Recently, I listened to an NPR program, Central Coast Voices, that had city staff from the DEI Commission answering questions regarding communication with SLO city staff and voicing concerns at council meetings.
I called in asking about the lack of the “child’s” voice in the city of SLO decision to establish a dog park and remove the only green playing field left in the neighborhood of old town SLO. The children who are very much involved weren’t included in the survey, don’t open their mail at their homes, and don’t vote. They were not contacted at their schools for an opinion or at any organized practice on the field at Emerson Park.
There is a very real shortage of open playing areas for children in that part of town, and many of the children live in apartments so they don’t have a back garden to play in or yard large enough for group play.
I belong to a walking group from the SLO Senior Center that walks regularly in parts of old town and downtown. We don’t live in the area around Emerson Park but feel like neighbors with the SLO Senior Center only blocks away. We remember having empty lots or green fields to play in growing up.
We wish to speak up for the children who have not been given a voice in this decision. We believe dogs love their explorations of scents in a linear fashion on the sidewalk. If a dog park is preferred, there are two brand new dog parks at Laguna Lake Park a very short drive away.
Emerson Park could do with some upgrading but not by taking away a green field long held as a neighborhood space for scheduled practice or spontaneous play.
Rosemary Baxter
SLO Senior Center walking group
San Luis Obispo
This article appears in Dec 25, 2025 – Jan 1, 2026.
If we solicit and accept input from children, I’ll bet that they would prefer a dog park, so that they can go play with the doggies. And I imagine that the objections are coming from geezers like myself, not from pooch-loving tykes.