Blazingcatfur

Nestled below street-level and hidden behind a dense wall of emerald shrubbery, Michelangelo Playground feels like a small miracle. Standing in the San Francisco park on a good day, when the weather is just right, you can see wild parrots visit from Telegraph Hill and lemons that hang like jewels from trees – even hear the sound of sea lions barking from down by the marina.

It’s quarter past 11 on a Sunday morning, and the park is eerily empty. It’s that time of the weekend when kids have been cooped up for too long, and parents are desperate to get them outside, to do something, anything. Yet, all four of the slides on this morning sit unused. The tire swing hangs perfectly still. There are no children shouting or shrieking or singing nonsense, no thumping of a basketball against the lifeless court. There’s only silence.

It’s a beautiful day in a beautiful playground. But where are all the children?

As we know in Canada importing the 3rd World is not a solution to demographic decline just a worse problem.