Age-friendly city expert praises Hub Trail
Wednesday, March 20, 2013 by: Darren Taylor
He is a champion of advocating quality of life for people of all ages, from eight to 80 (and beyond).
Gil Penalosa is Executive Director of 8-80 Cities, a Toronto-based organization that is dedicated to advising communities in the development and/or improvement of parks and public places where people can walk, bike, and access public transit, leading to greater physical fitness for the public.
Penalosa met with Mayor Debbie Amaroso and City officials Wednesday morning before speaking to reporters early Wednesday afternoon at the Civic Centre.
Penalosa was originally scheduled to walk and talk with Mayor Amaroso, City officials and reporters along the community’s boardwalk Wednesday afternoon, but vile, wintry weather forced an indoor meeting instead.
Penalosa will hold a community presentation at Sault College Wednesday at 7 p.m. to provide advice on how to transform Sault Ste. Marie into an Age-Friendly community.
Penalosa told reporters Wednesday afternoon that people today are living longer, but clearly not healthier.
He advocated building better walkways for pedestrians in Sault Ste. Marie, though he said the community’s Hub Trail is definitely an impressive step in the right direction.
Penalosa said people of all ages need to walk or cycle more for the sake of their own health, pointing out excellent pedestrian/cyclist infrastructure exists in communities such as Portland, Montreal and Vancouver.
Penalosa said communities should have many parks as opposed to one central park, which should be used and enjoyed 52 weeks a year.
“Parks need to be well-managed,” he said, explaining the term “well-managed” means dedicating time and space in parks for students from neighbourhood schools and hospital patients for recreation and physical therapy.
He also advocated the use of evening lighting for parks (Sault Ste. Marie’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee, or PRAC, has in the past suggested evening lighting for Bellevue Park).
Penalosa commented that people tend to have a mindset which involves them enjoying only days that are warm, dry and pleasant.
That mindset, he says, has to change.
“We plan too much around a few good days of the year.”
“People in Vancouver,” he said, “dress for the rain and enjoy the outdoors regardless of the rain, and enjoy activities such as in-line skating.”
“Only tourists in Vancouver use umbrellas,” he said.
“In Denmark,” he continued, “people bicycle in snowstorms because the roads are plowed for that.”
He added there are many two-vehicle families that could, and should, dispense with one vehicle, which he said would lead to greater use of walkways by such families and hence, better health.
Penalosa also emphasized that not too much attention should be paid to studies done by publications and think tanks that rank certain communities more healthy than others.
Burlington, Ontario, he said, is a good example.
That Southern Ontario city ranks as highly livable, but Penalosa said many residents there simply do not walk enough for the good of their own health.
Mayor Debbie Amaroso stated at Wednesday afternoon’s meeting that “we don’t need studies...we have good resources here. Our people are the biggest indicator of where we need to go.”
City Planning Director Don McConnell, who met with Penalosa Wednesday morning, told reporters Penalosa had left him with one major message: to focus on the dignity of the pedestrian.
McConnell said “the pedestrian tends to get left out. We need to accommodate the pedestrians’ needs, to ensure a safe walking environment.”
McConnell said Sault Ste. Marie should also experiment with pilot projects that would increase park usage, pointing to a recent success experienced by the University of Toronto, in which the prestigious institution transformed part of its main, downtown campus into a park facility.
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Prrrrrrr 3/20/2013 7:16:31 PM ReportFor the Mayor...
We need concession stands (that serve something good for a reasonable price) at Point Des Chenes, Hub Trail, Bellevue Park, Boardwalk and some washrooms open year round. It would be nice to see some huge flower baskets hanging from the street lights...this city does very little to enhance what is already here, they want to make money on concessions, when they should be looking at it as a service to provide... if they are breaking even and giving a great service to the residence and visitors...it's a bonus!!!Point Des Chenes needs to be open for business to the whole community and visitors, make it a fun place to spend the day, any day! Would be a good place for all season fun. Run a city bus out that way a few times a week. Why should people have to drive to Harmony, Goulias, St. Joes for a an outing when we have this property right in this city!!! Build something great and people will come!!! What we have right here in this community should have people running to get here...pretty sure there are some grants available!!!
Key words...
washrooms/consessions/open year round/ plow trails/boardwalk/grants
katrina1967 3/20/2013 7:24:05 PM ReportI absolutely love walking on the Hub Trail. Unfortunately it is difficult to do year round because the trail is not maintained in the winter. Why can the trail not be cleared with a sidewalk plow to make it accessable year round?
kamen 3/20/2013 7:31:21 PM ReportI am happy we have the hub trail, I also agree with Prrrrr. A bus out to Point De Chenes and those other place would be fabulous. I don't have a vehicle and have not been to the beach in 3 years, Iit's killing me. I was actually going to walk to point de chenes last year but never got the chance, and my bike broke.
Prrrrrrr 3/20/2013 8:16:47 PM ReportResidents should not have to walk or bike that distance to a city beach,unless they want to. There should be a bus service. This city is low on service!
shju 3/20/2013 9:21:55 PM ReportI agree more services from a city that is already broke and about to raise my taxes. I wont pay more tax on my house I am already over 4k a year. Ride your bike, carpool, drive.... the cost associated on luxury items is too much when we need basic services like more road repairs.
sportsfan17 3/20/2013 9:44:17 PM ReportGreat story and some good concepts/ideas in this article! The Mayor is right though, we need the financial resources to be able to do this.
