Raise the Hammer

Terry does have a point of view that I somewhat understand from a structurally-stuck-suburb perspective, although I disagree on the semantics (e.g. "rebuke") --

And, Stonechurch is more of a Complete "Stroad", rather than a Complete Street, being a fast-moving 3-lane with bike lanes.

One problem is the structure of a low density suburb can make it harder for a Complete Streets movement to return tangible benefits to residents quicker. There is an extremely long transition period as suburbs don't generally urbanize very well, and the distances involved are large which discourages walking and biking. We all agree on that.

One point of view is that Terry and his constituency does not have the patience for a long-term Complete Streets migration, in the era of a populace growing up on fast and convenient car transportation.

For a city with structural density issues (from an urbanization perspective), paradigm shifts are notoriously inconvenient and time consuming.

At least the sidewalks (which are still too narrow) on Stonechurch are setback away from the road in most places, so it is not particularly dangerous to walk. To be fair, many residents like the configuration, but those used to having passing lanes (4 lanes) will hate it just as a few still hate James St N even to this day.

But it does highlight the difficulties of a long-term transition to alternate forms of transportation -- the long distances involved, the few attractsive non-car destinations, few break areas (not many places to spontaneously grab shelter from cold), the car-optimized businesses.

Urbanizing and Complete Streeting through those is going to take time to get used to -- possibly a full generation (you may hate it, but your kids won't hate it as much). Some people who grew up with congestion, can drive congestion quite patiently, but those who grew up with fast driving, will get road rage instantly with congestion.

Residential arteries are notorious -- no nearby places to put residential-friendly businesses that help amplify the Complete Streets benefits quicker. And few bike/ped heavy destinations that allows the Complete Streets to become arteries for non-car use (like in some other countries). Can take a generation (or multiple) to fix, either by people getting used to it, or by rezoning (e.g. houses on big arteries being replaced with businesses and medium density developments).

One good interim move in the next ten years though, is a MASSIVE bus expansion, so that more people bother taking transit. I also many friends (who cannot afford a car, or who can afford one but don't want to drive) that have homes in Lower City but take the bus to Mountain work, taking forever to get there. If you could get from point A to B almost as fast as by car, transit would be far more popular.

We need to install Complete Streets where it is the most quickly effective -- e.g. various arteries within 30 minutes walk of downtown! (Loud agreements heard by my neighbours...) The piecemeal approach can be quite tricky, as we see successes (James St N) and difficulties (Barton BIA) that requires a reboot or two to succeed. For a Complete Street on the mountain, Concession is almost a good first start for mountain, except for the bike-lanes boat.

Not justifying those exact words, mind you, but one can kind of begin to understand the Terry POV to a certain extent, and politics in satisfying his constituency.

Comment edited by mdrejhon on 2015-12-03 21:40:27