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Government rulers figure out more ways to waste our tax dollars. I don't like the government forcing me to pay money to build parks that I never use. I like it even less when the government steals my money and builds parks for out of state people to use. And of course in other news articles the government nannies in Phoenix are now charging us $2 to pay in these parks which we paid for.
Idiot Mayor Hugh Hallman have a lousy record building parks for the people. Well lets say Mayor Hugh Hallman and his gang of theives on the Tempe city council don't build parks for the people to use. They build parks to raise revenue for the city of Tempe. The Tempe Town Toilet park is a perfect example of they. At Tempe Town Toilet aka as Tempe Town Lake they have huge events every week. The events are never free. The events cause huge traffic jams. The events are mostly rock concerts which instead of being put on by government idiots should be put on by the private sector. Plan looks to remake Papago Park as tourist hub by Derek Quizon - Jul. 11, 2010 09:09 PM The Arizona Republic Officials believe they have found a way to make Papago Park into an urban tourist attraction in the mold of San Diego's Balboa Park. Late last month, members of the executive board for the Discover Papago Park project, which includes Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman and Phoenix Councilman Sal DiCiccio, approved a plan they hope will enhance visitors' experiences at the park. Papago, which spans 2,000 acres in parts of Phoenix and Tempe, is home to some of the Valley's biggest attractions, including the Phoenix Zoo, the Desert Botanical Garden and the Papago Golf Course. The problem, according to the 112-page report detailing the plan, is that most visitors come to the park for one of the attractions and then leave. The City Council members, government employees and tribal leaders involved in Discover Papago Park hope that a visitors center, more parking areas and aggressive cross-promotion will make the park an all-day destination. "The idea is, you don't say you're going to the zoo. You say you're going to Papago Park, and while you're there, you're going to the zoo and the Botanical Garden," said Marsha Miller, an employee for the consulting agency KDA Creative, one of several consulting firms brought in by the cities to assist in research. Officials working on the project say that will take a major overhaul. The park is managed by many entities, including Salt River Project and the two cities, and they do not do a good job of cross-promoting or collaborating, according to the master plan. At a series of public forums on the project held last year, residents told planners that there was not enough information on getting from one attraction in the park to another, Miller said. Trails within the park, managed by departments from different cities, are not connected. Many significant landmarks and archeological sites are unmarked. Last year, the group conducted a study that included research on some of the nation's best-known and widely visited urban parks. The research indicated that successful parks, such as Hermann Park in Houston and the Golden Gate Bridge National Recreation Area in San Francisco, share a few key traits. For example, those parks promote an identity of "park first, attraction second," meaning they portray the park itself as a single destination with many attractions. Like Papago, Zion National Park in Utah and Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area near Los Angeles are managed by many different public and private entities that work closely together on promoting events and making improvements. Many of these parks are funded in part by private conservancies. Tempe recreation administrator Shaun Wagner said he would like to implement some of those practices in running Papago. Wagner said administrators are looking at putting in kiosks with pamphlets and maps showing visitors how to go from one attraction to another. Officials acknowledge the process could take years, particularly with the cities scrambling to balance budgets in the face of falling revenue. Ricardo Leonard, a council member in the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, said he expects serious work to begin within the next two years, but it depends heavily on the economy. Phoenix parks supervisor Tim Merritt said parts of the plan, including connecting trails across city boundaries, could begin as early as next year if enough volunteers were willing to help. Other projects, including a multimillion-dollar visitors center, would likely take many years.
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