Desegregation occurring when the push to dismantle government run services was gaining traction caused the loss of public pools. Americans acquired an irrational fear of government in the 70s and 80s. We lost public pools, publicly run ambulance service, publicly run garbage collection. Police departments no longer service their own vehicles.
I think it's important to remember how linked these are. In many places the response to desegregation was to dismantle as much public infrastructure as possible and replace it with private infrastructure that was legally integrated but functionalaly segregated.
Government agencies that serviced their own vehicles just ended up with a fleet of non-working vehicles. At least that was true for those for which the vehicle fleet was of secondary concern.
And for something like a police department, the efficiencies disappear with modern vehicles which need less maintenance.
Public pools are also disappearing in my country (Austria).
It's mostly a cost issue. Towns see the huge maintenance bill and decide to close their pool. Half the indoor pools I went to in my childhood are now closed. No new public pools have been built.
When I was a kid, I had swimming classes every other week in school. My kids have swimming classes 4 times a year because the few remaining pools that schools can go to are overbooked.
The completely predictable result is that the number of kids and adults who can't swim is growing every year.
Unrelated but thought to follow up. When I grew up, in the 70s - 80s, I have fond memories of going to the public indoor swimming pool where I lived in a suburb to Stockholm. The smell of chlorinated water, the sounds of kids playing echoing on the tiled walls, sweating the sauna afterwards. Above all, a strict hygiene regime. No underwear in shower, sauna or pool. Just swim pants in the pool, naked in the sauna.
Somehow, this has changed. Kids don't give a shit and swim with their underwear underneath their swimpants. I don't know what the staff are doing but seems they have lost control. I am disgusted and will not visit public pools anymore. I wonder if this is a more global trend.
That's really sad. The article is also surprising to me because in my area there are a lot of public pools, many of which have been recently built. Staffing and maintenance isn't a problem either - for example [1]. I'm in the suburbs instead of the city, and the current trend is for every suburb to compete to have the nicest pool and amenities. The one nearest to me has water slides and a lazy river, a diving well that includes a 3-meter diving board, etc.
But if you want to know why they take swimming seriously, it's a safety issue: [2]
In places without good jobs that pay good salaries, people are either going to have to pay more taxes, or accept that the public services are going to suck :-/
> Public pools are costly for cities to maintain and insure.
> Cities also have struggled to staff pools with lifeguards. High-school and college students have more summer job options and are less likely to pick up a job as a lifeguard over the summer than they once did, [Kevin Roth, vice president of research, evaluation and technology at the National Recreation and Park Association] said.
The article also doesn’t mention the rise of the “splash pad” as a cheaper and safer alternative for cooling off in the hot summer months.
Regarding the racial integration protests and violence that the article mentions, Mr. Rogers (coming along later) famously addressed this, to children:
There's an intriguing line in this article that I wish were explored further: what is the role of increasing liability and insurance costs in the withdrawal from public amenities?
Interesting that CNN mentioned Martin Luther King Jr in the article as the City of Atlanta spent a big chunk of downtown Atlanta's TAD (same thing as TIF) money on the MLK Aquatics Center. But the byline says it came from CNN's New York office so maybe they don't know much about Atlanta.
I also wonder if like so many other primarily outdoor activities (the MLK pool happens to be indoors), there's a generational decline in interest.
Around here we just drive to the lake or river. Who wants to swim in a public pool when you could swim in a lake or river with no rules? Better swimming in the lake, bridges and rope swingsbeat diving boards any day, and you can crack open a beer if you're so inclined.
Yeah, if "around here" means what I think it does, three people died recently doing just that because they hadn't learned how to swim properly. And while you can learn to do some basic swimming in a lake or a river, it's a lot easier to teach and learn it in a pool.
Thinking about where I grew up, every public pool I went to was basically subsidized by being attached to hockey arenas. None of them are gone yet luckily.
[+] [-] synetic|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] neaden|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] twoodfin|2 years ago|reply
Other than to add more sinecures for the politically connected…
[+] [-] SamReidHughes|2 years ago|reply
And for something like a police department, the efficiencies disappear with modern vehicles which need less maintenance.
[+] [-] gagged_s_poster|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] newaccount74|2 years ago|reply
It's mostly a cost issue. Towns see the huge maintenance bill and decide to close their pool. Half the indoor pools I went to in my childhood are now closed. No new public pools have been built.
When I was a kid, I had swimming classes every other week in school. My kids have swimming classes 4 times a year because the few remaining pools that schools can go to are overbooked.
The completely predictable result is that the number of kids and adults who can't swim is growing every year.
[+] [-] mongol|2 years ago|reply
Somehow, this has changed. Kids don't give a shit and swim with their underwear underneath their swimpants. I don't know what the staff are doing but seems they have lost control. I am disgusted and will not visit public pools anymore. I wonder if this is a more global trend.
[+] [-] Kon-Peki|2 years ago|reply
But if you want to know why they take swimming seriously, it's a safety issue: [2]
[1] https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/chicagos-77-public-poo...
[2] https://glsrp.org/statistics/
[+] [-] thatfrenchguy|2 years ago|reply
In places without good jobs that pay good salaries, people are either going to have to pay more taxes, or accept that the public services are going to suck :-/
[+] [-] az226|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Claude_Shannon|2 years ago|reply
I live in the middle of my country, there aren't even any rivers nearby. I'm not going to drown.
[+] [-] jt2190|2 years ago|reply
> Public pools are costly for cities to maintain and insure.
> Cities also have struggled to staff pools with lifeguards. High-school and college students have more summer job options and are less likely to pick up a job as a lifeguard over the summer than they once did, [Kevin Roth, vice president of research, evaluation and technology at the National Recreation and Park Association] said.
The article also doesn’t mention the rise of the “splash pad” as a cheaper and safer alternative for cooling off in the hot summer months.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Splash_pad
[+] [-] neilv|2 years ago|reply
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6O_Ep9bY0U&t=1m27s
That clip continues at 2m20s.
[+] [-] AgentOrange1234|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] petsormeat|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] SamReidHughes|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Mountain_Skies|2 years ago|reply
I also wonder if like so many other primarily outdoor activities (the MLK pool happens to be indoors), there's a generational decline in interest.
[+] [-] srgpqt|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] paul_funyun|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] WkndTriathlete|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jt2190|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Waterluvian|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] khazhoux|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] NikkiA|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] femboy|2 years ago|reply