Why America stopped building public pools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s a liability issue. For example, Recently there was an incident and now many of the public lap pools in DC make you get out every 45 minutes on the hour.

More on this from today:
https://wtop.com/dc/2023/07/what-is-the-all-out-policy-at-dc-pools-and-why-are-some-upset-about-it/?fbclid=IwAR02Dm09xIsidMQrA-fDBDLA-TeaP6LmGQw9iCJ1WkZABjVJGAmFszgHRws_aem_Ae_5zsXm8YWXaoAU549nb9stgIR0-omJKehXqVyjDLJE_dWqQCukxMFy5z0cesognAg&mibextid=Zxz2cZ

Thanks; I’m the poster you quoted. I was about to post the same thing. The all out policy is a huge pain in the ass if you are actually trying to accomplish something while being in a lap pool.

It’s entirely a 1) liability driven decision not to have more pools, and 2) a “this will be a massive pain in the ass” decision because of the lunatics in this thread who find racism everywhere,
as that same group of people will figure out how to complain about any additional pools (e.g. the hours, the color, the entrance sizes, the placement).

It’s impossible to win with any public project in this area. Why bother?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is really sad and is a obvious example of structural racism

Why is our local DC government so racist?
Isn’t the Mayor a brown woman?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is confusing. Why would Fairfax integrate everything else, but draw the line at pools. And, if private pools only allowed white people to join, I think we'd be hearing about this in the real estate forum.

Fairfax took a long time to “integrate everything else.”
http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/news/2004/mar/03/fairfaxs-long-road-to-integration/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is confusing. Why would Fairfax integrate everything else, but draw the line at pools. And, if private pools only allowed white people to join, I think we'd be hearing about this in the real estate forum.

Fairfax took a long time to “integrate everything else.”
http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/news/2004/mar/03/fairfaxs-long-road-to-integration/

The article is from 2004. It’s 2023 BTW.

[Anonymous]

I was recently in CA- every school there had an outdoor pool- most had 2 or even 3. In NoVa, there was an agreement that the pools would be in the Rec centers. Anyone can go there to swim. Anyone can join NCAP.

I lived in NE - we didn’t have public pools, I learned to swim in a lake. We could join a swim team, like here in Fairfax, we just had to pay $ to join the team and get to practice.

[Anonymous]

I just feel like there are way bigger priorities right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was recently in CA- every school there had an outdoor pool- most had 2 or even 3. In NoVa, there was an agreement that the pools would be in the Rec centers. Anyone can go there to swim. Anyone can join NCAP.

I lived in NE - we didn’t have public pools, I learned to swim in a lake. We could join a swim team, like here in Fairfax, we just had to pay $ to join the team and get to practice.

I would not crow about NoVA.

DC has 23 outdoor pools and 12 Aquatic Centers, serving 712,000 people. Fairfax County has 0 outdoor pools and 10 aquatic centers, serving 1.1 million people.

That is the legacy of racism. Clearly FFX only built the pools necessary for lap sports, with no recreational pools included. They see no need because the historically white communities built their private pools. Same is true of Arlington. They have 3 high school pools built in the 70s, and only recently did they build the first aquatics center. No recreational pools, but a bunch of private pools that I'm pretty sure were mostly built in the mid-50s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just feel like there are way bigger priorities right now.

Sure, you probably have access to air conditioning and a private pool membership if you want one. I doubt you will be suffering tomorrow with the heat advisory.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is confusing. Why would Fairfax integrate everything else, but draw the line at pools. And, if private pools only allowed white people to join, I think we'd be hearing about this in the real estate forum.

Fairfax took a long time to “integrate everything else.”
http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/news/2004/mar/03/fairfaxs-long-road-to-integration/

The article is from 2004. It’s 2023 BTW.

Have we discovered anything new about what happened between 1954 and 1967 in those intervening years?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1132168.page

Wow, pg pool is terrible

I’d love to pee in this pool

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was recently in CA- every school there had an outdoor pool- most had 2 or even 3. In NoVa, there was an agreement that the pools would be in the Rec centers. Anyone can go there to swim. Anyone can join NCAP.

