Wanting thoughts on the answer to swimming pools at apartments and HOA being a 1* clarification.
Q: jessicorgi - I would really like some information on pools located inside neighborhood communities or apartment complexes. They're open to the whole neighborhood and promote exercise, community and meeting your neighbors. They're gated to keep kids from falling in, usually, but while playgrounds right next to them inside the same neighborhoods pass, the pools fail. They're open to the same people. To me, the pools should be a pretty clear fit to the rules but none seem to pass.
A: NIA OPS replied that, they agree with the community’s decision. Swimming pools do not fall under the same category of exercise equipment in a park and would not be considered eligible unless it had historical or cultural significance.
With now being told that swimming pools are 1* at apartment and HOA's what does everyone else think on public splash pads or pools at the rec center that are essentially smaller versions of a water park? In the past I have gotten a splash pad approved and a public pool approved just this week that had slides and other cool things for the community to enjoy.
Comments
Pools, with a few exceptions, have nothing architecturally interesting about them. I can see Splash pads accepted because they are essentially fountains and even large waterslides since they are like playground equipment but wet.
@grendelwulf those are what I have submitted. A community pool that has several water slides that are essentially like you said a playground but wet. We have one from the 1990s when I was growing up that is literally a pool with a playground that looks like a normal playground but has water spouts etc on it.
I'm completely befuddled at the claim that pools are not exercise equipment or that they don't encourage exercise and fitness.
First thing is, I am a for pools being portals but they also should be rejected in certain cases notably when they have no description.
So there's different intent with pools. When someone designs a pool they have two different components they design for and both have obvious traits. The first type of pool is an athletic swimming pool, these pools have lanes and are in a sense used for competitive purposes. If you research the candidate properly, you'll find that a lot of neighborhoods have swim teams where they utilize these competitive swimming pools. I was on a neighborhood swim team when I was younger and I am pretty sure there's a lot still around. The second type of pool is the event pools, they usually have gazebos, splash pads, water slides and even benches/stages for events. If you properly mention specific events which are hosted there that the neighborhood hosts it would be categorized as a gathering spot which is culturally important.
If we were to take note of the question that Niantic responded about which was addressing a gated apartment complex pool. He mentions that it needs cultural significance in that type of pool so if it doesn't have a description it should be a 1 star in gated complex pools. If the submitter can say that the apartment complex has events and you can find it on there website (they all have websites if it's an apartment complex) then the submitter should cross reference it into the secondary description to let the reviewer know it's a gathering spot which classifies as a culturally important location similar to a pavilion scenario.
This is how I interpret the description since I myself don't think pools without a description are viable candidates since it doesn't actually tell me anything if it's just titled __________ pool and has no description. However the biggest issue is that he worded the answer poorly and now a lot of pools will be rejected even with a clear cultural indication. It will be similar to the generic business component criteria where some businesses get approved after multiple tries.
Not to mention there's a swimming pool category in the category section which I fill out every time for when I review a new swimming pool.
@msz21 I think it would be fair to require pools to have some sort of cultural significance but at some point when do we draw the line a basic swimming pool with chairs and umbrella chairs at an apartment complex is going to be hard to convince anyone that is significant culturally as most apartment complexes have them. Now a community pool is open to the public some do require a small fee but I would consider them a water park as they are normally located at the community park or rec center same with the splash pads. I just recently got a friend portals approved at her complex that are a gazebo and a dog park. I had 3 pools I could submit I think it is kind of excessive to allow the gazebo, 3 pools and a dog park in a small apartment complex especially when it will draw attention from pogo and to a smaller extent harry potter. I am not against submitting at apartment complexes I think some things may be too much
Had anybody ever lived in an apartment complex with a pool? I have. Not that much exercise going on. Mostly just lounging and floating.
Which is probably the secret answer here: It's difficult to tell (in OPR, that is) the difference between a fitness swimming pool and a lounging swimming pool, so Niantic's gave up trying to tell the difference.
A picture of a pool by itself is nothing special. In fact water is a natural feature. It's the same as a park, you can exercise there, but it's just a picture of natural features. A pool is man-made, but it is not interesting and therefore not a point of interest.
Submit a sign for the pool if it's a community pool or recreation centre and you should have more luck as they express a particular purpose and convey actual community engagement.
A generic pool in a boring hotel means nothing. Plus you will get people extending the 'pool' mentality to pools in residential homes. Or get 'mini-pools' or other random ineligible things. It opens up a can of worms that is unwanted.
There are so many high quality points of interest out there to still submit. Go find a war memorial, monument, sculptures, plaques or anything that has any actual objective historical or cultural relevance. Just not a boring old body of water, you might as well submit grass if that were the case.
I am disappointed. I thought about it and cannot recall a time when I went to a pool by myself. I don't swim for exercise and am not one for lounging. That said, I have always gone with other people and will continue to rate it as a gathering place if its stated as such in the description, especially if the candidate is the pool and its surroundings and not the pool itself.
There will be reviewers will read it and only remember that Niantic representatives said pools aren't valid. Others will only hear it secondhand and do the same.
Most community pools have a cultural significance. They become popular gathering spots for their community. Even if it's merely the community represented by the subdivision or apartment complex.
Even if we completely disregard fitness from otherwise obvious pools used for fitness, they have lanes used in competition. They may not have the full number of lanes for an actual short course pool, they have enough lanes for informal competition. Many community pools with a handful of 75 foot short course lanes have swim teams and compete.
One thing I noticed people fail to understand is that sports are a cultural phenomenon. There is the actual organization and rules for the game. Then there's the cultural aspect of watching. This applies to all sports, and the locations where competition takes place is the physical tie to the intangible cultural aspect.
I think the biggest issue is that of access. Although the playground at the apartment complex can generally at least be accessed by an agent, even if it has a sign saying it's for residents only, it's unlikely to cause much trouble when an agent drives up, destroys it, and leaves. A pool with a gate around it can be seriously difficult for access, impossible to ultra strike. From a game perspective they're a cheap shot way to get a dozens of durables in every town and potentially high risk of trespassing concerns. I intend to continue to submit pools in city parks that are accessible to everyone in the community, but to put the pin by the entrance or along the fence for accessibility.
Wayfarer:
Swimming pools - Eligible, if not located on private residential property.
yep completely reversed it. Along with clarifying trail markers too.