Comment 81176

By ThisIsOurHamilton (registered) - website | Posted September 23, 2012 at 08:30:21

Lower city Hamilton still has more than 100 one-way streets, and we need to get serious about converting them into complete, liveable two-way streets in a timely fashion.

My beliefs about reversion are to a great extent aligned with Ryan's (and Jason's and Adrian's), but this intractability worries me. Especially when compared with the intractability of those against reversion, which is based on a) what they're used to and b) their -flawed- perceptions of the consequences of reversion.

Neither one are conducive to dialogue, to discourse or discussion.

I mentioned in my contribution to The Hamiltonian's 'Perspectives Virtual Panel' a 'test-case' scenario called 'The Red-box One-way Reversion Proposal'. The idea was to 'localize' a concerted effort as well as making the impetus behind it not the leadership of any councillors, but the 'will of the people'. The area east of Dundurn, west of James, south of Main and north of Aberdeen was the 'red box' on the map I'd provided. The idea was to get the two neighbourhoods -Kirkendall and Durand- to decide for themselves what streets they feel are needing reversion. (None of the contained streets, not even Charlton or Herkimer, are 'arterial roads', none of them need to be 'thoroughfares', so it's not like 'non-locals' should be deciding what form they take. Yes, this is a foundation belief for me, that neighbourhoods have the overriding right to determine what's best for them to promote the highest level of Quality of Life possible, and as I'm currently visiting Toronto, I'm witnessing up-close-and-personal how the needs of communities I've been walking through come first; I'll be posting a snap-shot album later as evidence found in this teeny-tiny sliver of Toronto.)

I chose this 'red-box' area because it's sequestered, even though my first choice was Cannon Street. It is a truly 'residential' area, the existence of which is almost entirely predicated on Life lived. In fact, aside from Locke Street, people living their lives in houses, condos or apartments is almost the entire story. So...

So the truth is, as much as I presented the notion more as an opportunity to muster engagement, to foster dialogue, to aim for consensus, the truth is that my bet, even if you were able to get the vast majority of people involved in the education, examination and conversation processes, you may well find that many of the one-ways would not be targeted for reversion. That people would be fine keeping them the way they are, thankyouverymuch.

Now; regardless of whether these people could be considered 'right' or 'wrong' in their beliefs, I'm curious as to how Ryan et al would respond to them wanting to keep certain one-ways, if that's what the majority polled expressed. Because there seems to be this 'ALL one-ways have to go!' mentality that's being pushed forward alongside all the reports and papers being cited ad nauseam.

Intractability.

So this is what I fear: that what might be accomplished in getting some sorely-needed reversions done (I'll leave it to the reader to create a mental list of 'Top Ten One-way Streets That Simply Must Be Reverted For The Sake of All Residents') will be lost in the process. That the zealotry being expressed by some, because it doesn't seem to leave room for compromise, because it often comes across as being so annoyingly arbitrary to the bystander, is going to set the cause back...or even torpedo it.

The truth is that I've lived in both Durand and Kirkendall over the past quarter-century. I've walked, run, ridden and driven the streets. Would I, as a firm believer in the greater humanity (and humane-ness) that two-ways foster, see the logic in reverting all one-ways in this 'red-box' area as is being constantly hammered home? No. Not at all.

Even acknowledging that this discussion doesn't even register on the radar of most Hamiltonians, it still pains me that so much of how we express our desire for change isn't framed by a sincere desire to come to agreements. I guess this is the result of long-term frustration. However, I do have to once again remind the principals here that 'Sometimes, it's not enough to be right.'

Comment edited by ThisIsOurHamilton on 2012-09-23 09:23:05

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