City's future is in our handsCity's future is in our handsMay 9, 2003
Have you ever gone on a trip and seen how the other half lives and wondered when is Oakley going to get that?
Last week my family drove down to Southern California to take my son to Disneyland for his ninth birthday and all along to way I watched the recreation facilities and businesses go by and thought what if Oakley had that.
I've said it before and it is worth saying again, as a new city with room to grow we are in a unique opportunity to build our community into anything we want. Hasn't anyone ever thought of building something other than strip malls and houses? If so, now is the time to speak up, before all there are are strip malls and houses.
My son's great-grandparents live in Hemet, which is about 70 miles northeast of San Diego. We visited them two years ago and were surprised with the growth in just the short time since then. Businesses have sprouted up all over their main street, called Florida Avenue. The traffic was as congested or worse than Somersville Road in Antioch. They had a new indoor mall with major chains like Sears and Gottschalks. New homes are being built just like here, but what I didn't notice was any kind of recreation.
Oh, they had a big veterans park, but it was mostly empty except for a few swings and climbing items. Their town is filling up quickly, but again they haven't thought of recreation. That is what I am afraid of for Oakley.
We need business. The city would be overjoyed if Sears decided to add an outlet here in Oakley. For that matter so would I, but we need to think of some fun as well.
For example, when we were down south there were a lot of parks that had handball courts and they were crowded with young and old playing.
One of the most fun parts of our trip was visiting Balboa Island next to Newport Beach, which is just a few miles from Disneyland. There we visited an attraction called the Fun and Game Zone, which was just like a miniature version of Coney Island in New York. The little amusement park featured a merry-go-round, a bumper car ride, tea cup ride, and a Ferris wheel. There was also an arcade room, gift shops and several small restaurants.
We would have plenty of room on one of the big lots on Main Street for something fun like this. Not only would our young family community enjoy something like this, but it would bring people in from other areas of East County. A successful operation like this could add to the city's economy. Look at Small World Park in Pittsburg. It is so busy each year that it takes several months' notice just to schedule a birthday party for your child there.
The city of Pittsburg runs Small World Park and the proceeds go back into the community.
There are some people who worry about bringing an arcade to town for fear that it would be a bad influence on kids, but many of the owners of these businesses are reputable and make sure that children aren't allowed without parents during school hours.
Maybe small amusement parks aren't in the cards for Oakley. We may be stuck with just just offering houses and businesses. In which case why not look for businesses that will best match our community. Now is the time to tell the city what you would like to see here. The chamber of commerce is still working on its surveys about what the best businesses in Oakley are. If you would like to be part of making decisions about making Oakley the best it can be, fill one out. The surveys can be found in the chamber's office in the Raley's shopping center and at businesses such as Video Cinema in the Centromart shopping center.
Roni Gehlke's column on life in Oakley appears each week in the Brentwood News.
Distributed by the Contra Costa Times