Letter to Editor: Downtown Park Makeover Should Be High Priority

To the Editor:

I read a headline recently with anticipation there would be some mention of Royal Oak's need for improving our downtown plaza and sadly noticed no mention of it.

As a concerned citizen, I appreciate that many of our neighborhood parks need to be addressed, however a central downtown park makeover would service all neighborhoods and logically should be high on any priority list when you think of the resident teens and families who frequent the library, including graduate students. This is needed until plans can be made for radically expanding the entire surroundings of City Hall, which Jim Rasor would like to see in a future Royal Oak someday.

The present condition of this now outdated plaza speaks a lot about our city's priorities to those who frequent both our farmers market, flower show and downtown. In addition, there has been concern expressed lately about problems with some of those who are attracted to Royal Oak more for its abundance of bars more than its fine restaurants, businesses and cafes. The loss of Caribou Coffee and the almost loss of Barnes & Noble are prime examples of the danger of neglecting the attraction our downtown has for students and young professionals who spend considerable time money here. 

Our city is at a tipping point and I believe a downtown park makeover would serve to increase property values across the board just as it has in neighboring cities such as Birmingham, Rochester, and yes, even Detroit. After all, where would you like to see the children attracted to downtown hang out? In front the bars or in front of the library next to our police station?

Every college has its campus, or diag as it is referred to at the University of Michigan. It is up concerned citizens to request a change of focus that would attract more young families, entrepreneurs, and professionals to our city. Our city sorely needs to focus more on quality of life issues and less on what's on tap.

Ron Wolf
Royal Oak

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