Last week I opened up some mail to find that the City of Port Coquitlam is "Planning the Future of our Outdoor Pools."

Having grown up in Lincoln Park, Sun Valley Pool is a staple in my memories. I grew up on Evergreen Street, and Sun Valley was just a short walk away. My mom used to take us to the wading pool every day it was sunny in the summertime. I still remember the old fire truck at the park, and the long metal slide that still remains.

After relocating to Mission for five years, we missed "home," and last summer, we moved back to Port Coquitlam, and back to Lincoln Park where I grew up. We now reside on Cedar Drive.

As a mom of two children aged four and six months, a healthy lifestyle blogger and contributor to Huffington Post, I'm an avid advocate for health, wellness and kids' health.

I've always been proud of the city that I grew up in, as compared to other cities, Port Coquitlam has a large focus on health in the community with sports days, Terry Fox runs, Jump Rope For Life, and ample programs at the local rec centres.

I must admit, I feel some disappointment. I feel this proposal is contradictory to what I thought the city's values were. Closing community pools could potentially mean less physical activity and fun for neighbourhood children, and with a nationwide obesity epidemic, you would think that providing activities that get children active should be a priority.

While I do appreciate the spray parks, if you ask most kids, they would pick going in the pool over the spray park any day. Small kids tend not to enjoy the spray parks as much. The water is freezing, and on the odd occasion the bigger kids take over the spray park equipment.

I understand that with Port Coquitlam being a growing community, that means increased costs, but all I ask is that the city doesn't lose sight of the little things like our pools that have made our city so great and have made people want to stay in PoCo to raise their own children. I'm a perfect example of that.

I hope closing the pools is reconsidered, as I'm sure all the locals with young kids that have ever used these pools don't want to see that happen. There are already very few places to take small children outdoors in the summer (most playgrounds aren't very toddler friendly).

Kristine Fretwell Port Coquitlam