CBH-12 Correspondence – Vivian Linderman
From: Vivian Linderman <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, August 22, 2023 12:48 PM
To: CityClerk <[email protected]>
Subject: Council Meeting 8/22/23 - Item #12 Comments
-EXTERNAL-
Good afternoon,
In April of 2022, the Long Beach City Council voted unanimously to provide pickleball courts to the Long Beach community and requested a Pickleball Master Plan from the Parks and Recreation Director. That plan was presented to the council (not publicly) in August 2022. Within months the plan was obsolete and, as of today, not implemented as described.
Today, freely accessible pickleball play in Long Beach is primarily offered at Marina Vista, Bayshore, and Somerset Parks. The groups playing at these parks supply nets, balls, first aid, shade, paddle racks, etc. to hundreds of individuals of all ages who drop-in to participate. If players have their own friends to play with they can make arrangements to play at the BJK and El Dorado tennis centers where pickleball hours are limited and all players pay-to-play.
Those wishing to take professionally-led lessons, or join clinics or leagues, must look outside the city for these options as Long Beach Parks and Recreation offers no such classes.
Without permanent pickleball courts, located throughout our diverse neighborhoods, and affordable options to learn and improve at the game, the City has created a situation that bleeds accessibility and equity concerns.
Attached to this email is a petition, signed by 300 individuals, to expand pickleball opportunities in Long Beach along with two documents describing the status of local courts and suggestions on how to meet the increasing need for permanent, lighted courts.
Pickleball is here to stay. It’s time for the city to #paddleup and serve this growing community by funding pickleball courts in Long Beach.
Thank you for your consideration to include pickleball court improvements and expansion in the 2024 Budget and the park improvements in Elevate 28.
Vivian Linderman
Resident of District 5
“As William James observed, we must reflect that, when we reach the end of our days, our life experience will equal what we have paid attention to, whether by choice or default.”
― Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants: The Epic Scramble to Get Inside Our Heads
Just IMAGINE.
WWW.CHANGE.ORG/LBPICKLEBALL PETITION COMMENTS
AUGUST 2023
Comment
"I love playing pickle ball in lb" Emily Satterthwaite "We need access to pickleball courts" Joe Schrider
"We need more courts for the community" Gary Ballard
"We need more courts for our community!" Nancy Noble
"LB does not have enough dedicated courts to serve its communities. Often LB locals will travel to other municipalities to enjoy this sport" Nathan Stotts
"Although the City of Long Beach is the 2nd largest city in Los Angeles County and the 7th largest city in all of California, it currently has only one dedicated pickleball court in the entire city. On April 5th, 2022, 70 pickleball players attended a City Council meeting to support an agenda item to direct the City Recreation, Parks & Marine department to work with the Pickleball Advisory Committee to develop a Pickleball Master Plan for the City. The Council unanimously supported this item with a 9-0 vote. A link to the original Long Beach Pickleball Master Plan update provided by the Director on August 12, 2022, is located at:https://www.longbeach.gov/globalassets/city-manager/media-library/documents/memos- to-the-mayor-tabbed-file-list-folders/2022/august-12--2022---update-on-the-pickleball-master-planThe City’s Pickleball Master Plan is updated regularly based upon new information and opportunities. In the first year since the City Council provided direction to the Parks Director to develop the master plan, the city has added 22 dual-striped pickleball courts at various locations throughout the city. This is a great accomplishment but still does not meet the current needs of a city of over 450,000 residents with hundreds wishing to play pickleball every single day! The current Long Beach Pickleball Master Plan shows an additional 12 dual-striped pickleball courts that are still planned but not yet funded or completed and 40 dedicated pickleball courts of which only 20 have been funded but construction has yet to begin. This petition is a request to the Mayor, Vice-Mayor and the City Council to finally budget sufficient funds to meet the current needs for dedicated pickleball courts so that city residents do not have to travel outside of the City of Long Beach to neighboring cities to play on dedicated pickleball courts. This petition is also a request for the Mayor, Vice-Mayor, City Council and staff to prioritize the implementation of these projects to get them designed and constructed expeditiously without unnecessary delays." Lee Swain
"We need more pickleball courts so that everyone who wants to play can play and so that other court sports aren’t disrupted." Emily Bell
"I literally live one block from Somerset Park. It’s so crowded. When I first started playing there, people were so inviting and nice. Now, they are territorial and unwelcoming. If I want to play, I drive up to Manhattan Beach. We really do need more courts in Long Beach. Pickleball is really fun if you can get on a court." Kelly Navarro "Pickleball is a healthy activity for all ages and all family members! Long Beach City should support these efforts.
