It is wonderful that so many folks have been engaged in the conversation about a vision for our downtown street.
I’m looking forward to the public forum this week (Jan. 23, Mary Winspear Centre, 4 to 7 p.m.) about Beacon Avenue.
Whether it is one way or two way, let’s find the best way for our sunny Sidney By-The-Sea to be a shining example of a more dynamic, all-inclusive, true downtown community street that benefits everyone.
As Janette Sadik-Khan said in her TED talk: ‘New York’s streets? Not so mean any more. You just need to re-imagine our streets. They’re hidden in plain sight.”
One has only to Google ‘shared spaces’, ‘complete streets’ or ‘livingstreets’ to find that there is more to a downtown than car lanes and sidewalks.
Check out the many videos on ‘YouTube’ to see that there is already a global movement afoot to steer away from car-centered town centres to ones that are inclusive of all modes of transportation and movement of people.
Complete streets are alive with parents pushing their kids in strollers, talking to folks with mobility issues riding their scooters or easily pushing their walkers, tipping their hats to neighbours on bikes and saying hello to pedestrians.
Cars can manoeuvre more easily, too, when we have designated lanes for scooters and bikes and sidewalks for pedestrians.
It is far better for businesses when people are more comfortable manoeuvring their downtown.
And it’s definitely better for getting out and about to bring our community together.
Laura Parker
Sidney