Earlier quoted context omitted.
Where I live it is hot and humid for much of the year, so even though we get cold winters, it isn't enough to have outdoor ice rinks everywhere like in the Northern US, Canada, Eastern Europe, and Scandinavia. I'm jealous of the skating culture where you're at! One of my Canadian friends was explaining that pretty much everyone chooses to do either hockey or figure skating from a young age with a small minority doing…
I live in a suburb of Stockholm and it is like that, every neighborhood having its own ice rink, some are inhouse and some are opened, mostly free for use and divided for hours with and without hockey clubs.
In my area there was practically nothing, but recently a bunch of things got built like walking paths connecting the neighborhoods, a school, sports centers, a park not too far away...etc. I think it had an overwhelmingly positive impact on the community and only some of it came from tax dollars too.