The future of Falls Park?

[linkerjpatrick]

Let's empty Lake Hartwell and Lake Kiowi next. Maybe then we'll move onto the SC beaches. Everyone out of the water! Swimming is dangerous! Too dangerous for you to judge for yourselves or for your children! Let "us" take control for you. "We're" more enlightened.

[Greenville]

That makes sense if you're talking about drinking and driving, or say, driving too fast for conditions. Someone loses control of their car and someone else pays the price. We have to legislate those issues to protect other's freedom. That's not the same as the Reedy issue where if someone loses control the same someone pays the price. In that case, the people that ruin freedom for everyone are the people who legislate it away.

Let's empty Lake Hartwell and Lake Kiowi next. Maybe then we'll move onto the SC beaches. Everyone out of the water! Swimming is dangerous! Too dangerous for you to judge for yourselves or for your children! Let "us" take control for you. "We're" more enlightened.

[RestedTraveler]

I've seen a lot of various types of "activities" at the falls and from my observations, it's the sliding down the rocks that can be done safely. It's the fools that go out there and leap and bound from rock to rock that are really risking life and limb. Maybe if safety helmets and flotation devices were encouraged? And again...I go back to the idea of allowing sliding during certain hours on certain days of the week. Give people an outlet to do what they want to do when the authorities say it's OK to do it.

I dunno...just throwing ideas out here because I rather like the idea of sliding (when it's appropraite).

[greenvillegrows]

But if someone playing in the Reedy River gets injured, it affects more than just that person. If they are taken to the emergency room, they will not be denied care. That requires time spent by doctors and nurses that could be spent on someone else. Someone must pay that emergency room bill. If the person does not have insurance, the hospital eats it - which in turn results in higher costs for everyone in order to compensate.

The only way to assume that "it only affects them" is to deny them medical care if they get injured and can't afford to pay for it out of pocket. And I don't think many people are willing to go for that.

For the record, I am not proposing that we prohibit anyone from getting in the river. I do not want lifeguard stands and city officials monitoring the river 24/7 in order to keep people from getting in. But it is pretty stupid for people to slide down the rocks. I have seen kids (and adults!) playing in the river and hoped that they would not fall and crack their heads open. So it is an issue, whether we want it to be one or not.

[linkerjpatrick]

I dunno...just throwing ideas out here because I rather like the idea of sliding (when it's appropraite).

[gs3]

More importantly, the government's job is not to protect me from myself.

[gs3]

Looks like the city will decide tonight if the days of waterfall play are over. Article from GV News:

http://www.greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs....EWS01/707090316