- AT-Network - University of Manitoba Mailing Lists

G&M: What makes a Canadian community great?
by Beth McKechnie 30 Jul '11

30 Jul '11

What makes a Canadian community great? SIRI AGRELL — URBAN AFFAIRS REPORTER Published Thursday, Jun. 30, 2011 11:00PM EDT http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/time-to-lead/what-makes-a-cana… When Kerry Jang was growing up, his community was defined by boundaries. His East Vancouver neighbourhood was the indisputable territory of the working class, his Chinese heritage a classification no one seemed willing to hyphenate, even though his parents were second-generation Canadians. “I think their community was pretty much defined by the Chinese community in Vancouver,” he says. “It was very much just keep your head down.” Since then, his world and the notion of community have expanded exponentially. For Mr. Jang, like most Canadians, the term has taken on connotations beyond ethnic background or physical environment, and now refers to the banding together of like-minded individuals. But fundamentally, it’s still about where we live. Now 49, Mr. Jang still lives in East Van, where gentrification has created an urban mosaic of different types, colours classes and castes. Like his neighbours and his neighbourhood, he defies easy categorization. He is a psychiatrist and city councillor, an activist and a father. But when he talks about community now, it isn’t about boundaries, but about how to make where he lives even better. “People confuse neighbourhood engagement with NIMBYism,” he says. “The big change in Vancouver that I’ve seen is that people are actually more involved in solving a problem instead of just opposing something.” Fifteen years ago, a Harvard academic named Robert Putnam wrote about the death of community in an essay called Bowling Alone, later expanded into a much discussed book. In it, he cited American statistics that showed a drastic and steady decline in participation at the neighbourhood level. People weren’t joining their local choral societies and football clubs any more, he found, and they weren’t voting or canvassing for votes, reading their local paper or volunteering at the neighbourhood school. There was no longer a sense of community beyond the actual physical lines that separate one neighbourhood from another. Across Canada, it’s hard to imagine that anyone is still bowling alone. In the time since Mr. Putnam’s findings were published, the urban tide has turned, at least up here, and created a flood of interest in all things local. Recently, when The Globe and Mail asked readers to nominate the best communities in Canada, no one sent us messages about fancy houses or high-tech infrastructure, or places they are living out their comfortable lives in isolation. People who brag about their neighbourhoods today talk about a place where people know one another, where they are loved. These are places, we are told, where you can walk to the bookstore and the grocery store, to your kid’s school and your own office. These are places where green space is not just found around the large “P” marking the nearest multistory parking lot, but where a connection to nature is part of the urban plan. These places are easy to get around, but are not one size or one style. Some are urban, some are rural and some occupy the tree-lined spaces in between. In these communities there is a mix of people of different backgrounds, different ages, different jobs, all of whom take part in the same rituals, from summer festivals<http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/time-to-lead/what-makes-a-cana…>to evening strolls. Julia Deans, chief executive officer of CivicAction, Toronto’s city-building organization, remembers growing up in a time when community development was dominated by wealthy, Anglo-Saxon families such as the Bassetts and Eatons. “They really led the community investment and put in place some of the big institutions that have served us as a community since,” she says. Now, she sees the city’s institutions being built by people with such names as Singh and Chang, reflecting a changing population and its needs. “We’re building a new kind of community that equally reflects where the new power and leadership fits,” she explains. *WALKABILITY IS KEY* Even if Canadian communities are populated by a different mix of people today, what those people want has not changed, says John Tory, a former Toronto mayoral candidate and CivicAction chair. “If I go back to thinking about what mattered when I was a little boy, it was the park at the end of our street, where we had a hockey rink in the winter, and the local churches, where we had Cub Scouts, and the public school where I went,” he says. “If you think about what was important, it was that sense that you lived in a safe place with nice places to go and play. I don’t think it’s much different now.” What has changed, says Ken Greenberg, an urban planner and author of Walking Home: The Life and Lessons of a City Builder, is the map of where those places can be found. Gone is the