The city I live in is quickly changing.
From the mid-1970s to the late-1990s the city was in decline. The steel mills closed their doors and large malls were built on the outskirts. Downtown began to crumble and funding for social programs was cut. Hamilton's streets were unsafe.
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| James & Rebecca, beside Listor Block (April 2011) |
Though the scars associated with 3 decades of neglect remain, the lower-city is doing the best it has since the 1950s. The amount of change I can see even in my lifetime is huge. Before I left this city to go to school 8 years ago there were near-entire blocks of vacant buildings downtown - hollow window frames and bad graffiti on red brick. When I moved back last September into a neighbourhood in the downtown north end I saw those same buildings now as coffee shops and construction sites.
Last year, a street festival called Open Streets began in the downtown north end, just outside the apartment a friend and I moved into last autumn. For two afternoons last year they closed down the road for the festival which is an offshoot of the Latin American Ciclovia- a street festival built on promoting active transportation world-wide. (active transportation, by the way, refers to any type of transportation which requires you being physically active to get to where you need -- biking, walking, riding the bus, rollerblading, etc. all good, respectable things.)
The difference between the two street festivals is that the Open Streets festival has added a unique spin to it's mission statement. Since January, I have been sitting on the steering committee for the group and it's been pretty cool to see the direction we are steering the festival in. Rather than merely promoting active transportation, Open Streets promotes healthy neighbourhoods and downtown living.Last year at Open Streets, people played ball hockey on the road while buskers sang songs along side. People jogged and rode their bikes on the street playing games while patios were packed. NGOs and community groups handed out flyers of various community issues and events, artists sold their art on the sidewalk while parents bought their kids balloons.
What this comes down to is that choosing to be active (by riding your bike, or walking) is not merely a matter of choosing a particular type of mobility. Rather, choosing to walk, take the bus, or ride your bike is choosing to be an active member of your community, your city and your natural environment.
The purpose of using a car is strictly to get us from point A to point B in as little time and in as much comfort as possible. It looks at all other variables - the sidewalk, saying “hi” to a friend on the road, waving to a kid in a shop window, buying a coffee on your way to where you are going - as obstacles. Driving a car deems anything in between you and your destination as an interruption, a set of interferences, things of which you are not a part and things which should not, by any means, stand in your way. Our entire notion of “space”, when driving, is diminished and we do not include ourselves in it.
The main point here is that individuals, if we choose, can be active members in those things which surround us. Hamiltonians are learning this, and we are choosing to use this method to heal our city. The ideology many Hamiltonian’s share is that healthy individuals (not cars) make for healthy communities, therefore making healthy cities and a healthier natural environment.
Get on your bike and ride it.
And check out this festival if you’re in town!
