Synchronicity...

Discussion in 'Sun City General Discussions' started by BPearson, Apr 27, 2015.

  1. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    I've had the good fortune (or from time to time) the misfortune of posting on sites like this for near on 15 years. In the early days we used to debate far more heady topics. We felt we could impact what went on around us, and to a small degree the net and these kinds of sites can do just that.

    One of those early discussions was wrapped around the phrase "synchronicity." The short definition is: The simultaneous occurrence of events that appear significantly related but have no discernible causal connection. The origin is most often attributed to Carl Jung, noted Swiss psychiatrist.

    Perhaps it's these kinds of life experiences that cause me to look at things from a different perspective. I always want to understand why things happen. Are they accidental? Are they individual in nature or are they somehow interrelated? For the most part, the people I used to exchange/shared thoughts with believed that almost everything was tied to something else. Things happened because of actions taken and were ultimately accountable for the outcomes that followed years later.

    During my three years on the board, and this past 4 months away from it have triggered many of those same kinds of thoughts. I've posted way more threads than I should; suffice to say they are for a reason. Writing has always helped me understand what and why something has happened. Being able to break it down and articulate it, eventually leads me to conclusions that fit together (at least for me).

    Let me summarize it this way and why I think it is so tragic. In 2010, decisions were made by the board and management team, that set us on a course (pun intended). The focus for the next ten years was to be golf. The argument was golf has always been shortchanged and was an easy buy-in, especially for a board laced with a majority of golfers.

    While the ten years would produce 60 to 70 million dollars in PIF revenue, the allocation to golf, irrigation, wells and golf outbuildings was so large, everything else became secondary. Yes, we got electronic signage, Marinette, and Bell tennis, but the cost paled in comparison (and there was some gnashing of the teeth to get them. We'll buy out solar in 2019 for 4.3 million, but that was a given when we signed the lease agreement. It's without question how we gain the most from the solar project; owning it is always better, but we couldn't because we were a non-profit.

    Here's where syncrosinicity comes in play. The actions in 2010 locked us into a direction that caused us to pass on what could have changed Sun City forevermore. In the thread a Tale of Woe, you read a little of the Lakes Club story. By remodeling it and using it as community center, we would have freed Lakeview Rec Center for club use (something we desperately need) as RCSC administration vacated.

    The sad fact is, it would have become the one place all of Sun City would have gathered. Rec centers have their localized purpose, but one central location for everything Sun City was a game changer. It would have become what it was in the 1970's when Sun City home sales exploded.

    But alas, it wasn't to be. The golf course agenda had become bigger than life and we watched the Lakes Club slip through our hands with hardly a whimper. There would not have been 5 or 6 million dollars in the PIF budget, especially not with 3 master plan golf course renovations being put in place during 2013, 2015 and 2016.

    I learned long ago to let go of the past; can't change it, but we damn sure can learn from it. Hopefully these scribbling's will help people get their arms around what has happened and insure it doesn't happen again. If not, we'll continue to wander through life believing one action has no relationship to another.
     
  2. BruceW

    BruceW Active Member

    Just IMHO, but spending hard earned $$ on a declining sport is not a smart investment. I know my son-in-law loves golf and a few friends play on occasion, but all you have to do is read a few reports to learn that golf is a hugely declining sport, new courses are not being built and old courses are being turned into something else. Cycling has surpassed golf among many age groups. I know they are far from Sun City age, but millennials don't go for golf because they don't see themselves the the next Tiger Woods. For most I talk to it is a waste of time.
    PIF funds would be far better spent on other things that really need attention.
    I'm glad this discussion board is all about opinions, but I have a few. ;-)
    I don't envy the position the board members are in, it is not a fun task because you can't please most people most of the time.
    However, seems to me if you really cared about what the community wanted you would ask them over and over... just saying.
     
  3. aggie

    aggie Well-Known Member

    We have been constantly told that there is NO option to use the golf courses for anything but golf. I'm not so sure that is an absolute in all ways i.e. alternate times for walking or biking on cart paths on various courses during the years. I think a course could be converted through lengthy legal means but not without a huge tax penalty and very upset golf course homeowners.

    There was a huge uproar a few years back when it was rumored that a small executive course may be looked at for a conversion project.
     
  4. Cynthia

    Cynthia Well-Known Member

    Converting or alternating to biking would be a great idea. Why would the golf course homeowners be upset if the grass remained (for their green views) and people biked on the same paths as the golf carts?
     
  5. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    The people that live on a golf course have made it abundantly clear they want it to be a golf course, not just a green space.

    Here's a question for you all: If the long range planning committee had been asked to evaluate rather to buy the Lakes Club for a community center or forgoing some of the golf course renovations for a few years, what do you think their answer would have been?

    Here's a better one: Why wasn't the LRPC even talked to about that possibility?
     
  6. Cynthia

    Cynthia Well-Known Member

    If they are so adamant about that maybe they should kick in extra for the golf renovations. I know you can say they bought in when it was a golf course but golf views are not that much more expensive to warrant total say over the area. Unless they pay much higher taxes like owner on the lake. Do they? Wouldn't it be better for the community to make it a space more people can use...especially since everyone pays a lot for the courses.
     
    Last edited: Apr 28, 2015
  7. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    Great speculations E.
     
  8. J_and_V

    J_and_V Member

    A few disjointed thoughts, because that's how I seem to be rolling today:

    As an intended future home owner, I was surprised that there were outside owners of any large facility in Sun City.
    When we first visited, I was also surprised that there were major, heavily used streets running through Sun City without safe pedestrian and/or golf cart overpasses (or bridges) in place.
    What about the infrastructure? If/when the new houses are built, can the existing infrastructure handle the additional load?

    I can probably find the reason and answers to the above if I did a little digging, but why wouldn't a LRPC be in place to review "taking back" Sun City, providing safe passages for residents, and making sure the city can handle any influx of new residents.

    Side note:
    When we started looking seriously at Sun City, I went immediately to the "clubs" section and was surprised there was no "bike" or "bicycle" club. To be fair, in a past life I played in 3 golf leagues a week, and biked 50 miles a day. Then we got serious about saving for retirement and all that stuff went on the shelf. When I bust through the cubicle walls, however, I'll be back on the links (ok maybe 8 courses is a bit overkill) and looking for others to bike with.
     
  9. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    "What about the infrastructure? If/when the new houses are built, can the existing infrastructure handle the additional load?"
    Without breaking a sweat. The new development will house less than 150 homes, approximately 250 people.

    I can probably find the reason and answers to the above if I did a little digging, but why wouldn't a LRPC be in place to review "taking back" Sun City, providing safe passages for residents, and making sure the city can handle any influx of new residents.
    Interesting question and exactly why I am so fixated on the community from a historical perspective. At one point Webb built and ran all of the shopping centers. They built the streets as well, but their goal was never to be in the management/running of any of it. He gave the amenities to us, sold the shopping centers and gave the streets to Maricopa County.

    Obviously that limits our ability to impact some things. It's also why I would put together a true long range planning committee to begin the process of evolution that will affect us 10 and 20 years out. We need to think bigger and more aggressively; but also do it in a targeted way.


    As far as bike club, there have been a couple over the years. There is no formal club, but there are lots of people who ride here and joining them may just be the nucleus to starting one.
     

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