idea that quality neighbourhoods must be built around large suburban yards or that anywhere worth living has a two-car garage. “There’s a big difference between passing someone in the driving lane of an arterial and passing them on the sidewalk, where you make eye contact,” he explains. Today, the focus in urban planning boils down to one word: walkability. A strong community is one where you can walk to all the things you need: the grocery store, school, public park and pub, whether you’re in the heart of the city or a small town. “To me, the key is to have that combination of things in close proximity and in variety, not to have things that are homogeneous,” Greenberg says. Lenore Swystun, a Saskatoon-based community planner and urban consultant, believes the country is also shifting back to a sense that neighbourhoods must includes a shared outdoor space where communing with nature and one another goes hand in hand. “Whether you’re in an urban environment or a remote rural environment, that call back to the natural landscape is very profound,” she says. “It’s going back home, so to speak.” *COMMUNITY IS INCLUSIVITY* But in Canada, building a real sense of community will always be more complicated than marking off green space and strolling to the local farmer’s market. Where we live is all tangled up with who we live among, and for neighbourhoods to work, everyone must be welcome to participate. Leslie Spillett of the Winnipeg-based, First Nations non-profit Ka Ni Kanichihk, says her group is trying to build a sense of community that allows native people to feel good about who they are while also bonding them to the rest of the country. “For me, healthy community is being fully accepted for everything we have brought to this country and what we continue to contribute, but also fully accepting ourselves as well,” she says. In Nova Scotia, 24-year-old Swantje Jahn is trying to make her city more accepting of newcomers through her work as the community engagement co-ordinator for the Halifax Refugee Clinic. The office helps about 25 new arrivals each year, many of whom were persecuted, and arrived with no real experience of what a home can be. The city is too small to have ethnic enclaves, says Ms. Jahn: “There is no Chinatown here.” And so she works to create new communities by introducing her clients to the people of Halifax and vice versa. Next week, she will hold a baby shower for a newcomer from Iraq, the gifts provided by local moms motivated by a shared experience that transcends nationality. “We have so many differences, but at our core, we all want the same thing: We all want to belong,” Ms. Jahn says. “That’s what community is.” *What are some great recent initiatives in community planning?* *Greeting Fluency:* How often do you say good morning to your neighbours? Ever do it in their native tongue? This initiative of former Vancouver mayor Sam Sullivan and his organization, Global Civic, encourages citizens to learn a few words of greeting and has identified nine basic phrases, such as “‘hello,” “thank you,” and “how are you?” Greeting Fluency provides instructional videos in Cantonese, Punjabi and Tagalog, and is meeting provincial education officials in a bid to bring the program into schools. Mr. Sullivan says that anyone who makes the effort is “really showing respect” – and will see how difficult it is for “people coming here and learning English.” *Awesome Cities:* Created in Boston in 2009, the Awesome Foundation awards monthly $1,000 grants to neighbourhood projects and their creators. Chapters have sprung up in Toronto, Ottawa, Kitchener-Waterloo, Edmonton, Montreal and Calgary. Awesome Calgary was founded by Lori Stewart, a former eBay<http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/time-to-lead/what-makes-a-cana…>executive who worked on Mayor Naheed Nenshi’s election campaign. Last month, her group heard pitches on projects ranging from an outdoor demo space for a local circus school to a poetry event and a community walk. The budding acrobats and jugglers won out. *Project Neutral:* In Toronto, two neighbourhoods are vying to become carbon neutral. The pilot program is pitting Riverdale against the Junction (in the friendliest way possible) to see which community can be the first to drastically reduce its carbon footprint. A project of the Greater Toronto CivicAction Alliance, the project hopes that neighbourhood allegiances can be used to get people involved in making a radical change. *Sustainable subdivisions:* With just 400 residents, Hafford, Sask., is a small town with big ambitions. Located near the Redberry Lake Biosphere Reserve, the community developed a plan in 2007 to become one of the most sustainable towns in Canada. The off-grid community is the first in the province to have a growth boundary. “We don’t need to grow, we want to nurture that small sense of place,” said Lenore Swystun, the community planner who helped develop Hafford’s sustainability plan with funding from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. “It’s a visionary community.”