@prrrrr
Check this link out. A great concept that a non-profit organization in Toronto developed. Might be exactly what we need in SSM!
http://www.parkbus.ca/index.php
keeper 3/21/2013 12:31:58 AM ReportYah, just what we need, another Toronto consultant . Did we pay for this brilliant vision of city planning....... to put everybody on foot? Looks like an attempt to sway council to spend more money on recreation items for certain lobby groups aligned with the planning department. Time for our under worked, over paid council to actually dictate where the money gets spent, instead of being manipulated by staff. Try replacing the nine million lost when the paper mill closed with new industry instead of dumping it on the residential sector.
mac2 3/21/2013 1:06:16 AM Reporti like prrr's ideas!
Prrrrrrr 3/21/2013 6:33:11 AM ReportShju
Everybody pays taxes, where and how you live is your choice, but for a nicer home on a nicer street in a better area, you're going to pay. again, that's your choice.
That has nothing to do with what and where the city is putting your tax dollars.
This city is not providing and/or making use of what is here. Provide dedicated transportation to recreational areas! Maintain trails year round and ad concessions/washrooms. We have a hub trail,a new hospital, a new arena, time to build on to what is already here!!!
B Boy 3/21/2013 6:35:33 AM ReportKeeper - I was just waiting to see how long it would take some people to get hung up on the consultant being from Southern Ontario.
We need outside consultants from cities that are successful, know what they're doing and won't give advice to get their buddies/family a city contract.
There are a lot of cities out there that are similarly challenged and we can learn from their best practices.
B Boy 3/21/2013 6:39:12 AM ReportPrrr - I kind of disagree with your "it's your choice" statement. I feel like I'm having the rug pulled out from under me with how my taxes are constantly being raise. It's disproportionate to the services I receive. I live in an older area of town but a nice area. My taxes are pretty high and I don't get better policing, snow removal or road repair than more or less affluent areas. I feel like I'm taking the brunt for the implications of badly managed city.
Prrrrrrr 3/21/2013 6:45:14 AM ReportCall your ward rep...make him/her represent you! If everyone called there councillor everytime they feel there is a service lacking for taxes paid...things will change. Follow it up with a letter and cc it to whoever you are complaining about!
Prrrrrrr 3/21/2013 7:01:41 AM ReportThere may be a few people on council that should not be there. They bring nothing to the table and couldn't make a decision on their own if their life depended on it! Yet they are the first few to raise their hand to take away services and raise taxes. The residents in those wards are not paying attention to the impact of their vote. Council is accountable to you. You voted them in! You can take them out!
B Boy 3/21/2013 7:02:03 AM ReportPrrr - you're assuming I haven't been speaking with my councillors. In fact I have.
I have 2 councillors: 1 has never responded, the other doesn't respond but forwards my concern so I get a call/email from a city contact to tell me they are doing all they can.
I recently had an MPAC assessment which assessed my house higher than the bank appraisal. They must have looked through my windows because the assessment even listed chattels, flooring, etc. Not surprisingly my taxes went up considerably. How do the things in my house and my flooring affect my property taxes? I'm not using up or taking up more land?
Prrrrrrr 3/21/2013 7:12:39 AM Reporthttps://www.aboutmyproperty.ca/
wallyhunter 3/21/2013 7:22:59 AM ReportWhat a laugh. Sidewalks. I don't think people in this town know what they are for. I see at 75% of the people walking on the roads. And it doesn't matter about the conditions. I see them walking on the road all times of the year. All that keeps going through my head when I see it is are smarter than a 4th grader since by then you are taught in school about pedestrian traffic and where to walk, and where to cross the street.
Anyway if no one walks on the sidewalks why do we even have them and spend money on them. Think of the money we could save.
Miss Kitty 3/21/2013 8:18:44 AM ReportI agree with the last comment...not very many people use the sidewalks at the best of times. We could save a lot of money not plowing them. In the none snow months the runners, walkers rollerbladers, etc. think the inside lane is their own personal sidewalk. They don't move when the cars come, the cars have to move to the other lane, and most of them don't follow the walking facing oncoming traffic either. Will someone tell me when the second lane of the roadway turned into a sidewalk? Will someone have to be hit by a car first before the police do anything about this? .
Prrrrrrr 3/21/2013 10:33:25 AM ReportLondon has a bylaw that makes the homeowner responsible for the walkway joining the homeowners land.
Everyone has to shovel out their own sidewalk!
The Mayors from the North could probably learn something from the larger cities in Southern/Eastern Ontario.
Actually all they have to do is research the bylaws in a few cities and follow up with a call to city officials to see how that works out for them.
Fire up your laptops City Hall...you're a click away from saving money:)
toto 3/21/2013 11:00:26 AM ReportMiss Kitty.Put down your phone cigarette or donut and join me for a walk on the sidewalk.you might like it.
shju 3/22/2013 12:44:27 AM Reportya prrr they do down south, but they also pay less then half the taxes we pay for the same value house.
rcssm69 3/22/2013 12:39:31 PM ReportBull about the taxes down south!
London gets nowhere near the snow we do! They get hammered once in a while, so if it's true, let them shovel them! I can't even see my front yard right now!
Prrr...I think the few supporting emails went to your head!!! Buses, washrooms, plowed trails, etc... But you are probably ticked because your taxes are too high and your roads aren't plowed! Who do you think will maintain these new areas that you are proposing??? The same people!!! So what's that going to do to the rest of the services??? They will suffer!!! Either that, or they will hire more bodies??? =$$$$$$$ But you don't want higher taxes!!!
Do you see where I'm going with this???
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