Hi I had a question about swimming pools and tennis courts and playgrounds that you can sometimes find in neighborhoods. I know they are not in all neighborhoods but some do. I would post a picture but they are not allowed so hopefully you understand what I mean.
my question is
– do you have to pay to play in the courts/swim?
– can only the residents go there or can you go there even if you don’t live there?
30 comments
That depends. A lot of neighborhood ones are owned by a homeowners associations. Usually, everyone that pays their dues, have access to it.
In some instances, they are owned by the community, and tax dollars pay for them. There is usually a per use charge – so you may have to pay a couple of bucks to get in.
Sometimes.
The answer will vary. Some will be open for anyone to use for free, some are open to the public but charge a fee, and some will be for local residential use only.
Pools, tennis courts, and other sport infrastructure (basketball courts, baseball diamonds, soccer fields, etc) are common in public parks. There may be a reservation system but otherwise they are free for anyone to use, resident or not.
Sometimes apartment complexes or even a dreaded HOA neighborhood may have private facilities intended only for their residents. They might be also open the public or they could be reserved only for residents, totally depends on the place. They are usually clearly marked as private and hard to confuse with a public park’s facilities (which are much more common).
Tennis courts in a park are usually free. Same if they are at a school. Especially if they are outdoors. They may be reserved at times by school teams, but outside of those times they are free to play.
Community pools will usually have a small fee. Or it might be free/discounted for people who live in the area.
Some neighborhoods or apartment complexes will have a pool or tennis courts or gyms. It is usually considered part of the amenities you are paying for when you pay to live there.
It depends on who owns it.
I live in an HOA where we have a private beach and marina. Only HOA members and our guests have access to that stuff. Around the corner there’s a town park with tennis courts, etc. that anyone can use.
Yeah there are city pools and tennis courts where I live.
Tennis courts you can see here: https://www.houstontx.gov/parks/tennis.html. Usually they are in parks, I’ve never heard of a park charging admission.
Here are pools: https://www.houstontx.gov/parks/swimming.html. I haven’t been to a city pool since I was a kid but I don’t remember my parents ever needing to pay for it.
In both cases these places are open to the public so you can just go in. I don’t think people are demanding proof of residence in Houston to go to a city park. I’ve never seen or heard of anything like this.
Apartments frequently also have pools, these are usually restricted to residents and their guests but I don’t know how strictly anyone checks this. HOAs and other private communities also have their own pools sometimes, generally also restricted to guests/residents.
Pools have fees. Here is the website for Seattle municipal pools owned and operated by the city parks department
https://www.seattle.gov/parks/pools
Seattle public tennis courts are free for impromptu use. Or you can pay a fee for a reservation
https://www.seattle.gov/parks/rentals-and-permits/tennis-courts
In my area parks, Waterparks, and tennis courts are owned by the city and tax dollars are used for their upkeep.
Mine is free to use for residents in that its paid for by HOA fees. You can bring guests but its otherwise not open to the public. Although anyone could probably get away with using the tennis courts without anyone saying anything.
Some towns build basketball courts and whatnot so youth can have a recreational area.
The tennis courts near me don’t cost anything and you don’t have to be a resident to use the facility.
Living in Miami Beach, we have public tennis centers, golf courses, and pools. Once you are registered/show your proof of residency, you are given fairly priced access to these city provided amenities.
I live in an older neighborhood. This good thing is no HOA or “Karens” trying to tell me hot to live my life. I live closer to the city center so I have more adult fun closer by. Bad thing is the nearest park/playground is at the far end of where I am. This playground also has a bball court.
Newer neighborhoods do have pools, but I would need to join and pay as a non resident.
In my neighborhood, you can use the pool if you pay into the HOA. You get a key to the gate. I don’t know the policy about bringing guests because I have zero desire to use the pool. I gave my key to my aunt for several months a few years ago so that she could take her grandkids there.
My town has both.
The tennis courts are free.
The pool is pay to swim. It’s not very expensive though.
We have 7 playgrounds/parks in our town of 4000, and a city pool that charges 5 dollars a day per person for residents and a season pass is 50 dollars per person. The tennis courts/basketball courts are free, and there is no admission to the playgrounds/parks
Generally no to the first and second question but I am sure there will be plenty of exceptions to that general rule.
