No they are not. Only 'big cities' have public pools funded by the government. The vast majority of the US does not have a public pool.
They are in fact a huge legal and financial liability.
The vast majority of the US does not have a publicly funded NFL stadium, either. Just sayin'.
"The vast majority of the US does not have a public pool."
Go out west, dude, a lot of little towns have 'em.
Historically speaking, pools and bath houses have been a city municipal and is still this way in many European cities.
Pools are certainly a basic service that the city should provide. "Idle hands are the devils tools". I guarantee the cost of having no pools is higher than having pools.
Excellent post.
Municipal pools could be considered a basic service, but they aren't an absolute necessity. Not keeping pools open or operating reduced hours in the summer doesn't guarantee the city isn't going to collapse.
At one time, everyone living within the city limits had to purchase a pool token, good for the season. That seems to have gone by the wayside.
How is providing free pools beneficial for a taxpayer who doesn't have children or their children are adults with their own families? It isn't a benefit. It's another handout.
At one time as a child, my family didn't live near a municipal pool. Our minds were not idle, as to become the devil's workshop. we were taught by parents & grandparents other methods to have a fun, enjoyable & rewarding summer.
Times are tough & here's the bare bones necessities, folks: Fire, Police, trash collection & snow removal. When the piggy bank is empty & the cupboard is bare, one learns to make do. The entitlement people need to learn to knock it off with the gimme-gimme-gimme. You want it, get up off your squat & get a j-o-b, & pay for that damned pool token & the lunch at the pool.
Well, inexpensive pool tokens might be an excellent compromise.
Then again, everybody in city limits DOES have to purchase a token. It's called "taxes".
With unemployment skyrocketing in the metro area, your glib command that people "get a j-o-b" is fairly insulting.
Furthermore, not everybody is as saintly as you, Greasy. While I'm not finding anything on Google, it seems pretty likely that public pools decrease crime.
It may shock you to find that a government is absolutely nothing like a family, or an individual, or a corporation. When times are tough, a procyclical cut in government expenditures shifts the onus of the downturn onto families, individuals, and businesses.
You do have to purchase a token to use the pool. Not everyone has the luxury of parents & grandparents keeping them busy, and out of trouble, all summer.
To better understand why the pools are important, pls. everyone read the parable a fence or an ambulance.
It's up to citizens to decide what a basic service is.
Let's have all the Republican candidates campaign on Alex T's idea that they should shut down pools and rec centers, and let the voters decide if they like that.
Only in a Democract's wet dream is a public pool considered a basic necessity.
Try getting a library card. Libraries are essential for obvious reasons--pools not so much.
Then perhaps when citizens educate themselves we won't have Council members named Laketa to be discussing.
That is MY wet dream.
Another Fucking pussy Anon, grow a pair!
" Another Fucking pussy Anon, grow a pair!"
What a gracious moderator of the forum you are, Brian Griffin. Class act. Kiss your mother with that mouth? After all, you still live at home, right?
And how is that relevant to you being completely uninformed as to the importance of public pools? I use many of the public pools in the basin and they are a far cry from being "underutilized". They have a reasonable membership fee and the service they provide is irreplacable. These kids don't have the luxury of summer camp or growing up in the burbs with space to roam. Have you ever spent a summer in the city w/o AC? The pools aren't for the "welfare class", linn st pool is one of the best facilities in the region and if there wasn't so much stereotyping and racism some of you stuck up white folks would come down here and see what a great service the city is providing.
Hey clowns,
No one is saying that it's not a great service. Perhaps though you're points may make more sense when we're not talking furloughs and police/fire layoffs.
If I tell a kid he can't go swimming to save someone's salary, guess which one I'm picking. Yeah it sucks, but we're all about 'shared sacrifice' these days, right?
But go ahead and cite to every "social history" article. It won't change the dire straits crisis facing this city.
You people are so fng dumb it's almost painful.
Nothing exists in a vaccum. Without the pools there would be a bigger burden on the fire and police services. Also, there is no dire crisis facing the city, the problems of Cincinnati are representative of what is going on nationally. There is no excuse for making kids "sacrifice" anything. I'd much rather layoff an adult who can fend for themselves than a child who is completely helpless. Get over yourself and pay your taxes.
"Without the pools there would be a bigger burden on the fire and police services."
Wow. Is that the logic they are teaching at UC? Not only does it make no sense, you're arguing that kids that don't have access to pools will go out and commit crimes? Ah to be a stupid college student again. Good luck with that General Studies degree.
And I'm not paying my taxes this year--decided to hold out for my Obama appointment.
Get a real job, a real life and we'll talk in 20 years when you've either (a) allowed the gov't to wipe your mouth, runny nose, and ass and you are seriously too fng dumb to function or (b) realized it makes no sense to reward the lazy and ignorant at the expense of those that you know, actually work and "pay their taxes" as you so forcifully state.
Moron.
If you didn't understand the argument than you must be the moron.I actually do work sir, in addition I volunteer a lot of my time. Obama and the liberals are not the source of your problems, you are, acceptance is the answer. I don't believe in a system that has an underclass by design. Children are not deserving of poverty,nor are they lazy or ignorant, they are innocent and they are the future who will be paying your social security. Come down to hannah playground or bank st or linn st pool and tell the kids they don't deserve the pool, or better yet have your 'fiscal responsibility' candidiates come down and explain to the kids why they want to close the pools.
Yes, I "want" to close the pools. And in my spare time I kick puppies for giggles.
Being an Obama sycophant, you're of limited intellectual capacity. I'm done with you.
God have mercy if you ever procreate.
UCstudent, you really nailed it (and without ad hominem attacks!) about sacrifice.
1. FORCE the kids to sacrifice (they don't get to vote) by closing pools, or
2. ask the police to sacrifice (by cutting administrative personnel)
3. ask everybody who's employed to sacrifice by raising the income tax (which won't contribute to housing delinquency as much as property tax)
4. ask everybody who enjoys the city to sacrifice by cutting services (including furloughs of beat cops) which will result in less income and therefore less spending
Yes, raising income tax will also decrease spending, but the difference will go to the city coffers (rather than nowhere) and mitigate the GMP loss.
Furthermore, once employment makes a rebound, there'll be a national migration toward the cities that offer the most. Cutting services would be offering less (literally!) and will result directly in fewer jobs (since government jobs are jobs too) and indirectly, insofar as GMP will be relatively lower.
In short, the metro areas that cut services most will be the ones that suffer over the next few decades (see California).
Also, I think I saw the student procreating with Anon's mom last night. God help us!
I don't typically comment here but I casually read here enough to know that you Luke have no business talking about ad hominem attacks.
You're the same persno that calls people fucksticks, fucktards, fuckfillintheblank.
So in the spirit of things, Luke, gfy.
Sigh. Weren't you done?
An ad hominem argument is when you say "that argument is invalid because the person making it is vicious in some unrelated way".
I was calling Donald a fucktard because the argument that Donald made was fucktarded. It's the inverse of an ad hominem argument!
So, it would be unsound if I made the argument that your positions are imbecilic because you're an anonymous commenter. But it's perfectly sound to say that you wish to comment anonymously because your positions are so imbecilic.
This is what private pools are like.
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/
n...Complexion.html
The Lyceum in Glendale was still racist when I was a member in the mid-90s. Glendale's sizable African-American population was just screwed.
Commenting by HaloScan
