Advertisement Let’s be quite clear. A pool is not a beach. A beach is given by nature. A public swimming pool is a major investment of time and effort purely for the health and solace of others. As such, it’s a primary marker of civilisation. Few pleasures compare with that of a gentle 10-minute stroll, a few outdoor laps, and a walk home. For me, at least, this is prime locational criterion. So I’ve always been mystified that we, with the perfect climate and culture for it, have so few public pools. More mysterious still is that we concentrate those few pools on demographics already aquatically blessed – with private pools, ocean pools and beaches.