organized a community sports program, which brought dozens of neighborhood families to the park every afternoon and evening to play and to practice. The result: Almost immediately, the dealers and hoodlums moved on to more private venues to do their business.

Acre for acre, Silver Lake has one of the most heavily utilized parks in Los Angeles with more that 200 girls and boys playing “peewee” T-ball, basketball, football and soccer.

When our kids turn 9, Silver Lake no longer offers them an organized neighborhood recreation program. Instead, the teams are driven to fields and courts from Echo Park to Griffith Park.

The number of children participating in the “bigger” leagues dwindles to between 20 and 50. The rest don’t play ball; they play in unsupervised activities on the streets and sidewalks with an increased likelihood for injury and the development of antisocial behaviors.

Our city park should offer us more, and the opportunities it offers should be here in our neighborhood. Besides sports for young people, there should be programs for seniors and activities for them to interact with the children.

With regard to Silver Lake Residents Assn.’s concerns about increased traffic, if 100 cars drive a round trip of one mile to use Silver Lake Park, they will create 100 miles of traffic. If those same cars drive five or six miles to use Griffith Park or Marshall High School, they will create more than 500 to 600 miles of traffic, with its additional noise and pollution.

BENNETT KAYSER

Silver Lake