1 0

Active Design Guidelines: Promoting Physical Activity and Health in Design
by Beth McKechnie 30 Jul '11

30 Jul '11

*Active Design Guidelines: Promoting Physical Activity and Health in Design* (NYC, 2010) History has shown that environmental design can play a crucial role in improving public health. Today, architects, urban designers, and planners can help address one of the most urgent and widespread epidemics of our time, obesity and its related diseases, by implementing the strategies contained in the Active Design Guidelines. Just as design professionals are increasingly embracing green building as an objective, so too should they consider the potential effects of their designs on public health and wellbeing. With the publication of the Guidelines, the City of New York signals its commitment to integrating active design principles into projects being developed in the metropolitan area. http://www.8-80cities.org/Articles/Active%20Design%20Guidelines%20NYC.pdf

1 0

Bicycle traffic jams? Daily volumes on Montreal paths soaring
by Beth McKechnie 30 Jul '11

30 Jul '11

Bicycle traffic jams? Daily volumes on Montreal paths soaring By Michelle Lalonde, The Gazette June 14, 2011 http://www.montrealgazette.com/travel/Bicycle+traffic+jams+Daily+volumes+Mo… MONTREAL - It was no surprise to anyone who drives or cycles regularly in Montreal’s central neighbourhoods to learn that the proportion of adult cyclists using bicycles for transportation in this city has more than doubled in the past decade, as a recent Vélo Québec report showed. But the sheer number of cyclists using the most popular paths daily — such as Rachel, Brébeuf, Milton and de Maisonneuve Blvd. — has experts calling for measures to curb a problem that many of us took to our bikes to avoid: congestion. “We are reaching capacity on a lot of these facilities,” said Luis Miranda-Moreno, assistant professor at McGill University’s Department of Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics. Miranda Moreno was part of a team of researchers from McGill, Harvard School of Public Health and Montreal’s Public Health department, who recently presented a study at a road-safety conference in Halifax, N.S., that tried to compare cyclist injury risk on bike paths and bike lanes compared with streets with no special cycling facilities. The researchers used automatic bicycle counters installed under asphalt, pneumatic counters or manual counters to determine average daily bicycle volumes and injury rates on Montreal streets with and without cycling facilities. The study concluded that cyclists are safer on streets with bike paths or lanes than on comparable streets without these facilities, but could not determine whether physically separate bike paths or painted lanes are safer. But among the more startling statistics in that study were the average daily bicycle volumes on some of Montreal’s more popular path segments. For example, on an average day during the cycling season, which this study defined as April through November, 4,982 cyclists used the Rachel bike path between Parc LaFontaine and Marquette St.; 4,252 used the Brébeuf path between Rachel and Laurier; 3,797 used Milton between Hutchison and University; 3,047 used De Maisonneuve between Atwater and Bleury Miranda-Moreno stressed that these are daily averages, including counts on rainy and cold days as well as sunny ones. “What amazed me was to look at the maximum daily volumes of some of these streets, like Milton, which in August and September is reaching maximum daily volumes of 6,000 cyclists,” he said. “In the biking season, you probably have double the number of pedestrians and cyclists on this street than people in cars, yet cars are taking up 80 per cent of the street,” he said. Miranda-Moreno said Montreal should establish a “bike boulevard” on streets like Milton, a concept that other Canadian cities with less bike traffic than Montreal are already embracing. On a bike boulevard, cyclists can use the full width of the road. Local vehicular traffic and deliveries are allowed, but speed limits are very low, and the heavy presence of cyclists plus other traffic-calming measures discourage motorists from using these routes. Quebec City, for example, will make a bike boulevard this summer on Père Marquette St. between Laval University and the National Assembly. Vancouver is also experimenting with the concept. Now that the numbers are showing that Montrealers are clearly onside with cycling for transportation, Miranda-Moreno said the city obviously needs to expand its bike lane/bike path network. But he noted that doesn’t mean cyclists need physically separated paths on every street. “Just like the road network has highways, arterials and local roads, the cycling network needs to be continuous and it should have cycle tracks (physically separated bike paths) on very busy streets, painted lanes and bicycle boulevards on some streets, and on quiet local streets you don’t need anything,” he said. Suzanne Lareau, who heads the Vélo Québec cycling advocacy group, said this study is “another clear signal that the cycling network is well-used and getting saturated.” She said more cycling paths and lanes are obviously required, especially on or near these well-travelled routes: de Maisonneuve Blvd. east of Berri St.; an east-west link between the Cherrier path and the Milton/Prince Arthur lanes; St. Laurent Blvd.; St. Denis St.; de la Commune St. in the Old Port between McGill and Berri streets. *Call for new measures* Some of the most popular Montreal bike paths, like the ones along Berri and Brébeuf Sts., are getting more than 7,000 users on some days. Cycling safety experts say it’s time for the city to consider some measures to avoid congestion of cyclists at intersections and improve safety: — Install priority turn signals for cyclists — Synchronize traffic lights to cycling speeds on heavily cycled routes — Raise or paint intersections where bike paths cross major arteries to improve visibility — Install bike boxes, where cyclists can fan out across the roadway, side by side, ahead of the vehicle stop line — If a bike route is saturated, build a safe alternative on a nearby parallel street — Do not allow parking beside bike paths near intersections mlalonde(a)montrealgazette.com

