Street Talk by Shari Kaplan

What are your thoughts on the youth sports complex the Almaden Youth Association has proposed on land on McKean Road?
(Asked at the Almaden Valley Post Office on Crown Boulevard.)

“Anything that enhances the quality of life for youth in the area, I support. What little congestion it might add wouldn't be all that bad. I think people can find creative ways to solve a problem when they really need to. My husband and I were very involved in youth sports when our kids were younger. I think it enhances and balances kids' lives—you can't have all work and no play.”

Donna Wolkstein, 58
Almaden Valley
Dental receptionist/homemaker

“My grandchildren are all into youth sports. Even if the complex was behind my house, I'd still love it. I think sports are great. It keeps kids off the streets and keeps them motivated to do positive things. But they need a large amount of space to do it. And it's not like they'd be using the complex every day. It'd mostly be on weekends anyway.”

Pat Hurt, 62
Almaden Valley
Self-employed, maintenance company

“The one thing we don't need is more traffic on McKean. It's a two-lane road that's rather narrow, and there's always lots of bicyclists you have to swerve to avoid. If they do put a sports complex in, they should at least expand the road or put in a bike lane. Also, McKean is a relatively quiet neighborhood, so adding a complex would probably make it really noisy, really fast. I don't even like sports. I think there's too many soccer moms out there!”

Yong Ju Choi, 21
Almaden Valley
De Anza College student

“One good thing about the complex is that it might help alleviate all the congestion in other residential areas where different parks are, where people might park so their kids can practice. However, I think the traffic on Almaden Expressway going toward McKean Road would probably be increased too much if the complex was out there. I'm really neither for it nor against it. I have one daughter, but she's into tae kwon do.”

Julia Rumney, 35
Almaden Valley
Executive recruiter

“We need to do a lot of things to keep youth busy. If it'll keep them away from drugs and stuff like that, great. When I was a kid, I worked on a farm. Kids these days don't have that opportunity, but they do have sports. I think it's a good investment. I'm very into trails and sports. And I think a sports complex is a much better use of water than another golf course, which only benefits a few people, rather than a lot.”

Ephraim Romesberg, 73
Almaden Valley
Retired engineer

“I can see both sides. I wouldn't want the [neighborhood] area around the complex harmed, but at the same time I think it's important to have a place for kids to play sports. They might widen the road to accommodate more traffic and cars, but then people would probably be up in arms about that! We don't live out that way, so we're not really affected by it.”

Tracey Mockabee, 47
Almaden Valley
Educational aide