Wishful Thinking?

In my last entry here at the Car Free Mile-End blog, I alluded to an emerging economy characterised by a new era of environmental consciousness involving efficiency measures that would in fact make the seventies look like mere rehearsal. Wishful thinking to some, it is my hope that something of the sort has an outside chance of coming to pass.

Thinking Global

As international climate change talks unfold this year and awareness of resource dependence and depletion gains traction across the board we all stand to improve our understanding of just what exactly our predicament is made of; and how far we are now from where we need to be in the near future. In other words we may only have a vague idea that something must be done (and equally vague ideas of what to do about it) for now – but we will invariably start envisioning and realising, through tangible creative activity, what can and must be done instead of business as usual. This is imperative since doing nothing is no longer an option. I am convinced this is the theme that will emerge presently.

Politically, the future will pose more and more pressure on governments to come up with solutions to problems of greenhouse gas emissions, pollution, resource depletion, and energy shortfalls. Of particular imperative will be the legally binding, moral obligations that will emerge on the other side of climate talks in Copenhagen (if all goes well there). Car free culture, sustainable communities and other solutions will emerge as one obvious route to take.

Acting Local

No matter the details of our respective interpretations of the present, the sooner we make the leap to actualising alternatives here and now, on the ground, the better. I believe the creation of a pedestrian zone in Montreal’s urban environment is the perfect way for citizens (businesses and residents alike – as well as their politicians) to help shift the momentum and point our society in a different direction.

Of course I am under no illusions that the Car Free Mile-End project will achieve such a lofty goal all by itself. It is one piece of a puzzle: it must be a component of a wider network. Perhaps with a renewed municipal government at city hall and widespread community involvement, a number of car-free zones could become the vibrant centre-pieces of neighbourhoods throughout the city: something akin to the public squares of European cities, which act as hubs of social and economic activity (not just some place for office workers to eat their lunch à la Square Victoria).

The feasibility of car-free spaces is proven with numerous examples around the world. And of course there’s the success of Ste Catherine Est. right here at home. A car-free street can be as simple as mounting barricades and a few new traffic signs; and as involved as re-landscaping an entire tract of land and laying down a tramway. What we aim for is probably somewhere between the two, and is most certainly still up for discussion.

I would like to think a car-free St. Viateur would involve a lot more green space, and although it’s hard to imagine more social activity, it would emphasise the public space as a social arena, unhindered by the invasive capacity of cars. The east-west zone that we have in mind could also serve as a means of slowing through-traffic travelling at high speed on the neighbourhood’s “highways” (Ave. du Parc and St. Urbain).

Of course for our project to work as a permanent change, a certain amount of study, consultation and design will have to be done. Perhaps the best way of studying new ideas for the community will be a series of trial closures in the near future, a subject that will be pursued in further detail in future posts.