For those interested in knowing more about light pollution, take a look at these links:
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/11/light-pollution/klinkenborg-text
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/11/light-pollution/richardson-photography
Wouldn't it be great of our neighborhood could be part of the solution?
The article cited above in national geographic is a very interesting read and I would encourage anyone that cares about how we responsibly use light at night to read it.
I am also confident and hopeful that our neighborhood will find a workable solution to how we light the basketball court so basketball players can enjoy playing basketball as they have for years and neighbors can experience their yards without excess light. My kids spent hours playing on that court as they were growing up as I occasionally looked out the kitchen window to see how they were doing.
I must say no matter the outcome of our meeting on June 3rd and June 16, the whole experience has led me to fall in love with the idea that we need to concerned about how we light up the night and do it in the most efficient and responsible way. This whole issue of lighting sports fields and being concerned about how it impacts neighbors is not new and many communities have seen lights installed to limit light trespass and light pollution. Guess what! I now spend more time outside at night and I have discovered there a few stars up there we can see and its pretty cool. Hopefully we can do our part..
In addition to the above article I would also encourage people to watch the youtube video by either Googling on "Dark Skies Awareness" and clicking on the video or going to http://www.darkskiesawareness.org/