Cool pool: Onesty parking furor evaporates
The splashing has begun at Onesty Family Aquatic Center, and neighbors say parking's not a problem.PHOTO BY COURTENEY STUART
After weeks of worrying about parking problems at Onesty Family Aquatic Center, pool neighbors say a smooth opening weekend has slowed the ripples of anxiety.
“I was shocked that cars weren’t in my yard,” says Eleanor Wilson, who lives three houses away from the $3.8 million complex on Chesapeake Street and had feared her street would be lined with the cars of poolgoers.
According to Wilson, who doesn’t have a driveway and thus relies on street parking, her fears weren't realized. In fact, she says cars never parked farther than her next door neighbor's house.
Bob Manners, the City’s supervisor of aquatics, says the opening weekend was “a huge success.”
“Everybody I talked to had a great time,” says Manners, who adds that he hasn't heard any complaints about the parking. That's not to say that traffic along Meade Avenue hasn't been more congested since the pool opened.
“As someone who’s lived there for five years, it’s always been a busy street, but now it’s going to be busier,” says Meade Avenue resident Holly Hatcher, who says she's noticed speeding cars and says that, combined with increased pedestrian and bike crossing, is “enough to cause concern.”
But Michael Minter, who has lived on Meade Avenue for 13 years, says he has seen a reduction in speeding along Meade since Onesty opened June 19.
“It’s been better since the pool opened,” says Minter, who lives seven houses away from the pool. “With the pool open and parking on both sides of the road," Minter says, "people are slowing down.” Since the pool opened, only one car has parked in front of his house, and Minter says he doesn't mind future parkers “as long as they didn’t block the driveway."
Minter says he never believed parking would be a problem around the pool.
“People are blowing this way out of proportion,” Minter said. “If they sit back and stop complaining, then everything will be all right.”
38 comments
quote: "Do we get a threat of a lawsuit next, your own personal take on Godwin’s law?"
Wow. That's real clever too. I actually chuckled.
quote: quote" "I only know who Sick is because he seems to need to be known and makes it easy despite his odd practice of using a screen name instead of his real name."
quote: "I don’t give a shifflett whether you or anyone else posts here under your real name or an alias and I never wrote anything to suggest that I do."
To me, your above quoted remarks contradict one another. If you really don't care, why bring up the "odd practice" in the first place? It was obviously on your mind.
So no, it's still not real clear to me. Based upon your last post, anybody who doesn't know who I am simply isn't real good at paying attention in discussions here. I would go so far as to say they are extremely poor at paying attention in discussions. I've never needed to be known, but people like you identify me and then wonder why people don't know who I am. You're not the first person to cleverly release personal information about me, and you won't be the last.
I do pray that someday some of you can stop leading these discussions so far off topic. The topic was about the pool. Then a discussion about Olive Garden took over. Then Swimmer show up with a few choice insults. And now it's you with who knows who Sick really is, and who doesn't know, and he's not really anonymous, etc...
We really don't need to argue this foolishness further. Just let it end with "we don’t give a shifflett whether Sick or anyone else posts here under their real name or an alias", and we will pretend that you never wrote anything to suggest that you do.
quote: "I only know who Sick is because he seems to need to be known and makes it easy despite his odd practice of using a screen name instead of his real name."
Have you people ever thought about looking in a mirror before posting?
I suppose CC is a "real name".
Pot calling the kettle black ring a bell, Mr/Mrs/Miss cc?
quote: "Thurston June 24th, 2009 | 9:33 pm
Is there anyone else here in Central Virginia that is as sick of ââ?¬Å?Sick of the Local Rambos” as I am?"
I will tell you the same thing I told everybody else. Don't blame me for this discussion going so far off topic. Speranza was joking about Olive Garden. That's all good and well, no harm, no foul.
Then it was all downhill after Swimmer, Boo! and CC jumped in with guns ablazing for the poor old Sick. :)
I do happen to know who Sick is, but didn't for a long time, because, quite honestly, I just don't care. I imagine that is probably true of the majority here.
Who writes it doesn't have anything to do with whether a point is relevant or thoughtfully stated. I usually only wonder who someone is when he or she makes a patently stupid remark. I only know who Sick is because he seems to need to be known and makes it easy despite his odd practice of using a screen name instead of his real name.
I quite clearly do not want to be known. I don't make it easy, instead, at times I go out of my way to make it hard to figure out who I am. I am in fact pretty confidant that no one who reads this will have any idea who I am, even my closets friends and most frequent correspondents. Most significantly, I don't go around telling other posters that everyone but their "newby" selves knows who I am. If I wanted them to know, I would sign with my real name, which I just may do at times.
See the difference?
I prefer the gender neutral prefix Mx. under this alias by the way.
Sick isn't really anonymous. Anyone who's paid enough attention around her to have formed a legitimate opinion of him whether favorable of not ought to have a pretty good idea of who he is.
Swimmer, just about everybody here knows who I am.
