photo courtesy of Dodge Baena
Winter is oddly depressing and comforting. It is the season of emotional senescence, whereby we retreat inside and reflect on the year that passed. At least it is that way for me; I don't ski or snowboard. Snow irritates my ankles.
The winter break has provided me all the free time university siphons away. My casual rejection of being outside in the winter has loosened, since I have discovered pleasurable free outdoor activities, like the Nicholas Lambden rink in front of City Hall.
This rink (hopefully), represents a closing chapter in the City of Guelph, as is naturally expected in the season of Winter. The implementation and construction of the new rink, City Hall building, and Market Square space has been a point of contention between the public, downtown merchants, and city hall, for several years. Anyone who frequents downtown can attest, Carden St. has been in a perpetual state of construction every summer for the past several years. The construction was blamed for driving away customers and putting merchants on the verge of bankruptcy. The situation between merchants and the city was poorly handled; at one point the city threatened to sue business owners over a defamatory comparison made between city councillors and the three stooges. .
The negative impacts of Carden's (re)construction have been used as fodder by the anti-Farbridge groups to support the claim that the City of Guelph is anti- business, as was mentioned in a leaked report earlier this year. To truly determine if this is correct, I feel more time is needed to see the change in business on Carden St.
I understand all the arguments against the reconstruction of Carden, but after visiting I find it harder to convince myself it was a bad idea. It's a beautiful space, and attracts a diverse selection of Guelphites. It is endearing to see new Canadians strapping on skates and embracing a Canadian pastime. It is endearing to see wobbly-footed children coached by their grandparents. It is endearing to see young couples hold hands and weave their way around the ice.
Was the cost/benefit of the new space worth it? I don't know, but I am definitely going to be spending more time in that space, and hopefully I will buy a thing or two from the shops there (Hempire, anyone?).
I've been thinking about this issue as well. I think a major problem with the whole reconstruction, which plagues politics in general today, is the lack of trust in the relationship between politicians and the public. And I think it's justified, but it's certainly not helpful. Development projects needs to embraced together, and the city hall actions were forceful, aggressive and kind of arrogant, no matter their justification. Carden street hasn't just been under construction, it's been an awful mess. While shopfront access was maintained for a lot of the time, it didn't even seem safe or appropriate to travel down that sidewalk for months because of the exposed tools and supplies and construction vehicles. If any significant effort was made to accommodate space for both construction and business, I think it could have gone a long way towards remedying the contention.
ReplyDeleteMy favourite part of the experience in the last two years was watching the city vs citizens fight over the shortcut into downtown (and bus station especially while in its former locations for at least a year during construction) from Neeve street over/under the train tracks. The city put up a chain link fence, but the significant inconvenience the detour causes to foot traffic repeatedly prompted citizens to cut and knock down parts of the fence, as well as frequently vault over it into the (too frequently vacant) construction zone. Over time and repeated conflict, the city put in higher fencing, doubled up the chainlink, and finally strung barbed wire along the top. I think when it comes to putting barbed wire up on a walking path to your downtown core, the conflict has escalated to absurdity. The treatment between the citizens and city officials is quite clearly antagonistic, no matter the long term objectives. And this feeling I think was shared by a lot of citizens, and city hall literally fought back with tax payer money.
I find it funny to think of city hall as anti-business, because I also perceive them to be, ironically, anti-citizen. Look at the way they forced in the new bus schedules, outsourcing it to people who don't even live in Guelph, still neglecting a lot of essential services (like the food bank and some care facilities) and finally dumping the responsibility for taking flack and feedback on our city bus drives, informing them only days before of new routes and unmarked stop changes. Nobody's happy or excited, even if we'll get used to it eventually, and city hall seems content with the fact that they got their way "for our own good", no matter the financial or physical toll on the citizens of the city.
It's antagonistic and inconsiderate, and given the power and money that they wield, they should be a lot more responsible in regards to their relationship with the city and its citizens.