As I told you yesterday, Sunday was a No-Car Day in Toronto's Kensington Market. It was quite refreshing to have the streets to ourselves, without the fear of being honked at or run down. The streets in that old neighbourhood are so narrow that there's little room for cars to negotiate anyway; cars should be permanently be banned from the area.Without motor vehicles about, the whole area took on the air of a festival.
In fact, the only car to be seen was this one, a non-working plastered-over rolling petition that is to be "pushed to Queen's Park [seat of our provincial government] after the election". Never mind that the election was some three or four weeks ago; whatever it is they're asking for will (sadly) never be made law in this society where the automobile is given primacy over all.
Still, good clean fun on a Sunday afternoon...
4 comments:
It seems like every city in Europe has at least a couple streets where no cars are allowed. I remember the market in Heidelberg during my childhood. Cobblestone road and no cars. The occasional delivery van was about it.
Denver has the 16th Street Mall. 16 blocks of no cars - pedestrians and public transit only.
These spaces bring us together. Instead of honking and middle-fingering our way through traffic, we get to be people. Good luck with your petition.
The first Sunday of every month, Madrid has a Sunday shopping day during which the Grand Via - Madrid's largest downtown thoroughfare - is closed to 4 wheel traffic. It's rather nice.
If it's Madrid's largest thoroughfare, it sounds like they picked a very appropriate name for it...
Indeed!
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