Can you say the same?
Sick, don't fall for the Olive Garden posts. The Olive Garden comments are showing up on multiple threads-- it's almost turning into a meme. I swear to god, you don't have to reply to every single comment.
I wouldn't agree that it's "just about everybody" though.
Don't get apoplectic here Sick. It's pretty clear you like having people know who you are, but don't sign your name for some reason. Sorry if I think that's odd. Sorry if I don't feel the need to think exactly like you do. Sorry if you can't deal with the fact that someone isn't impressed with and doesn't care who you are. Sorry that you didn't care to take the time to think enough to realize that I had actually been backing you up in response to "Swimmer" before you started spouting off about how well known you are to "just about everybody."
Do we get a threat of a lawsuit next, your own personal take on Godwin's law?
Anybody who doesn't know who I am is a newcomer here.
Welcome to The Hook newbie! :)
No, CC. There is no difference. You whine about me using a screen name instead of my real name. But you do the same thing. You remind me of the cop who got arrested for drunk drving the other night. He subscribes to the theory "don't do as I do, do as I say!" :)
Boo, I think you're correct. I don't care about the olive garden, I'm pretty sure the olive garden post from speranza was for kicks to begin with. SOLR is just an unpleasant cyber-bully, and my/your comments seem to be confirmed by this thread and the many many others SOLR likes to dominate and put people down. It's OK to be anonymous here obviously, but to be anonymous and a bully is pretty pathetic.
Timely indeed!
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/awful_man_offers_witty_acerbic
Is there anyone else here in Central Virginia that is as sick of "Sick of the Local Rambos" as I am?
I just wish they had put an Olive Garden in that spot.
Speeding has been greatly reduced by people opening the driver's door of their vehicle into the traveled portion of Meade Avenue. I suppose this is a good thing in some ways. But you would think a driver would have better sense than to open their doors into the roadway in front of oncoming cars. I was taught to wait until the roadway was clear before opening a door into the roadway. This careless behavior is probably a carryover from the "pedstrian always has the right of way" phrase that seems to be so irresponsibly preached in this town lately.
Without thumbing through a current DMV Manual, I wonder if they even teach not opening doors into oncoming traffic any longer?
And for the bike and bus riding tree huggers, I am not whining or complaining. Just a casual observation based on my travels of Meade Avenue for the last 5 days. I couldn't care less if I can't stop in time and take somebody's car door off the hinges.
And for the same bike and bus riding tree huggers, don't say I can't have it both way. An elderly wheelchair bound man getting run over by a police car in a crosswalk is NOT the same as some 30 year old mommy opening a 4 foot driver's door on a minivan directly into oncoming traffic. :)
Agreed. but on that note, woefully early to think that parking and safety are an actual issue to begin with.
Got to have data to suggest a problem or a non-problem. 1 week or a handful of interviews on either side is not data!
Woefully early to think the parking and safety issues are resolved.
Concerned, that's just like all intersections, they will wait until somebody gets hurt before they fix the problem. Just like they won't do 3 way or 4 way stop sign intersections unless there's a higher than normal accident rate at them.
When I see the situation you describe, I stop and let the people out if I can do it safely.
The intersection of Meade and East Jefferson was extremely dangerous during the pool construction with all the large vans and work trucks blocking the view as drivers attempted to get out onto Meade Avenue.
Isn't Olive Garden another restaurant with certain "All You Can Eat for one price" selections on their menu? Just what obese America needs. 5,000 calaories in one meal.
Mr/Mrs/Miss East Market Resident, I have never been to an Olive Garden restaurant. I can only repeat what I hear in casual conversation. And that is the fact everybody seems to think there is an "All You Can Eat" pasta buffet of some type.
Perhaps they offered it as a regular menu item until people started abusing it? Ya know, the people who occupy a table for 2 hours and just keep going back for more and more every 15 or 20 minutes. If you want to view a fine example of this locally, just go to Golden Corral on Friday nights after people get paid. It's absolutely hilarious watching some of the morbidly obese characters out there going back for their 6th plate full.
(And yes, I feel comfortable using the term "morbidly obese" in this situation because you know it's nothing more than a food problem after seeing them run up and grab their 5th or 6th plate of food. If I offend anybody who goes back for 5 and 6 plates full of food, so be it.)
Could this area really support an Olive Garden there and in Crozet too? I doubt it! I thought that was why they killed the one on 29 North.
I seem to have heard mixed impressions on how the opening went. Apparently there were some traffic cops on duty, so that probably stopped any lawn parking. While I am glad that certain amounts of insanity didn't occur, it makes me wonder about the wisdom of creating a situation that requires traffic cops.
The comment on the line of cars blocking the view is not new, nor unpredictable. This is what is so frustrating to me when projects are planned, and why I get so noisy sometimes.
Did I run this thread off topic? NO.
say anything above that's not true? NO.
