Stair to Park
In June 1997, Heavy Trash installed their first project -- a 2,000-pound stair providing temporary access to Triangle Park at Santa Monica and Bundy. A 7'-high fence had been erected around the park to prevent the homeless from using the grassy enclave. The City solved the "problem" by using $28,000 of tax-payer funds to fence off the park and permanently remove it from the public realm. For three weeks, the stair allowed the local community to use the park again.
posted by heavytrash at 10:26 PM
24 Comments:
Excellent piece of Engineering.
Signed
Design Engineer
It won't be long before entire cities are walled off.
A city park is, by (a paraphrased) definition, a public space for city residents to enjoy. City residents (homeless or not) are all entitled to use this space. The city has effectively wasted (again) taxpayer dollars to keep out the people the park was designed for. It's a sad day when you discover that your city officials are ignorant fools.
So what is the current status of the park. Did you have any affect?
Wow... has it been that long?
Picnic in the park!!!
So they put a wall up... deal with it! Find another park to drive regular citizens away from and and invite crime into!
Update to the definition posted above: "A city park is, by (a paraphrased) definition, a public space for *taxpaying citizens* to enjoy under municipally established rules and times."
What right does a bum, tramp, etc... have to something he or she has not helped to fund? NEWSFLASH: Rules still have an important place in this society, and trying to turn it into a socialist free-for-all hasn't worked for any country throughout history which has tried it!
Perhaps instead of wasting money on a stupid way to *break the rules* (note: the fence, as a boundary, became a law-in-fact. Those circumventing it are breaking the law), perhaps the builders and their socially concerned friends could have used the money it took to build those goofy stairs to instead invest in a homeless outreach project to teach the homeless folks valuable skills so that they can *earn* a living like the rest of us. I'd gladly donate to that!
Spending money on projects just to make yourself feel good about what you've done is basically selfish. Spending that same money on projects that benefit the less fortunate by providing them with useful life-skills is truly charitable. Benjamin Franklin reminded us that "you can give a man a fish and feed him for a day, or you can teach that man to fish and feed him for life."
Think about that for a while!
Ok I understand your point Ollie but dening a whole city access to a park is not solving the problem. Teaching homeless men and women skills will not solve it. I volunteer in two homless shelters and at a food pantry and no matter how much time you give or money you spend the world will always have homless. So because these "terrible homeless people" are what the community deems "an eye sore or nuisance" everyone loses? That makes no sense. Open community rec centers that will allow homeless people to spend their time there. Give them somewhere to go and maybe the number of homeless people encroaching on the city parks will decrease as well.
"perhaps the builders and their socially concerned friends could have used the money it took to build those goofy stairs to instead invest in a homeless outreach project to teach the homeless folks valuable skills so that they can *earn* a living like the rest of us. I'd gladly donate to that!"
Hmm. So that's about $200, but man we sure could use something closer to, say, $28,000. But where to get it?
Damn, if only we hadn't built that fence...
This one goes out to the well-mannered taxpayer above And how about other non-tax payers then bums and homeless people? Like tourist and people who are taxpayers in different countries or cities? Are they to be banned from your parks as well? Well, if I see you in a park or any other PUBLIC area, I'll advise you to leave or pay some contributions to our society.
This one goes out to the well-mannered taxpayer above:
How about other non-tax payers then bums and homeless people? Like tourist and people who are taxpayers in different countries or cities? Are they to be banned from your parks as well? Well, if I see you in a park or any other PUBLIC area, I'll advise you pay some contributions to our* society or go home and take a walk in your own backyard.
*I live in the Netherlands, where we pay a lot of taxes and get a lot in return for that ;-)
we are judged as humans by how we treat other humans; I am thrilled when I earn enough money to give some back to those who didn't have my opportunities or were born less perfect/healthy or have had bad luck.
Will you smile with pride on your deathbed because you helped no one but those you could get something from in return?
I deliver Meals on Wheels and I am very proud that my state tax money supports these souls, it keeps me from buying out of state.
Try to remember that you are a member of a species, whose goal should be survival. Shouldn't evolution have made us include the weaker in our survival schemes?
We should just shoot the homeless as they are a waste of time and reasources. Even better create a walled community for the homeless so they can have a place where they can get drunk, shoot drugs and defocate on themselves without bothering the rest of us who are obviously better.
It's a sad comment on our society that this is even an issue. Shame on us.
I also work at a homeless shelter and as much as it pains me to say it, a lot of the people I see bring their troubles on themselves. I understand that not everyone was born into the same situation I was and not everyone had the same chances in life as I have, but at what point does a system of circumstances overpower free will and good decision making? More than half of the people I see at the shelter are drug addicts/alcoholics. We offer a free rehab program, but many of the people who need it the most refuse treatment. All I'm saying is many of the people who are homeless are there because they lack the ability to use good judgement, or the willpower to beat their addictions...