My neighborhood growing up had a pool, a club house (like a small event space with a kitchen), a playground and two tennis courts.
You didn’t have to pay for anything but using the clubhouse. The clubhouse was cheap to rent and all you had to do was pay a small amount and put down a cleaning deposit.
The pool was free for everyone in the neighborhood and you could bring in some number of guests free (kids under a certain age didn’t count). I don’t remember what the fee was if you had more guests but it wasn’t much.
It was all paid for by the HOA along with maintaining several other public fields and some landscaping around the entrances. I asked my dad about it before and he said the rules were very reasonable and the cost wasn’t very high and as far as he knew there were no issues with the HOA board. We had to get permission to build a shed and he said all they required was our one neighbor that could see it approved and that it had to be in the back yard.
Depends on the rules there, typically it’s only for residents but they can bring their friends. Also it shouldn’t cost that’s kind of why you pay a HOA in some places for the upkeep.
In our town we have tennis courts, indoor and outdoor basketball courts, roller hockey rink, baseball, football, soccer fields, cricket pitches, a workout gym and a few other sports too that are all available free of charge (well, taxes pay for it, and the indoor basketball and the gym require a $1.00 annual fee to the recreation center) available to all township residents on a first come first serve basis.
Usually pools are in HOAs and for member of that HOA or run by the municipality. Municipal pools usually have some sort of annual/seasonal fee to pay for the overhead.
This is often a suburban thing. In most cases, homeowners pay a monthly fee to an HOA (Homeowners’ Association), and, yes, the facilities are for homeowner use only. There also may be a recreation district that covers a much wider area. Our recreation district includes pools, recreation centers, and parks/playgrounds. The parks and playgrounds are open to everyone at no charge. The pools and recreation centers charge a usage fee.
We had a pool at the park. It was like $5 to get in, or you could buy a summer pass for $20.
We had a pool at a neighborhood, run by the HOA. All residents(were supposed to) get a keycard for the pool. Unfortunately, the company in charge constantly changed, so you were out of luck and it could take a decade to get that card. My family tried and gave up after 6 years.
This is one of the *main* responsibilities of an HOA, and one of the main reasons you have to pay HOA dues every year.
This is typically something you find more in planned or private communities. Access is restricted to residents of that particular community (and their invited guests) and is supported through the homeowners association dues they pay.
In most other cases, swimming pools and tennis courts would be run by the local municipality and attached to a municipal park. Anyone is free to use those. Sports courts are typically free to use, a community pool typically has a small fee to use. Many cities will have free or reduced fee summer pool passes for kids.
You had to pay in my neighborhood. We didn’t have an HOA. HOA fees will go green include a clubhouse or pool. I rode my bike to the pool with my friend. She belonged to the pool in her neighborhood. I could walk to that one. Just picture Stranger Things. We couldn’t have floats or rafts though.
The pools also had swim teams. I didn’t do that for some reason.
In the suburb of Seattle I grew up in, the tennis courts were free and the public pools had a nominal fee, only a couple of dollars. Anyone could use them.
There were also private alternatives called “country clubs” that required a paid membership to access, but were generally nicer than the public ones.
I live in a planned community that has an HOA. That fee pays for the amenities in the community, including walking trails, playgrounds, tennis courts, pools. It also pays for maintenance of all the common spaces. They also enforce the rules and regulations of the HOA by fining residents that break the rules.
Outside of the planned community, our city and county have community swimming pools, sports venues and playgrounds. You pay a small fee to use the facilities. You can also join and participate in organized sports when they offer it.
It depends on if it is on city property or property owned by an apartment complex or HOA and you are a resident. My experience has been that residents might bring some guests to use facilities but you could not just show up on your own and pay to get in like a public pool on city property.
In my town there is a public pool. It is not free but anyone can use it. Playgrounds are at the city parks that are all free to use. Tennis court is part of the public school property. I think you could use it when school is not in session.
Community/hoa pools and tennis courts are for residents and their guests only.
Many public schools have pools and tennis courts that are open to the public (outside of school hours). My friend uses the high school tennis courts every weekend. Free.
We have pool and tennis courts that are owned by the HOA. My annual fees cover use.
In my hometown, the tennis courts were free to use on a first-come basis, or you could reserve them for a fee. The pools you had to pay for, either an all-summer pass or per visit.
In Chicago, it’s all free to use.