We need to see our city not just for how we assume it is, nor should we be planning for how it is today. Rather, imagination is needed in developing a clear vision for how we get around with respect for the citizens who pay for these pieces of infrastructure. Our transportation master plan review, now underway, needs to be more than an inventory of roads, bridges and level crossings. We need to fundamentally change how we look at our city.
Burlington could take a page from Chicago where they use nice words about how development and transportation should be geared first to pedestrians, cyclists, transit and lastly private automobiles. Chicago’s transportation planning documents lay out the how to do it, with design guidelines for all to see.
Burlington must go beyond justifying and rationalizing development charges, by showing respect not just for the people who pay the bills, but for people like Ms Davy who’ve has identified a major flaw in our city. We can, we should, and we must do better.
James Smith is a Ward 5 resident, a computer aided design technologist, an active participant in transit debates and President of the Friends of Freeman Station. He has run as a candidate for city council in the past – looks as if he is about to take another run.
Thanks to James Smith for this informative article.
Part of having a “complete community” is easy access from one location to another. We have not put enough effort into making the crossing of RR’s easy unless you are driving a car. More people want to walk/bicycle from one place to another and we are still planning around the automobile.
Until we start “complete planning” there will be people willing to take the risk of crossing RR’s in dangerous places.