Thanks" Chris Marshall
WWW.CHANGE.ORG/LBPICKLEBALL PETITION COMMENTS
AUGUST 2023
"Pickleball Popularity StatisticsHere are some of the statistics which show pickleball’s ever-rising popularity.Pickleball has 8.9 million players in the United States of America as of early 2023.The number of pickleball players increased by
85.7% in 2022.The growth rate of the number of pickleball players for the three-year period is 158.6% (2020-22).The number of players playing pickleball has nearly doubled in the seven years from 2014 to 21.Every two out of three players are core players, which means that they play pickleball more than eight times a year. This shows how addictive pickleball is!" Debbie Martel
"Pickleball is a hugely growing sport and Long Beach is already far behind the curve. We need many more courts to satisfy the demand of local residents so they don't have to go to other cities to play. As for the neighbor complaints: you bought house next to a park. Now park things are happening. You can't expect a park to just sit there so you can look at the green grass." Michael Wooten
"We need more courts in our parks." Lori Preuss
"Heather asked me to and it’s true, LBC is way behind developing its city with more public pickle ball courts. I mean what are you waiting for? It’s only the worlds fastest growing sport for all ages. Let’s go!" Robert Anderson "PickleBall is the fastest growing sport in America these past few years. Hands down. Especially in our wonderful city of 450K residents. Currently there is only one permanent PickleBall court in LBC. Compared to the 67 permanent tennis courts in our parks and rec centers. Please make arrangements in the coming city budget to add at least 30+ permanent and dedicated PickleBall courts!Thank you. R Saner and R Amante of Belmont Heights." Bob Saner
EXPANDPICKLEBALL&CREATEDEDICATED, LIGHTEDCOURTS
● LongBeachneedsmoreplacestoplaypickleball; current locationsareoverwhelmedduringweekenddrop-inplayandonsomeweekdays ● LBneedsfreelyaccessiblededicated, permanent pickleball courts:○ Current court locationscompetewitheither tennisor basketball (Bayshore,MarinaVista, Somerset)○ Other locationsarepay-to-playandhavelimitedpickleball hours(BillieJeanKing, El DoradoPark)○ Othersrelyonplayerstoeither chalkor tapeincourts(Stearns, Wardlow, otherlocations) ● Somerset istheonlylocationofferingnight playthroughout theweek○ Morelightedcourtsareneeded ● Neededcourt improvementsinclude:○ Shadestructuresfor thosewaitingtoplay○ Equipment storage: containersaregreat for nets, first aid, etc. but theinstallationof storageshedsallowspacetokeepEZ-uptypeshadestructuresandmore.○ Paddleracks○ Individual court boundaryfencingkeepsballsfromrollingontoother courts ● Someexcellent parksfor pickleball include:○ HoughtonPark- rarelyusedtenniscourts; largeenoughtobuildout new,dedicatedpickleball courts; adjacent toJordanHighSchool wherepickleball isnowpart of thecurriculum; ateencenter andsenior center host activitiesatHoughton; parkingavailable; distancefromneighbors○ WhaleyPark- rarelyusedtenniscourts; distancefromneighbors; parkingavailable; communitycenter withprogrammingandavailablestaff○ WardlowPark- largeenoughtobuildout newpickleball courts; distancefromneighbors; parkingavailable; communitycenter withprogramming; currentpickleball groupsplayingonbasketball andvolleyball areas○ Scherer Park- rarelyusedtenniscourts; distancefromneighbors; parkingavailable; roomfor new, dedicatedcourts○ PanAm, Silverado, McBride, andtheLBSenior Center all haveindoorgymnasiumsperfect toaddindoor pickleball lines○ Other parkstoconsider: LosCerritosPark, Admiral KiddPark, BixbyPark,RecreationPark, El DoradoPark, ? ● InLBpickleball playisanequityissue. Thosewantingtoplayno-cost pickleball mustbringtheir ownequipment (balls, paddles, andnets) or relyonother playerstoset upandshareequipment. Dedicatedcourtsallowall residentsaccesstoplayregardlessoftheir abilitytopurchaseequipment or travel toparkswhereequipment isshared.
LB PICKLEBALL COURT STATUS WARRANTS INVESTMENT IN
MORE COURTS
• Ideally, every council district, if not neighborhood area, should have pickleball courts available to its residents; yet, the majority of city-striped courts are on the east side.
• In a May 2023 Trust for Public Land report on pickleball o LB ranks #55 out of 100 (.4 courts per 10,000 residents) o Virginia Beach, almost equal in population to LB boasts 57 courts or 1.7 per 10,000 residents
o Raleigh NC, with a similar population to LB, has 38 courts (.8 courts per 10,000 people)
o Locally, both Riverside and Anaheim outrank LB for the number of courts per capita (Riverside ranks 29; Anaheim ranks 31 with (.7 courts per 10,000))
• 458,000 estimated residents (CA Dept of Finance, 2023) o Long Beach boasts 166 parks
o Long Beach covers 50 square miles
o There is only ONE dedicated pickleball court (Bayshore Playground; but, it’s really not dedicated - it’s also striped for paddle tennis). All others in the city compete with tennis or basketball.
• Dual usage courts, striped over basketball or tennis, causes frustrations on both sides and unnecessary conflict.
• The numbers speak for themselves - 2 to 4 players on a tennis court vs. 16 players on a court.
o Locally, pickleball social media accounts have over 1,000 followers o There are approximately 300 players on LB Pickleball WhatsApp groups o One LB Pickleball Facebook account had 400+ visitors during one recent week
o Locals are interested in pickleball!
• Marina Vista courts are known to have over 60 players on weekend mornings.
• Somerset Park can often have over 40 players and is the only free accessible court in all of Long Beach that is lighted and available throughout the week.
• Do these numbers not warrant dedicated, lighted, permanent courts or such improvements to current courts?