Green Lake
Day: Monday
Time: 10:40 AM
Weather: Cloudy, drizzly, mid 50s
Location: Green Lake Playground & Community Center Bathrooms
Sarah’s Notes:
s we drove up, I was shocked at the number of people at the playground near the parking lot. I remarked that it was such a difference from the other parks we’d been to where there were only a few people we encountered the whole time. Here, there what I would guess was about 40 kids and their parents playing. It seemed to be an attraction for people, but didn’t seem to be any more beautiful than lush Ravenna. I thought might have something to do with the surrounding neighborhoods, but this was just a brief speculation (I have a general understanding of GL as an expensive neighborhood with lots of resources). Kiley predicted that she’d have a hard time parking due to the crowdedness and I offered to get out and start the observation in an interest of time. She dropped me off close to the restroom at the side of the community center and continued looking for a spot.
I took a photo of the exterior and walked up a level to the door. I noticed a sign advertising a free dinner. As I continued inside I saw three stalls to my right that featured receptacles in all but the last stall. I continued down a short hall and on the wall found a condom dispenser with two types for sale. I kept walking and saw a large trash can to the left and a vanity with a series of three sinks. Above the sinks were corresponding soap dispensers. At this point, I heard steps outside and got nervous to be in the restroom taking pictures. I soon saw that it was Kiley at the door looking at the free dinner sign. I walked her through the restroom and she seemed a bit outraged by the presence of a condom dispenser, but lack of feminine hygiene products. I noted that there were receptacles in the stalls and we looked a them together. She noted that there were no bags lining them and she held open a lid so I could photograph it.
As we walked back to the car, we noticed that there were a large number of trash and recycling cans (4 of each) and a dumpster. Kiley said she thought it was because of the community center, but it still seemed like a lot to me (my apartment building has about that many for instance).
Kiley’s Notes:
We drove from Cowen Park to Greenlake, and I told Sarah about how I knew where the Greenlake bathrooms were. I know there is one at the community center, one on the trail, and then one near the stadium area. I decided we should go to the one near the playground first since I knew there would be a potential parking spot in the parking lot there.
It was extremely crowded and there wasn’t a parking spot, so Sarah got out with her camera and I pointed to where the restroom was. While I made a loop around the lot, someone pulled out of a spot so I got their spot.
I walked up to the door, and I noticed that there was a sign about free dinner (OC: on Sundays? at a church? Sarah got a picture of it.) (OC: so even though Greenlake, especially this area where the playground is, doesn’t seem a place where homeless people are, they are still reaching out to people of low SES or homeless. I know I’ve seen people who are homeless along the trail on my runs.)
I walked inside and Sarah told me there was only a condom dispenser. I was in disbelief, although not total disbelief because I had read the Cal article about condom dispensers being in women’s restrooms a while ago. There were more amenities in this bathroom because they had dispensers (OC: I forgot to note if there were mirrors and paper towels. I’m thinking there were paper towels and a trashcan inside. This might be a law, since it’s an indoor bathroom?). Two of the stalls had mini-trashcans in them; the third one didn’t for some reason. The two trash bins didn’t have any liner or paper bag inside, but there was nothing inside. Sarah and I went out of the bathroom and counted the trashcans— there were a lot. Four trashcans farther away, closer to the kayak rental area, and four recycling bins and a dumpster near the bathroom. We noticed a police car parked really close to the lake, not in an area that I think cars are usually able to go. Sarah and I left and didn’t go to any more restrooms because I had to get back on campus for my 11:30 meeting.
