I don’t get the Memorial Drive closure proposal. Now, despite my “grow up” comment in the last post on the subject, I’m not particularly aghast about it. I wouldn’t call it, “the worst idea I’ve heard in a long time,” a quote attributed to Ald. Ric McIver. I’ve heard plenty (PLENTY) of bad ideas—many of them my own. But it’s just not making sense to me.
In a Twitter exchange with Naheed Nenshi about his Calgary Herald article on the topic, I questioned the need to close a street for a festival when the existing pathways would be a perfectly fine place for people to gather and do whatever it is they’re going to do. His response to me was, “Because it’s not about a pathway, it’s about a summer festival with musicians, vendors, etc. It’s been very badly explained.”
If it has been so “very badly explained”, then it should indeed be no surprise that there are some who heartily question the need for this. From Nenshi’s article, “So, if traffic is not an issue, and the businesses want this closure, what’s with all the drama? Why are some people clutching their pearls over what is, after all, an experiment spanning a total of 16 hours?” It seems that the drama has already been explained.
See, the path to resolution of an issue is not inciting with phrases like, “what’s with all the drama?” The path is to better understand the concerns that some hold, and better explaining one’s position in an effort to assuage any concerns.
My drama is this: I don’t get why this is valuable. There are myriad opportunities elsewhere in the city (Eau Claire Market, Prince’s Island Park, and many, many others) where people could easily gather to enjoy music and vendors without having to disturb traffic flow. Why a roadway? Why?
I’m not against festivals, by any means. I attend as many as I can, and volunteer with a couple of them so that others may also enjoy. I’m a big fan of festivals. I’m also a supporter of having more festivals. More the better, I say. But I do question the wisdom and need of placing a festival on a roadway for no obvious purpose.
Lilac Festival is a business-oriented festival that closes 4th Street and brings swaths of traffic to Mission. The BRZ wants to do this, and I say bully. Salsa-fest in Kensington, same thing (again, run by the BRZ). But this is different. This is not a business-oriented festival being spearheaded by the Kensington BRZ. It is a (thus-far unexplained) request to shut down a major east-west thoroughfare in order that people may gather on a street. For what? What is the theme? What purpose does it serve that is not being (and cannot be) served elsewhere?
Naheed Nenshi, you have spoken out in favor of the festival. Thus, I see you as a perfectly good spokesman for the idea. I beg of you to answer, just what is this festival, who is it serving, and why must it be located on Memorial Drive. I’m not incapable of being convinced. If indeed it has been very badly explained, then make use of your reach to better explain it, rather than suggest that opponents are engaging in histrionics.
UPDATE: Derek at Calgary Urbanite has a terrific post up on the topic. I’d say that I’ve heard better support for the idea of the closure nowhere else. I especially enjoyed the video link. I’ve downloaded a copy of NYC’s Sustainable Streets report–mentioned in that video–and will read it over the weekend.
UPPERDATE: Finally managed to read Calgary Cowbell’s commentary on the topic. I should really have read that prior to my first post. It answers a couple of questions, but brings up a couple more. Primarily, the idea that this is going to be the closure of just two lanes. Let’s be honest…very few are going to use the other two lanes for gathering of any sort with autos slowly passing just ten feet away, spewing the gasses and odors that such machines emit. There will be such complaint that either a) the whole deal will be cancelled, or b) the whole street will be closed. If Calgary were to test the idea, let’s at least do it with gusto and shut the whole works down. Half-assed efforts will necessarily lead to half-assed results. The second thing that came up for me is, just what are the traffic numbers on Memorial. This I do not know, and should before arriving at any particular conclusion about how much traffic will be impeded. The City’s traffic flow map indicates 40,000 vehicles per day along that section of Memorial on weekdays, but I don’t have a weekend traffic map. I’ll endeavour to track one down and report back for more complete info.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Why? I can give you lots of reasons but they come from my heart, not my head. Because pondering a party on Memorial Drive one Sunday in August is alot more fun than worrying about the economy right now. Because it would bring people together in community in the great outdoors, something that rarely happens when people are zipping down Memorial Drive. Because the more you bring people together and create a sense of community, the more they tend to be civil and decent and kind to each other and, goodness knows, we could use a little more of that in Calgary these days. And last, but not least, we need a reminder every once in awhile that people are more important than cars.
Cheri, I can appreciate your reasons, and their heartfelt origin. None of those reasons, however, convince me that Memorial Drive is the location for such a gathering. Your comment that people are more important than cars ignores that those cars are not automatons; they do not drive themselves. Those cars have people in them, and those people are going somewhere that, for whatever reason, is important to them. Slowing them down for a few blocks is by no means the end of anyone’s world, I admit. But why impede their way to begin with?
I fully and whole-heartedly support:
1. partying,
2. bringing people together,
3. creating sense of community, and,
4. being civil and decent and kind
I am absolutely not convinced that we need to reclaim a major thoroughfare in order to achieve any of these worthy goals. Memorial Drive does not seem like any better place to do this than, say, Edworthy Park, Pearce Estate Park, or Prince’s Island Park.
It seems to me that a large part of the impetus behind this proposal is the notion that cars are a bad thing, and people are a good thing, so we should take a stand by letting the latter take precedence over the former. I believe that is the imposition of the will of one group upon another group, and is the very antithesis of freedom to simply be. If people want to gather to celebrate and be filled with joy and listen to music, then I say go for it, and I’ll probably be coming down to take part. But why must this take place on a roadway in order to achieve that goal?
TJ –
This is not a question of cars being bad and people being good; this is a question of civic priorities. That film you linked to about NYC’s ambitious plan to redesign its streets nails it exactly: we need a cultural shift. And we should begin by recognizing that the priorities of motor vehicles have been imposed on all other forms of transport for half a century.
“The freedom to simply be” is exactly what’s missing if you’re doing anything other than driving a car on many of Calgary’s streets. That’s why I’ve joined many others in writing to the city and the media in support of the Memorial closure – because it symbolizes that reordering of priorities in a way that a public park, side street or other space already reserved for non-vehicular transport would not.
I’ve made roughly the same argument in a letter I’d invite you to read over at the CivicCamp website (http://www.civiccamp.net/blog/?p=57). I’d invite you moreover to consider joining us in the CivicCamp conversation we’ve recently begun – we need engaged, thoughtful Calgarians such as yourself to help us figure out how best to make Calgary the city we want.
HI–
I believe the proposed experiment is one small step towards practicing the idea that people are more important than cars. Many people, including myself, support the Sunday-mornings-in-August, two-lane-closure-only of a small section of Memorial Drive because we know we need to improve Calgary’s streets for everyone: pedestrians, cyclists, rollerbladers, strollers, toddlers, public transit, and yes, cars.
I also support this experiment because, frankly, it’s obvious that the hostile reaction is (a) ill-informed, (b) getting ‘way out of proportion to a simple, pleasant idea, and (c) mostly hostile to the idea of change or shifting our priorities, rather than to the actual proposal.