Day 174 Two years ago the city council voted to prohibit skateboarding in Central Plaza

The following appeared as a letter to the editor from the owner of a skate shop in Central Plaza.

“Two years ago the city council voted to prohibit skateboarding in Central Plaza. They claimed that skateboard users were responsible for litter and vandalism that were keeping other visitors from coming to the plaza. In the past two years, however, there has been only a small increase in the number of visitors to Central Plaza, and litter and vandalism are still problematic. Skateboarding is permitted in Monroe Park, however, and there is no problem with litter or vandalism there. In order to restore Central Plaza to its former glory, then, we recommend that the city lift its prohibition on skateboarding in the plaza.”

Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the recommendation and the argument on which it is based are reasonable. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the recommendation.

五问：

（1）“In order to restore Central Plaza to its former glory, then, we recommend that the city lift its prohibition on skateboarding in the plaza”是结论，其余部分是事实，值得反驳吗？

（2）文中是否给出足够的信息来证明乱丢垃圾、破坏公物和滑板运动之间的关系？它们是否唯一的因果关系？这将如何影响我们对原文的判断？乱丢垃圾、破坏公物的可能另有其人，例如：广场上的其他户外运动者或来购物的顾客。

（3）顾客人数只有少量增长是否意味着以前的策略是错误的？如果没有禁止滑板运动，那么这个广场的客流量是否会大幅下降？（在没有对照组的情况下讨论相关因素及其影响的变化都是没有意义的。）

（4）Monroe Park与Central Plaza之间的差异，除了是否允许滑板运动之外，文中还给出了其他特点吗？你能想出其他不同之处吗？例如：旅游景区与居民区面临的破坏公物与乱丢垃圾的压力可能不同，两者对这类行为的惩罚力度不同。

（5）Central Plaza曾经一派繁荣的原因文中给出了吗？如果没有，我们是否可以认为滑板运动这一个因素就可以影响最终结果？例如：人口变迁、经济发展都是可能影响它繁荣程度的重大要素。