1 0

Webinar: Results of 2011 National Walking Survey (Thurs, July 28, 2-3 pm, EcoCentre)
by Beth McKechnie 27 Jul '11

27 Jul '11

Bike to the Future and Green Action Centre invite you to join us to view the following webinar presented by the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals (APBP) in collaboration with America Walks... *Results of the 2011 National Walking Survey* *Thursday, July 28 • 2:00 to 3:00 pm CDT **•** EcoCentre boardroom (3rd floor, 303 Portage Ave) ***<http://www.apbp.org/link.asp?e=markc@biketothefuture.org&job=426760&ymlink=…> Results are in for the America Walks National Walking Survey. Thanks to the 7,000+ people participating, America Walks has learned a great deal about those who are avid walkers and those who are not. Survey results yielded some unexpected information. Learn about and discuss the results with the academic team behind the survey. Bring your questions and join the lively exchange. The survey was planned and conducted by William Milczarski, a professor in the Department of Urban Affairs & Planning at Hunter College, the City University of New York, and Peter Tuckel, a professor in the Department of Sociology at Hunter College, the City University of New York. The survey team has conducted a number of studies on pedestrian safety and traffic issues and is currently writing a book on the growing popularity of walking in the United States. Presenters are William Milczarski, Department of Urban Affairs and Planning, Hunter College; and Peter Tuckel, Department of Sociology, Hunter College.

1 0

Biking To The Supermarket Made Easy
by Erik Dickson 23 Jul '11

23 Jul '11

Now if only the shopping cart disconnects from the frame to be used inside the store!

1 0

Exciting legislation regarding TDM in CA
by Beth McKechnie 20 Jul '11

20 Jul '11

Interesting progress on a commuting-related bill in California that was circulated on the TDM listserv. (Okay, I find it exciting but maybe not everyone does!) cheers, Beth "California Senate Bill 582, authored by state Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco), is now on Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk and awaiting the Governor’s signature after passing both houses of the state Legislature last week. The bill, which was jointly sponsored by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), aims to reduce both traffic congestion and greenhouse gas emissions by establishing a four-year pilot program under which local air districts and metropolitan planning organizations could require employers with 50 or more employees (or, at the agencies’ discretion, 20 or more employees) to adopt commute benefit policies that offer workers one of the following: * the option to pay for their transit, vanpooling or bicycling expenses with pretax dollars, as allowed by federal law; * a transit or vanpool subsidy of $75 per month; * a free shuttle or vanpool operated by or for the employer; or * any employer-chosen alternative to these options that can be demonstrated to provide an equal or greater benefit." -- *Beth McKechnie* | Workplace Commuter Options <http://greenactioncentre.ca/>Green Action Centre<http://www.greenactioncentre.ca/> <http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> 3rd floor, 303 Portage Ave | (204) 925-3772 | Find us here<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> Green Action Centre is your non-profit hub for greener living. Support our work by becoming a member<http://greenactioncentre.ca/support/memberships/>

