By Travis McGee
Welcome to the park is what we say in the SouthPark area located in Southeast Houston. You may even see it on the SouthPark Super Neighborhood 72 signage throughout the community/neighborhood, however the parks in SouthPark and surroundings areas like Sunnyside aren’t too welcoming at all. The Parks in the Park are just older with no significant upgrades or renovations just a lot of broken promises and politics. How could the main thoroughfare of SouthPark be named after a great man by the name of Martin Luther King Jr, but the Blvd formerly named SOUTHPARK doesn’t lead to any great parks. The City of Houston is the city of Haves and Have Nots in which Haves get even more and the “Have Nots” get even less. The Haves get more money and the” Have Nots” get more excuses.
The “Haves” WANTS more additions, renovations, upgraded facilities, money, and etc. to their parks that already have everything. The “Have Nots” NEEDS new facilities, additions, renovations, money, safety, lights, drainage, water fountains, play rounds, restrooms/port a potty and etc. for parks that never had any of that. LEVY PARK is a world class park that actually have everything that you could possibly see and want to have at a neighborhood park located in the upper Kirby area also known as the” HAVES”.
If you walk to the rear of the park, you have a nice taco stand that serve very good margaritas and as you make your way to the front you could possibly buy you a nice steak with a chilled bottle of the finest wine, yes all of this at a neighborhood park the is visited by tourist here in Houston, Tx. You can also opt for valet parking if necessary… Its so much more to name but you pretty much get the picture of The HAVES vs The HAVE NOTS. Even though some parks across Houston look like they from 3rd world countries the vote to give the world class LEVY PARK even more was 15-1 Council member Ramirez voted NO and councilwoman Laticia Plummer was absent. The vote will ok another $8,500,000.00 to buy 2 acres of land at the corner of Rich- mond and Eastside to expand and another $6,000,000.00 to renovate the land.
The Have Nots make up 10 of the worst 18 parks on the City’s needs assessment list All located in District D and LEVY PARK comes 186th out of 186 parks on the NEEDS assessment meaning they don’t NEED anything com- pared to other parks, how- ever parks like EDGEWOOD PARK are 17 years behind in construction. You would think it would be priority by now and much more than $6,000,000.00 would be allocated since one park is getting over $14,000,000.00 for an expansion when parks in the hood don’t have the basics like lights, play grounds, water fountains, drainage, safety.
