Room For One More Park in Eagle Rock?

Eagle Rock truly is a great neighborhood to live in, but we already know that. Thinking of parks specifically, we have Eagle Rock Park and the physical Eagle Rock Trail Park anchoring our Northeast end, a couple of the neighborhood’s most recognizable icons. Then on Yosemite Drive we have the popular Yosemite Park and its pool which is so loved during the summer months. There’s even the Lanark Shelby Park by the Eagle Rock/Pasadena border, just east of Figueroa, that is home to a community garden. Not bad for our little town.

I like to think we have room to accommodate more parks in our neighborhood though. Today I have a location picked out very close to Yosemite Park but would be a welcomed addition nonetheless I do believe. So where exactly is this potential park exactly? Let’s have a map answer first.

Hopefully we all know where this is. The land in question is represented by the blue line between Lida Rosa and Fair Park.

I personally have memories of going behind a friend’s home on Highland View and cutting through this alley to get to an other friend’s house on Fair Park. A really convenient connection to avoid going down to Yosemite, then up Rosemary Drive then left on Fair Park which seemed a lot longer by comparison during elementary years. Anyway…

This space which runs along the sides of homes is fenced off at two points, one at Linda Rosa, and the other where this little alley ends on Fair Park Ave. The result is a strip of dirt that goes unused 99% of the time. Seems like a terrible waste. According to my conservative math calculation guided by google maps measuring distance, there is over 3,000 square feet of wasted space.

Here are closer pictures from the Linda Rosa end

Thank you google maps streetview.

I can imagine this area may have been fenced off as it was rendered useless and possibly inviting danger with its remote location. Both are sound reasons, and fencing the area off may be logical thing to do. Now assuming we didn’t spend millions of dollars expanding freeways or waste money repaving streets that don’t need repaving in the first place (call me crazy, but I think Norwalk Ave between Eagle Rock Boulevard and Addison Ave was smoother before it was repaved recently) I think this would be a great location to invest in a mini park for the surroundings neighbors. Even if the park was gated off by 8, it could be a nice place for nearby kids to kick a ball around, letting out excess energy while dinner is being prepared. On lazy Sundays it could be a place to sit and enjoy the sun in this open space, or cool off under the trees that provide shade to parts of this alley. How about a neighborhood game of freeze tag or dodge ball? Weekly pot luck? While this is a relatively small space in a narrow linear shape, the potentials for this space to bring neighbors closer together, rather than divide, are huge!

Has anyone else had interaction with this alley? Am I alone in this fascination of what could be?

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Alleys Rock!

Alleys are typically stereotyped as dangerous due to their lack of visibility and traffic. Until I started getting an itch to explore every single corner of Eagle Rock, I was unaware of how many alleys we actually have. There are a couple bloggers who sparked my interest in alleys with their fondness of these often lonesome paths so here is my take in a segment I have named “Alleys Rock!” In this segment I want to reverse the common perspective that alleys are either dangerous or useless. They are quite fun to explore and while an alley may be bare at first glance, it might have something to show upon closer inspection.

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This section of alley has the 200m mark/ shot put ring of the Eagle Rock High School track on one side. On the other is Vincent Ave/Yosemite Dr. Most days this dead end part of the alley is used to park cars. Sometimes I have seen skaters practicing tricks there and during track season it is free  up close viewing of the shot putting.

On a recent walk I was impressed by one family’s use of this free space. They set up a waterslide for the kids to enjoy. Few residents can boast being able to host a slide of this scale whether it be due to landscaping of property, living on a hill, lawn is slanted, or there just isn’t space. Having an alley for a backyard this gives the surrounding residents a blank canvas to use any way they want. This picture cuts out part of the slide, but from what I remember it ran on for about five more feet. The cars and the house on the left are good indicators of how massive this slide was. It’s great that kids get to play in that space, I almost always like seeing space be repurposed in this way.

weeeeeee!!!!

More posts to come so keep checking in and feedback is always welcomed.

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