Sports fields are good for families and children

We are writing regarding the proposed playing field on the White Oak property in First Neighborhood. We are aware that a number of homeowners in First Neighborhood are working to oppose this field.

We want you to know that we are homeowners and residents of First Neighborhood and Westlake Village who support the proposal for such a field as a needed addition to the recreational facilities offered by our city. We believe that our community has an obligation to provide appropriate recreational facilities for our children.

Our daughter is a former soccer player. We very much doubt that she will ever take up the game again, or have any reason to use any new playing field in our neighborhood, so we are not supporting the proposal for any personal benefit.

However, we do know that when she was playing, we needed to travel to Calabasas, Oak Park and North Ranch for her practices and games, all because our own city did not have any facilities available.

While we would have liked to travel a shorter distance, we also counted ourselves lucky that some of the adjoining communities have been willing to provide sports facilities for our children.

It is time that Westlake Village did the same.

It is very easy to take the "Not In My Back Yard" (NIMBY) attitude that we are noticing among a number of our own neighbors, but it is a disservice to our children, and, we think, to the overall quality of our city.

From 1990 to 1997, our family lived in Plano, Texas. This community is very rich in parks and recreational facilities of all kinds for the children and families who live there. By and large, the citizens of Plano consider the addition of parks, playing fields, and other recreational facilities an enhancement to their neighborhoods.

We would like to think that the citizens of Westlake Village would consider the positive benefits of such facilities for their children, and think likewise.

Jane and Clovis Lofton

Westlake Village