First of all a great project, though, I suppose, the money could have gone to better causes - but then we'd have nothing to talk about, eh?
This is really just a response to "Ollie" - Yes, homelessness is an issue that needs dealing with. However, did you know that from an economic perspective, 100% employment is one of the worst things for a country. Too much production, too much consumption, leads to inflation. You would not like that either. The point of this is that there are no real options out there for many homeless people. Remember how hard it was to get a job when you were in high school with no experience. Try showing up for an interview in filthy clothes... Even more important is the fact that many homeless people (oh - you didn't know they were people) may have a range of psychological or addiction issues. Elitist attidues like that really get to me, because they assume that all a person has to do is work hard, live the American Dream, and they'll be fine. Real life is not that simple.
So parks are for tax-payers, eh? While we're at it - keep the homeless off the streets, sidewalks, stores and hell - and why are they breathing MY air? Might as well just (to borrow a Dead Kennedys lyrics) "kill kill kill kill kill the poor". And all those people on welfare - they'll only get one hour of park time per day. Only those making 100k per year will be allowed full access!
Bottom line is that we need programs to deal with this. Calling homeless people "bums" and "tramps" is NOT the answer.
Wow - I'm angry... well done Heavy Trash.
Spending money on projects just to make yourself feel good about what you've done is basically selfish. Spending that same money on projects that benefit the less fortunate by providing them with useful life-skills is truly charitable. Benjamin Franklin reminded us that "you can give a man a fish and feed him for a day, or you can teach that man to fish and feed him for life."
This is interesting. Everyting Ollie S. is talking about has to do with money. Taxpayer money and who gets to benefit from it. Money toward the homeless. The perceived waste of money and its goals, merits, and value - such as it is.
I do not think the value of this HeavyTrash project has anything to do with the money invested into it. It highlighted an unjust application of public funds: building a wall to prevent the public from using the park. Whether a barrier becomes a law-in-effect or not is immaterial; it's a misapplication of public resources that deprives people of liberty. Therefore it's unjust.
Unjust laws are passed and most are repealed after citizens discover the harm in doing so (sometimes not without great fights from those who wish to make more barriers). We've unfortunately returned to times where it's dreadfully easy to establish unjust laws that punish the public in the name of securing them from imaginary threats. The late Franklin said, too, that the fool who trades liberty for saftey should be granted neither.
Much thanks to HeavyTrash for inspiring this discourse and meditation. Hopefully others will grasp the significance of this contribution to the public good.
your first is still your best
keep it up
I say we just build a lot of parks and then close them in just for fun. Maybe we should just build parks underground that the homeless can enjoy. Whoever thought that putting fences up around a park to keep the 'homeless' out should hang their heads in shame for wasting time and money. As a taxpayer, now I am fenced out....maybe I'll find out where the homeless hang out now and chill with them.
I like you stile.
Well done Heavy Trash, this is excellent.
I find that some of the attitudes towards the homeless, city planning, and money allocation in this comment list have been in fairly poor taste. It's this attitude about gettin' what ya pay for and "get off my land" that is really destroying this country. Don't you know, this is America! The land of the Free! That's free, mind you, not the monthly payments, not the if your credit rating is good enough, not only if you live in this certain neighborhood. How is it an expression of freedom to wall in a park? How is it the will of the people to dump 28k into an iron fence? Keep in mind here that though the symbol of our country is a flag, this is the land of free protest, and a flag burning is just as much a symbol of patriotism and freedom. I think that a belligerent stairway to protest a wall that is enforced by no law or sign is as good or better a gesture than burning an american flag. And those of you who think that we should just magically educate the homeless into being good little automatons should recall that it's this system that put them there, and a general apathy about their fate is part of the cause of it.
Thanks again Heavy Trash, you guys make me proud to be an american!
I really hope all the taxpayers in your community are not as ignorant as the post I read here. In my mind, you do not even deserve a park with such a narrow-minded view. What do you propose they do? Maybe the could erect entrance gates where all taxpaying members would show their paid-in-full tax stub. They could post guards in towers around the park to shoot anyone who has not paid for the exclusive right to enjoy the park and is trying to scale the fence. Oh wait, humankind tried this experiment in Berlin and today we see what became of it. Truly unbelievable the overblown solutions that some people come up in order to deter less than a handful of people from using a city park.
this is a great example of the idea behind fences and windows.
no-logo
there are borders all over the world and yet the political and economic elite would like to call it free trade... money can move where people can't. public/private schools, healthcare/free clinics, immigration/illegal aliens are another side to fences erected to keep poor people from having access. not by a physical fence necessarily but by not being able to afford the access.
Dem homeless peoples be urinatin' in dat park, but ain't no fence gon stop dat. Dey jes pee thru da fence. haha
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