How many people have public pools in their community? I never had one that I knew of until I moved to Portland. Now I have one in easy walking distance and 3 in easy bike range. It's pretty amazing. No one checks your ID to see if you are a resident, everyone gets to swim. Low income kids can get scholarships to swim classes and class fees are pretty affordable to begin with. It costs 2.50 to swim but there are several free to swim days through the week. Most the pools are out door so It's not year round but there are a number of indoor pools in the system. Lot of other public goods in this town. During summer they give out free lunches to kids in the park, no ID or qualification needed, if you are a kid you can get a well balanced meal for free. Parents come to save a few bucks or get a meal they otherwise couldn't afford and the kids get a meal and some exercise, I think it's great.