1 0

What do you think? - I can't park my bike outside or it will get stolen
by Beth McKechnie 19 Jul '11

19 Jul '11

Hi everyone, Thought you might be interested in commenting on the latest green 'myth' posted on the Green Action Centre website as part of our mythbusting series. Often you'll hear people say they don't want to bike to work or a destination where they have to park their bike for any length of time as it will get stolen. What do you think? http://greenactioncentre.ca/2011/you-cant-park-your-bike-outside-it-will-ge… cheers, Beth -- *Beth McKechnie* | Workplace Commuter Options <http://greenactioncentre.ca/>Green Action Centre<http://www.greenactioncentre.ca/> <http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> 3rd floor, 303 Portage Ave | (204) 925-3772 | Find us here<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> Green Action Centre is your non-profit hub for greener living. Support our work by becoming a member<http://greenactioncentre.ca/support/memberships/>

1 0

Free transit for life - if you give up your car
by Stacy Matwick 19 Jul '11

19 Jul '11

Spanish city lets you trade in your car for a lifetime pass on public transit by Sarah Laskow 13 Jul 2011 1:26 PM - Grist http://www.grist.org/list/2011-07-13-spanish-city-lets-you-trade-in-your-ca… cheers Stacy Matwick Information Centre International Institute for Sustainable Development 161 Portage Ave. E., 6th floor Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3B 0Y4 Voice: (204)958-7755 Fax: (204)958-7710 Email: smatwick(a)iisd.ca<mailto:smatwick@iisd.ca> IISD Research Library web page: http://www.iisd.org/ic SD-Cite: IISD Research Library database: http://sd-cite.iisd.org<http://sd-cite.iisd.org/> GENERata web-magazine: http://www.iisd.org/generata/ "Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read" Groucho Marx

1 0

After School Recreation Project Announcement
by Beth McKechnie 18 Jul '11

18 Jul '11

Recreation Connections Manitoba and Green Action Centre are pleased to announce the pilot sites for After The School Bell Rings: A Manitoba After School Recreation Project have been selected. *Please refer to attached announcement for more information!*****

1 0

Winter Weather Warrior contest
by Beth McKechnie 18 Jul '11

18 Jul '11

Though no one is probably thinking about winter during this hot sunny weather, here's an interesting approach used to encourage cold weather riding. -cheers, Beth *December 15, 2010* Capital Bikeshare Winter Weather Warrior Contest Capital Bikeshare encourages greater use of the system during the frigid winter months by launching a contest. http://www.dc.gov/DC/DDOT/About+DDOT/News+Room/Snow+Announcements/Capital+B… (Washington, DC) Today Capital Bikeshare launched the details of its Winter Weather Warrior contest, designed to encourage greater use of the system during the frigid winter months. All Capital Bikeshare annual and monthly members are eligible to participate in the contest which begins January 1 and lasts through February 28. The member with the greatest number of trips in the two month span will be awarded with a three year extension of their membership, two annual memberships to give away to family or friends, a $100 Hudson Trail gift card and a $25 Starbucks gift card. Additional contests will take place to honor other cold-weather riders, including monthly “Long Haul Rider” and “Most Saddle Time” contests. All members who ride every day during the two month period will be given a prize for perfect attendance. Photo contests and random drawings will also be announced throughout the duration of the contest. All Capital Bikeshare members interested in participating must opt in to the contest. By opting in, members agree to be listed by name on the weekly leader board, and on both Facebook and Twitter if they win any of the various contests. For more details about the contest or to opt in, visit www.godcgo.com/winterweatherwarrior.aspx.

1 0