Building a more perfect Park Slope!
I’ve written my first two columns for the Park Slope Reader about whether to get a family dog and, if so, what dog to get. Suffice it to say that we don’t have a dog yet, but I believe it may happen any day now. Which led me to start thinking about things like dog beds and dog walkers and the general dog infrastructure of Park Slope.
And then I realized what’s missing—Why aren’t there any dog runs besides Prospect Park? Am I missing something? Is this just one of those things you don’t notice until you have a dog, sort of like how I didn’t notice kid’s menus until I had a kid? Or are there unofficial, underground dog runs about which only the chosen few in the neighborhood know?
I’m not saying dog runs are great things—I remember when I lived in Manhattan thinking they were dusty, smelly wastes of otherwise-nice park land. But I suspect if/when I have a dog, on those days when I just don’t feel like slogging up to the park or can’t get there in time for off leash hour, it would be nice to have a place to let the dog run a little closer to home.
And this, in turn, led me to thinking about other things our neighborhood lacks. Let me be clear, I love Park Slope. If I were the tattoo-getting type, I’d have 11217 written somewhere on my left bicep below “Sarah Forever” and above a portrait of Cher. So I think Park Slope is damn near perfect. But what might make it even more perfect, beyond the obvious things like more affordable housing stock and racial and economic integration in public schools and social spaces? Here is a rough list of ideas:
• A co-working space. Or maybe a co-working café, where you could buy a day pass and nab a desk and not feel guilty because you’ve only drank one cappuccino. There are so many transient hipster creatives working “at home” crammed into the current stock of Park Slope coffee shops, I can’t believe someone hasn’t created this.
• A coffee shop with a kid play and programming space. There are things like this in Manhattan, where moms and dads can grab a drink and a snack while the kids take in a puppet show or something. Again, there are so many parents with young kids crammed along side the hipsters trying to get their work done, I don’t know why this doesn’t exist either.
• More mimes. Silent but entertaining.
• More places with prepared foods. There’s the BKLYN Larder, which I love, and at the other end of the slope, Gather, which is also great. But what about when I’m feeling really lazy and only want to walk one or two blocks to get a dinner somebody else pseudo-home cooked?
• A place that opens early for brunch. I love you, Dizzy’s and Cousin John’s, but I mean a more fancy brunch establishment that caters to the fact that my child us awake and hungry at 8:00 a.m.
• Participatory budgeting where community residents get to prioritize how city money is spent. Oh wait, we already have that in Park Slope! Thank you, City Councilman Brad Lander!
• All the chains to go away. You can get your books for the same price at the Community Bookstore instead of Barnes & Noble. You can get your coffee at Grumpy or Gorilla for less than Starbucks. Local businesses are what make a community unique. Plus when we spend money in local Park Slope-owned businesses, that money stays in and strengthens Park Slope.
• Bike racks on residential blocks. I would love to park my bike on the street but my neighbors aren’t so keen on the aesthetics of my bike locked to our front gate. Want to encourage more biking? Put up more bike racks, everywhere. And some Citibike stations would be awesome, too.
That’s just a quick list. I’d love to hear your thoughts. Except about mimes. Please don’t send or post your thoughts about mimes. They’re very divisive, I’ve learned.