Originally Posted by
tandempower
There is a deeper problem, which is what happens when hordes of people show up with frisbees and balls and turn a park into a playground. Then there are the vendors and park managers who use them to turn the park into a business that generates more revenue. There is fundamental bias against having parks be nature sanctuaries where people can hike/bike, camp, and live in a more primitive, small-footprint, way because most people just don't want to be humbled by nature, i.e. because humility in the face of nature feels like humiliation to them.
Parks are versatile and diverse. They can have areas that are cleared and modified for specific activities like cricket or lawnbowling, others that are cleared for generic purposes and other parts that are left in their natural state. Again, the space we clear for recreational purposes is drastically overshadowed by the massive space we clear for transportation corridors. Let's cut back on the latter before we try to ostracize the frisbee players or mountain bikers who want space to play in parks.