I lived in NE - we didn’t have public pools, I learned to swim in a lake. We could join a swim team, like here in Fairfax, we just had to pay $ to join the team and get to practice.

I would not crow about NoVA.

DC has 23 outdoor pools and 12 Aquatic Centers, serving 712,000 people. Fairfax County has 0 outdoor pools and 10 aquatic centers, serving 1.1 million people.

That is the legacy of racism. Clearly FFX only built the pools necessary for lap sports, with no recreational pools included. They see no need because the historically white communities built their private pools. Same is true of Arlington. They have 3 high school pools built in the 70s, and only recently did they build the first aquatics center. No recreational pools, but a bunch of private pools that I'm pretty sure were mostly built in the mid-50s.

How come people claim the kids in DC have nothing to do if there are so many pools?

[Anonymous]

I do see the legacy of racism all around me in NoVA. The private pool thing is sad to consider, given how much we love our local pool club. Interestingly our pool is one of the few in the area that doesn’t have a geographical limitation on who can join … so maybe the founders were a little more progressive, or maybe one of the successor boards was. Back in the 50’s, neighborhoods were way more segregated due to redlining etc. It is just a fact that public pools closed after segregation, and people created private clubs to keep others out. It’s not allowed now but there’s definitely a legacy to overcome and institutional norms need review to make sure they aren’t perpetuating old biases, like pool bylaws and swim league policies. It seems like these are insignificant things, but they can have big impacts in your very local community. These are the best kinds of things to care about in my opinion.

All of the people saying, oh, well I grew up in a 100% white area and had no public pools are proving the point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s a liability issue. For example, Recently there was an incident and now many of the public lap pools in DC make you get out every 45 minutes on the hour.

More on this from today:
https://wtop.com/dc/2023/07/what-is-the-all-out-policy-at-dc-pools-and-why-are-some-upset-about-it/?fbclid=IwAR02Dm09xIsidMQrA-fDBDLA-TeaP6LmGQw9iCJ1WkZABjVJGAmFszgHRws_aem_Ae_5zsXm8YWXaoAU549nb9stgIR0-omJKehXqVyjDLJE_dWqQCukxMFy5z0cesognAg&mibextid=Zxz2cZ

Thanks; I’m the poster you quoted. I was about to post the same thing. The all out policy is a huge pain in the ass if you are actually trying to accomplish something while being in a lap pool.

It’s entirely a 1) liability driven decision not to have more pools, and 2) a “this will be a massive pain in the ass” decision because of the lunatics in this thread who find racism everywhere,
as that same group of people will figure out how to complain about any additional pools (e.g. the hours, the color, the entrance sizes, the placement).

It’s impossible to win with any public project in this area. Why bother?

We had "all out" policies in my Florida hometown dating back to 1950's.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Blah blah blah. For some people everything is about racism. Whatever.

Baltimore has public pools. City has been dominated by black politicians and leaders since the 70s. But doesn't prevent the city from keeping pools closed. Let's still blame it on racism.

No one is talking about Baltimore except for you. We’re mostly talking about Virginia. You know, the state where the Confederacy had its Capitol? Come on. When I moved here from a different part of the country the whole private pool club thing was new to me! We had community pools and beaches. We also had a lot of gated communities with their own pools. Never really thought about it until moving here and learning about all of the public pools that closed in the south after legal segregation ended.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do see the legacy of racism all around me in NoVA. The private pool thing is sad to consider, given how much we love our local pool club. Interestingly our pool is one of the few in the area that doesn’t have a geographical limitation on who can join … so maybe the founders were a little more progressive, or maybe one of the successor boards was. Back in the 50’s, neighborhoods were way more segregated due to redlining etc. It is just a fact that public pools closed after segregation, and people created private clubs to keep others out. It’s not allowed now but there’s definitely a legacy to overcome and institutional norms need review to make sure they aren’t perpetuating old biases, like pool bylaws and swim league policies. It seems like these are insignificant things, but they can have big impacts in your very local community. These are the best kinds of things to care about in my opinion.

All of the people saying, oh, well I grew up in a 100% white area and had no public pools are proving the point.

Why should I pay for other people’s pools? Why should yet another thing that has no relevance to me or anyone I know be paid for by me?