Transportation and our Quality of Life

Welcome back!

Today I read some inspiring talk from the powers that be about transportation and I had to smile because that new urbanism philosophy of travel less and travel smartly is becoming more firmly entrenched in our modern thinking. Hallelujah.

Cutting down the amount of transportation we do by living and working in closer proximity to one another is one side of the new and improved transportation model.  The other side of that model includes utilizing public transit when feasible, to reduce the overall level of toxic emissions.

We have a politician in my region that is so unlike any politician I have ever met that I’m going to have to call myself a fan pretty soon.  After being one of the best Minister’s of Education we have had in a while, she was recently appointed our Minister of Transportation.

True to her tradition of understanding the key issues and the human component in the decisions that are made by government, she had this to say about the role of transportation in our lives (source: Toronto Star).

“If we don’t think about people who are living in poverty in rural communities…and think about how they can move around (to improve their circumstances) then we’re missing a huge social impact of transportation.”

She adds: “I have become acutely aware of the role that inadequate transportation networks play in inhibiting economic growth and reducing quality of life.”

Think about the transportation in your community and how it affects your quality of life.  I know that since we moved closer to grocery shopping and parks, I’m much more inclined to walk and that has made me healthier and increased my love of my neighborhood.

I also like the knowing that I’m near to reliable public transit so that members in my family always have the means to get to work or a medical appointment, etc.

Life is so often about journeys.  How we “journey” from A to B can have more impact on our lives than we ever imagined.

Pedestrian Day

Today as we were in town looking for a new dining room table, my husband reminded me that May 30 is “Pedestrian Day” in our community.

Now we have all kinds of “special days” but I was unfamiliar with that one.  After all we live in a community that celebrates walkable spaces all year round.

But perhaps I’m too close to the issue.  One of the reasons the new urbanism lifestyle has such a stronghold where we live is precisely because we talk about it so much.

I don’t mean the residents talk about it all the time, but rather those who champion this lifestyle make it their job to promote, promote, promote.

I can’t blame them, it doesn’t take much for tastes to change. For example I understand “golf communities” that were all the rage throughout the 1990′s and early part of the 2000′s are now very much “out of style.”

Perhaps the fall of Tiger Woods and the similarly bad behavior of Wall Street companies have together served to put a damper on golf given the close association of those two media headlines with the sport.

Of course that’s a huge assumption on my part (though it has me thinking…). Essentially my point is really just to say that we can never get too slack about something so important as the health, vitality and sustainability of our community life. Where we work, play and raise our families is core to our existence and our happiness.

What day are you going to make pedestrian day in your community (hint, hint)!