To commence, I want to clarify my answer to Professor Zwicker's question from the first class. I stated that my view of Edmonton had been polluted by my knowledge of Edmonton's many failures in city planning, but after consideration, I realize I should have added a positive to my statement. I believe that many parts of this city are horribly planned, and areas with illogical and unsustainable planning are still being developed around the city. But there are a few areas that I believe are excellent in terms of planning, my principle example being the River Valley. Living in West-Central Edmonton, I cross the Groat bridge every day to get to the university, and frequently use the river valley system for recreation/dog walking etc. Like many people stated in the first class, I have traveled all over the world, but I have never seen anything like the River Valley we have here in Edmonton, and it's continued existence is a stroke of wonderful brilliance on the part of the city.
To answer the blog prompt, I will continue on my tangent about the River Valley. I live in West-Central Edmonton (Crestwood, if you want specifics), and as a result I have a great deal of exposure to the river/nature that is present in that part of the city. I both go to school and work at the U of A, and most of my social activities are centered on Jasper or Whyte Ave, though unfortunately West Ed Mall occasionally features into the equation (and maybe Ikea if I'm feeling courageous). IF one was to map my travel patterns, the trend would be definitively central, and I think this has a strong impact on my sense of the city. While I am conscious of the existence of the suburbs and of the areas in the east and north of the city, they do not figure in strongly to my view of the city, which, as I mentioned, is centered around the river. I think I have placed subconscious limits on my view of Edmonton that excludes these regions, and I believe these are limits that I developed throughout my time growing up in Edmonton.
Despite my ingrained rivercentrism, in the past year, I believe that I have at least become more aware of my surroundings. Much of this is owed to my recent acquisition of a car and the tendencies of many of my south/north side friends to take advantage of the new driving resource. I at least have an ability to relate street numbers of areas of the city that are farther away now, instead of just the basic 109st, 142nd, Jasper, and Whyte.
I think it's really interesting that you mentioned driving as a way to expand your knowledge of Edmonton, since I got a car last year and my friends have also been very eager to take advantage of it! It's been a trend in many of our classmates' blogs that the train and buses keep them constrained to specific places and I wonder what it is about driving that is so freeing. It really is though; now every time my friends want to go someplace new or exciting but not easily accessible (e.g. lazer tag on gateway boulevard, Cora's, Red Lobster to name a few) I just drive us all there and we get a new sense of what Edmonton has to offer.
ReplyDeleteI was actually going to mention driving in my blog, too, but I didn't want it to get too lengthy.
ReplyDeleteI have mixed feelings about driving through the city. I can get more places more easily, but I oftentimes bypass so much of the city along the way and I never get a second glance at it. I find myself frequently driving to the north side of the city (about a 40 minute drive from where I am, just south of WEM)... At some point my parents drove me over there instead of me driving myself, and I was enthralled because I could actually *see* what was around me and what neighbourhoods I was transitioning between and the feel of each. When I'm driving myself, there's so much focus on the road and other drivers that I can't observe what I'm moving through. This results in a fragmented sort of map or view of the city --- I know my area, I know my boyfriends general area, but I have very little conception of what's in between.
Now don't get me wrong --- I hate busing, it involves a lot of waiting in the cold, indirect routes, and carsickness... but the detours it makes from my carefully planned and straightforward driving routes allow me to observe and experience more of the city and its overall feeling from a passenger window.
It's interesting how much practical concerns (where you live and what kind of transportation you use) create city limits for us. My experience of Edmonton used to be the opposite of yours, sort of: until the end of high school my sense of Edmonton was actually very (south) suburb-centric. I lived there, my high school was there, my friends were there, all of the stores and restaurants I frequented were there. The river valley and the central areas of Edmonton didn't really become part of my mental map until I started university, and my bus routes attached them for me.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that driving helps you explore -- I still can't drive, and I feel the limitation any time I want to try out a new a place that takes ages to bus or LRT to! I don't think this is quite what you meant when you talked about good city planning, but the southward extension of the LRT has really helped expand my sense of the city, for practical reasons.