Why Not, Florence?

I went downtown to Coolidge Park today. It is Chattanooga's version of a "Central Park" you might say. It is on the North Shore, which is a trendy strip of restaurants/bars/coffee shops on the, you might have guessed, north side of the river. The park itself is really just a big open space along the river, though there is a carousel and a "splash pad" (an interactive fountain that kids can control). However, on nice weather days like today the place is crawling with people. It is a fun place to go and just watch people, take pictures, or sit down for a while and read a book. There were a lot of people today working on their sun tans, walking their dogs, or tossing around a frisbee or a football. Also a good place to meet people I would imagine.

Now of course, being a lifelong resident of Florence until 2008 I have a certain attachment to the Shoals area. Even though I don't live there I really want to see the area thrive. Under the right circumstances I certainly wouldn't mind to go back one day. But being in Coolidge Park today emphasized to me a point that often seems to be lost on Shoals area leaders.

People in the Shoals complain about having "nothing to do". Meanwhile, the politicians are busy trying to figure out what sort of tourist trap they can put in at Veterans Park. To me, Coolidge Park is the perfect example of something Florence doesn't have that would be so easy to create. As an added bonus it could be done without being a drain on the taxpayers.

Look at McFarland Park for example. It's not exactly deserted, but so much more could be done. When the golf course was closed (a decision I still oppose), acres of land just became wasted. They say it's camping grounds, but when I drive by there I never see it being used. At least part of it should be turned into an open space like in Coolidge, just for people that want to get out and throw a football or lay in the sun. Of course, unlike Coolidge, McFarland doesn't have an area with restaurants and nightlife. Florence is always talking about building an "entertainment district". How about putting it in McFarland Park? Take the money for the supposed "tourist attraction" at Veterans and use it to build some interesting shops/bars/restaurants at McFarland. Yeah, it's in the flood plain, but that just means these buildings could be an architectural challenge. Build them on stilts and put parking underneath. It wouldn't be that cheap, but it could be done.

I realize there are challenges. The Shoals is mostly scared of any kind of change. Bars in particular are almost forbidden, and I can imagine there would be an uproar about putting them in a public park. There are also not as many people in the Shoals, both living there and visiting. Obviously a park full of people requires there be a large number of people that actually want to use it. Perhaps the scale of the project would have to be smaller than Coolidge. The idea would remain the same though.

I just don't see why, if Florence is serious about an entertainment district in East Florence or anywhere else, this sort of idea couldn't work at McFarland. There is already a good number of people coming in and out of Florence Harbor and using the small park on the east side of O'Neal Bridge (which reminds me of something from Chattanooga actually). I think it could work. FWIW, I say McFarland because I really don't think any other park in Florence or the Shoals could work. Veterans doesn't have enough river access in my opinion, and Riverfront Park in Sheffield is... well... in Sheffield.

On a completely unrelated note, it's not big enough for its own blog but I thought I'd share another thing that annoys me. It's people that stop at red lights when they want to make a right turn. Now, I don't mean coming to a stop and then proceeding to turn. I mean the people that stop, have their blinker on so you know they aim to turn, but simply sit there until the light turns green. Even if there is nothing coming in any direction. People, unless their is a sign posted forbidding you, it is still legal to make a right turn on red. I'm not sure why some people do this but it's just downright stupid.

If you want to see some pictures I took at Coolidge today check out my album on Picasa. Otherwise, until next time...