*** Updated review ***
Today is February 7, 2023.
For months, I've been documenting the lack of care that Del Norte Park has been getting. The photos I've collected of the same stuff over and over again is pathetic.
Needless to say, this place could use a lot more maintenance and attention than it has been getting.
There are several solutions to these problems. It is my observance that no one from the City of Hobbs is taking initiative. Sure, they empty the multiple regular tan-colored bins that they have. Sometimes they pick up trash. Sometimes they fill holes that the prairie dogs have created. But there's a lot more to be done.
Does the city think people don't use the parks during the winter? I do. Five days a week at this one, at least. The weather was warm the past two days. Today it is cold again. If there's anything parents should have learned through the pandemic, it's that their kids need to be OUTSIDE more. Why would I bring my kids and their cousins here if it is unkempt and trashy?
Since September, tire rubber has not been swept off the sidewalk (most likely a**hole kids with their mommy & daddy's money doing burnouts).
Since October, the dog waste bins have not been emptied.
Since forever, drinking in the parking lots has been rampant. (Legitmate question: WHY do folks, i.e. most likely underaged users, drink from glass bottles then smash them everywhere? Maybe more trash cans need to be set up there???)
I guess there are other priorities for law enforcement to enforce, however, the broken glass everywhere (not exaggerating as it has been getting worse and worse since December 2022) should be swept up every week. They haven't been. I have to navigate my brother's dog around the sidewalk in hopes that she doesn't get any pieces stuck in her paws.
An assumed drug addict was digging in the red bricks one day... Then the next day the bricks were moved around. For weeks after that incident, the dog sniffed the area where this person was digging and carving away. How about, oh I don't know, re-mortar them?
Golly this is neverending... Alas, I go here almost everyday. I have a house in the city limits. It's so frustrating to see a lack of pride not to mention virtually no security. Nowadays, most parks have cameras and security driving around. This one hardly any cameras. Never seen security here in my life. But what good would they do if no one follows through with efficiency?
Whenever the temperature is less than 50°F, the city workers are often seen just sitting in their trucks with the engine running. "Well, you don't know what they're doing." Right. Well, I also know what they're not doing with a "City of Hobbs" emblem on the side of their white pickups. Trash in the trees and all over the ground. Invent some easy-to-use wind proof trash bins already!
The surrounding neighborhoods are not appeasing. They are downright unsightly. Does that mean the park doesn't need care? No.
I've seen many loose dogs here. Had to re-route my path because I don't want any of them to f*** with my brother's pitbull (or as former Navy SEAL Mike Ritland prefers to call the breed, "bulldog").
We walk here because it's safer than walking the streets. Reference in point: "Two people, dog killed in hit-and-run" from front page of Hobbs News-Sun (2/7/2023). This has been happening frequently in Hobbs. Moreover, this incident happened a couple of blocks from this park albeit in an unlit area after sunset. Still, the dude was caught and later said he thought they were a dog or a deer. The dog was, in fact, a pitbull. With such distracted drivers, I was hoping Del Norte could be a sanctuary away from the insanity. Not particularly so, but the potential is still there.
My tax money helps pay for the maintenance and security of this park. There are no good excuses in this whole scenario. Please give residents reasons to RAVE about Del Norte instead of this nonsense. read more