There are plenty of alternative parks around, maybe just not on your block. Many people don't have parks closer than about a mile away. Unless it's a pocket park (and we recently got one in our neighborhood), most of the parks are found on the outer edges of the city. Downtown has more than most.

Getting field time was never easy, especially for the older kids who had to share with different leagues. You didn't just get to walk out and grab a field for your game.it had to be scheduled. With so little else for kids to do, the little league fields should be hands off.