It's a well known fact that most people want an Olive Garden locally because they have an "All You Can Eat" pasta bar or something. It's all I hear in discussions about Olive Garden, all you can eat!
Do I act like this in real life? YES.
Sick of local rambos,
you show ignorance and the inability to have a civil conversation when you grossly characterize people like you do. It's a common theme with you and it seriously weakens your credibility, even as anonymous as it is. I hope you do not behave like that in real life.
Swimmer, get used to "Sick of the Local Rambos." He posts in nearly every story with his snarky, glib, know-it-all commentary. Either he has a boring day job so he parks himself here to pass the time, or he's bored at home. But either way he's got an answer for everything, he likes to hear himself pontificate, he knows how it is so don't tell him differently, and he has to have the last word. It's obvious he's a smart guy, but he apparently has waaaaay too much time on his hands.
Gordon, I had to stop by the pool for a few minutes earlier this week. There was no parking. The parking lot was full. And all parking spaces on the Meade Avenue side and the Chesapeake Street side of the pool were full. If I had been a normal paying guest and was planning to stay for 3 or 4 hours, I would have had to park 1 1/2 to 2 blocks away in front of resident's homes and walk in. I just double parked on the lot and blocked in a few vehicles which probably weren't leaving anytime soon anyway.
On the other side of the coin too though, had I been a paying guest and was planning to stay for hours, I have use of private off street parking a block away in one direction, and/or the same private off street parking 1 1/2 blocks in the other direction. So, parking is not an issue with me. But I can foresee major problems on a very hot and humid day. I have quite a bit of sympathy for the residents living anywhere within 2 or 3 blocks of the pool on both Meade Avenue and Chesepeake Street.
I live on East Market directly behind Chesapeake and for the most part have only had to deal with a little more traffic on Meade..so for the most part I think the opening has been a success. No problems as of yet!
Oh and by the way "Sick of the Local Rambos" you did say something that is incorrect Olive Garden has a complete menu of entree's it is not an all you can eat buffet. I think once in a while they offer endless salad or pasta but that is on a limited time basis. So on that note YES you are wrong.
Sometimes it is ok to be wrong of have a difference of opinion than someone else not everyone has the same views as you! So if you act like this in real life I feel sorry for anyone who tries to voice their opinion when talking to you.
Hay the kids need to cool off so perhaps we parents and citizens should cool off and put to rest our mean words. Chill people and work it out. Perhaps the press could at least in there way show a possible way to use there power to work in a more effective way then report messy things and such a downer news liek this. Report the facts and just the facts. Show something wonderful and fun.
Just a side note to vent:
The c-ville Hooks does not report Fluvanna,Green, Louisa but is in Green, Fluvanna, louisa new stands and it is a mess to known this for years the one way reporting they do. The cops/firefighters in c-ville, fluvanna, green do not get enough money to live peroid they all work two to three job most live in Green, Louisa and Fluvanna counties b/c they can not affort C-ville. But they are there to responded every thought about reporting that HOOK. Perhaps when a kids almost get hurt AKA at the pool is that your news we are asked to save but your reporting is poor on the helpers that do all the work.
Well to put it short life is too short to be a pain. Show the kids having a great day at the pool. Lord poeple get real show some supportvie news PLEASE..
amen brother, whatever it was you were trying to say...
I think the one on 29 North was killed due to some last minute breakdown in negotiations over the property and location they were seeking. Look around, this area could easily support an Olive Garden. Especially if they have an "All You Can Eat" buffet of any type.
I did have a problem pulling out of the parking lot on Sunday. With the line of cars all the way to the corner of Meade - it was impossible to see if there were any oncoming cars. The line of site is totally blocked with the cars parking all the way up to the entrance to the parking lot. There should be a space or two next to the entrance of the parking lot where cars cannot park so you can see clearly when pulling onto Meade.
Sick, you are being particularly pig headed here. Pull your glasses out and re-read. I don't give a shifflett whether you or anyone else posts here under your real name or an alias and I never wrote anything to suggest that I do.
I'm not so keen on pretending to speak for a real person whom you don't happen to be, but other than that I couldn't care less who you or most other posters are. I also at times don't care to make it possible to determine who I am.
My "whining," which is deliciously ironic coming from you regarding this thread, was to say that I find it odd for you to continue to suggest that everyone ought to know your name when you write under a pseudonym. If you want people to know, put your freaking name on what your write. It you want to be anonymous, don't try to belittle other posters for not knowing your name.
Is that clear enough for you?
Posters/Commenters/Newbies/Regulars,
This has gotten off topic. Let's bring this back to the parking around Meade Park and the Onesty Family Aquatic Center.
Has anybody been to the new pool? How was the parking when you went?
Thanks,
Gordon
Sadly enough, most people here probably don't even know The Onion is fiction.
Touch©, Monsieur Petard! Sadly though, SOTLR is probably too thick-headed to absorb the allusion in a thorough enough manner.
Meanwhile, back at the pool...