2006 was the most recent municipal election where a city council position other than the mayor was elected citywide. I was not running for anything, but I was spending a lot of time this summer getting to know London a bit better by exploring it from corner to corner with the core in between. In canvassing the built and natural environment, I criss-crossed much of the 420 square kilometres of our city, and not once did I feel tired or bored. I felt continuously curious, and wanting more.
For close to four months, Mike Donachie and I explored the city and I learned a lot of things that I want to share with you.
My approach to writing about London is that I like to lead with what I like, and I like to frame urban issues around a little trio of sorts: talk about what something is, explain how it can be a net good, and explain how it can be good for you. I’d like to think that I did this through all 14 weeks that I profiled each city council ward.
There were three key things that I learned throughout my summer journey through the Forest City.
There is magic in the suburbs. I have an urbanist background, where I’ve palled around with people who have fought and agitated for a more equitable place, and for more affordable and accessible ways to get around it. They’re well-intentioned people who fight the good fight, but I couldn’t help but notice that they tend to overlook the communities on the outer parts of our cities. As I explored some of these places in profiling the wards, by the end of this summer, I came away liking these little neighbourhoods more than I thought I would.
They are filled with culture, and there are places in the city where I can see myself reflected. I also made mention in past ward profiles about how the strip plazas within our suburbs are home to some of our city’s best restaurants.
And it was easier to bike in some of the outer suburbs, than in many places in the core and surrounding area. A protected bicycle network is taking shape in the south end. I enjoyed the opportunity to ride along protected bike lanes on Colonel Talbot Road when it was bemoaned that the road retained two lanes for general traffic. I also really liked riding on the multi-use pathway along Wellington which is currently under construction for the rapid transit project.
I think my favourite thing throughout perusing the entire city was seeing two different families introduce themselves to each other at a playground on a very humid day in a park that connects to the trail system in the South Winds neighbourhood.
You need to pay attention to downtown and the core at-large. I hinted at this in the audio portion of our Ward 13 profile. I am glad that my family would take me downtown throughout the earlier parts of my life, and I am glad I made the decision to keep visiting our core as I grew up and became an adult. There is so much good that is happening in the area, and we should find the courage to tell those stories too.
I would never want to conceal nor obfuscate any of the problems that are going on in the core. For 4 1/2 years, my commute was largely through Dundas Street. To not know about the addiction and homelessness issues that are disproportionately concentrated here would be intellectual malpractice. But I still visit, because this area is a part of our shared space, whether we want to admit it or not. Like I said in that audio portion about Ward 13, this is the part of town that has been good to me. This is a place where we all meet at, and it is the place that we bump into each other, by a landslide. As someone who craves social interaction, this is a place where I’ve left feeling more good than bad. This is also the first place where I received secure, full-time employment; my protective bosses never asked me “do you have a driver’s licence”, but, “when can you start?”
There is no singular Forest City experience. Much conversation about this city as a whole sometimes centres on the lack of a comprehensive identity or shared story about this city. As if that’s a bad thing. As if other cities aren’t believing that they are also dealing with a so-called identity crisis. There are likely hundreds of Londons, each shared by thousands of our inhabitants. A great place knows what it’s all about, and is what it celebrates. An even greater one has room for all of these cultures and lifestyles and experiences that make up the Forest City. Great leaders will get to know as many of them as they possibly can and fill their life with them.
The thing I most enjoyed about exploring the city this summer, is that there are so many permutations in getting to know London. In this series alone, I got to take in stories from people, feedback from you, the reader, and also learned a lot from just being present in the city.
One humbling thing within this that I learned is that my experience is not universal, nor is anyone else’s experience. The best course of action is to communicate your own experience and listen to the experiences of your fellow citizens.
I often wonder if our municipal governance structure and results reflect this lack of a singular London with little common ground. As I briefly alluded to earlier, London abolished its four citywide Board of Control positions for the 2010 election. In 2006, there were seven large, pie-shaped wards that were divided into 14 smaller constituencies based on “communities of interest”. 2000 remains the most recent election in which ward councillors were acclaimed. And related to those Board of Control positions, 53 is the youngest age of a London voter who has ever cast a ballot for another citywide position in the Public Utilities Commission. The ballot box is not an exhaustive look at what a city thinks and is about, but it does motivate you to dig deeper on what makes up this place.
Learning all of these things and allowing all of our readers to learn about the city from a perspective like mine is an information exchange I am always looking forward to.
The series on London’s city council wards is complete, but exploring our city continues. Check back each Tuesday for my take on experiencing London from a fresh perspective. I am excited to bike around the city and report back to you. I welcome and comments, suggestions, and topics to discuss each Tuesday. Please subscribe and let’s talk soon!