Keeping the peace in Central Park

Central Park wasn’t always bordered by a Gold Line stop. But in recent years the neighborhood around Pasadena’s Central Park has been altered by the presence of the Metro light rail line and the rise of what city planners call mixed-use developments — apartment buildings and condos, often with ground-floor businesses to serve the new locals and keep the streets vibrant around the clock.

As a result, there is more activity in Central Park than in the past, and tensions are growing between users of the park — including church groups that feed the down and out — and nearby residents and businesses.

In a sense, Central Park — bordered by Fair Oaks Avenue, Raymond Avenue, Del Mar Boulevard and Dayton Street — is an example of a wider problem developing in cities.

Homeless people, especially in a difficult economy, are not going away. And no one would gainsay the efforts of church groups to take care of people in need.

At the same time, creating dense housing along transit lines has been a priority of city planners around the country for decades as they seek to accommodate growth, keep housing affordable and stop traffic from choking local roads.

So it is unlikely that the forces jostling each other at Central Park will go away. The solution is for the competing interests to step up efforts to keep serious incidents to a minimum and keep the park safe for one and all.

Police have dealt with some serious crimes in the park, and must continue to have a visible and vigorous presence in order to maintain order. Church groups serving the homeless and others must make sure they leave it better than they found it, and they can go a long way toward gaining the trust of nearby businesses and residents by steering those they serve toward social services that will help them get back on their feet.

The locals, meanwhile, need to acknowledge that a public park is meant for everyone to use as long as they play by the rules, and that one of the corollaries of living near the beating heart of the city is that you will encounter all kinds of people.