COVID-19: Mecklenburg County closed the park parking lots. It didn’t stop the crowds.
Editor’s note: This story has been edited to include reader feedback that the Freedom Park was empty earlier in the day and to add the time of day that CharlotteFive saw the crowds at the park (3:45 p.m.-4:10 p.m.).
Opinion: We should stop going to the crowded parks, greenways and trails now, even if the county hasn’t closed them.
At least once a day, someone from the CharlotteFive team drives around to check out the sights in our city during the state’s stay-at-home order to prevent community spread of COVID-19.
Every time, we hope to see the parks becoming emptier as awareness continues to spread about how contagious this virus is.
And every time, we’re disappointed.
The county took a big step earlier this week when it decided to close the parking lots to the parks, meaning you’ll have to bike or walk your way in if you want to use them.
That comes with its own set of issues: Are we playing favorites to those who live in the neighborhoods with closer or nicer parks?
But, fair or not, it’s a step in a direction to alleviate crowding — at least, in theory.
Parks, trails and greenways busier than ever
On Saturday, April 11, Freedom Park, the Rail Trail in South End, and Little Sugar Creek Greenway were busier than I’ve seen yet during this pandemic. Readers later reported that earlier in the day, Freedom Park was as close to empty as they’d ever seen it. One of our reporters was in a different part of the park from 1 p.m.- 3 p.m. and didn’t see any crowds.
Yet by 3:45 p.m., when I arrived, I saw people running, walking, bike riding (including on rental bikes), sunbathing, lounging in ENOs and petting each other’s dogs. It was so busy that passing people on the trail was impossible to do with 6 feet of space. It was too busy to practice social distancing.
I was there with our photographer until 4:10 p.m., and the crowds did not stop the entire time. We circled the park a few times and saw crowds entering from multiple entrances. A police officer patrolling a closed parking lot told us that a lot of people were getting around the closed park parking lots by parking on East Boulevard and walking in.
It’s frustrating to those who are staying at home to see our coverage of those who are not. This is apparent in the comments of our Instagram posts of the crowded parks.
It’s also frustrating for those who just want to get out and get some exercise on a nice day. We do understand — it’s tough to be stuck at home. People who live in apartments are lucky if they even have balconies, getting a sliver of sunshine in an otherwise indoor existence. Some people have backyards and some don’t. Some live in neighborhoods without a lot of sidewalk activity — and some don’t.
Are we waiting for the county to tell us what to do?
I wonder: Why are people continuing to crowd public spaces, even as we are being told COVID-19 is more contagious than we previously suspected? Are we waiting for the county or state to shut things down further?
Our local government appears to be carefully weighing our need for sunshine with our need to stay safe, and it’s a delicate balance. But if we, as residents, throw logic out the window and only follow the rules once they are made, we could end up paying a deadly price.
Florida didn’t shut the beaches down fast enough ahead of spring break, and people poured into the state in droves, partying in large crowds weeks before the state got involved. “I was thinking, ‘OK, well, hold on, the government did not cancel it, so it should be fine,’” Beatriz Diaz, who spent spring break in Miami, told The New York Times. Only now are the effects becoming clear — and people died.
Chicago has closed its lakefront and adjacent trails, parks, The 606, Riverwalk and Millennium Park. The city’s mayor took to Twitter earlier this week to tell people to stay away from public parks. “Your jump shot is always gonna be weak. Stay out of the parks,” she posted. Message received.
For us in Charlotte, as bad as staying at home sucks, getting or spreading the coronavirus sucks a whole lot more. Dying, or causing someone else to die — a family member, a healthcare worker, a stranger — should make us all willing to do everything we can to prevent that from happening.
Even as they remain open, maybe it’s time for us to avoid the parks, greenways and trails that are packed with people. When places are that crowded, we lose control over our own personal safety — most of the people I saw on Saturday were not wearing masks and continue to be comfortable crowding strangers as they passed each other on sidewalks. The more crowded the area, the more worried I became for the people I saw.
We can decide not to go to the public parks. We don’t have to wait for the county or state to tell us what to do.
Even though the greenways are still open to those who can bike or walk there, do you think it’s a good idea to use them? Should we wait for the county’s directive, or just go ahead and avoid them now, making social distancing easier? Email us at CharlotteFive@charlottefive.com and let us know what you think.
This story was originally published April 11, 2020 at 7:19 PM.
