Happy Day in Newton
People who have been excluded from open space in Newton finally have a place where they can enjoy the benefits socializing and exercising their dogs off-leash. So why is Ben Terris's article in the Globe negative?
Here was an opportunity to share with his readers the voices of residents who may have been enjoying a public park for the first time. Here was an opportunity to tell the story of people who worked with their community and their elected officials to make their city a better place to live, a story about people who spent hundreds of hours working for the right to enjoy the benefits of socializing and exercising their dogs off-leash, hours they could have spent flying under the radar, breaking the law, taking advantage of the lack of enforcement of the leash laws and spending time with their dogs. It appears that Terris doesn't have the heart to write a compelling and uplifting story about a grass-roots movement that resulted in an improvement to the city parks system. Instead he creates a tempest in a teapot: by quoting only the anger and opposition of a few loud neighbors, he'd have us believe that Newton did a bad thing.
I'd be really interested to know how Newton families felt when they unleashed their dogs legally for the first time at Cold Spring Park. Instead what I learned is that whenever I see Ben Terris' byline, I can expect a a biased story that does not reflect what is really happening and what really matters in my community.
Cold Spring Park is located on Beacon Street in Newton Center. Take your dog, and have a good time!