Last week the impromptu Wiffle Ball Field built by Greenwich teens in an unused public space in town was torn down by the city.

It is amazing how much national coverage this story received - even hitting the frontpage of digg.com and a few national news programs.

It has been characterized as everything from ‘the end of innocence’ to a case study on tony Greenwich’s greedy culture (I use the adjective tony because it is so overused to describe Greenwich).

In the end, its neither, actually. I grew up in New Hampshire, and used to spend the better part of my summer playing wiffle ball. In driveways, streets, but mostly at the local park, which I would walk to.

Although no one ever gave us a hard time about where we played wiffle ball back then, neither did we ever attempt to build an entire park with plywood. Had we done that, I am sure it would have seen the same end 30 years ago as Greenwich’s did last week.

Greenwich easily has some of the most amazing parks, schools, programs, and sports facilities for kids of most any town (the high school football field puts my college’s to shame). Yes, the real estate is expensive and a large percentage of the residents are investment bankers - but Greenwich is also one of those towns people choose because of what a great place it is for kids. There are kids everywhere, doing all kinds of things, all the time.

As it turns out, the spot which was chosen for the ball field, unfortunately, was not a good spot for local neighbors and drainage reasons. Its too bad, I agree - I think it would have been cool if it could have stayed, because it was amazing. But in this case, its not a social commentary about Greenwich or modernism.

It just is what it is.

If there is anything nefarious in this result, it may have to do with the housing crisis. I know that I, like a lot of homeowners, am very concerned about my home value in these trying times. Although my heart goes with the kids, I would definitely not want an impromptu wiffle ball field adjusting my home value - in the neighborhood this park was in, depending on its proximity to other homes, I have no doubt that under the right circumstances a bunch of teens in an unoffical park next to a property could easily shave 6 figures off the selling price.

As a bonus, here is a cool video of a truly sick wiffle ball pitcher: