Walkable and Bike able Communities

December 19, 2007

In my Internet trolling yesterday I came across a great video on You Tube that looks at the idea of planning for more walkable and Bike able Communities. The video looks at the community of Port Townsend in Washington state and discusses their efforts to envision a more sustainable transportation future.

This has been a topic of discussion around these parts from time to time. It appears that isolated efforts are being made to promote trail networks and occasionally the paper addresses councils interest in more bike lanes for city streets. This topic is near an dear to me for several reasons. In my previous career teaching Geography I spent a good deal of time teaching the ideas of smart growth, sustainable transportation, and more generally our patterns of land use that have been increasingly influenced by the car. If you haven’t seen end of Suburbia I encourage you to do so as the movie offers a good look at the impact of car culture in North America.

I am also quite interested in the topic of sustainable transportation locally because I get the idea of Peak Oil. This post isn’t going to be a peak oil lesson but I will try to cover the topic in more detail soon enough. For more on Peak Oil check out the End of Suburbia, or listen to my interview with the writer director, or simply Google “Peak Oil” and see what you get. I bring up peak oil at this point in part because it appears to be a driving force behind the program ” Peak Moment” from which the video below is a part.

Finally I am very much interested in the idea of more walkable/Bike able communities because that’s how I get around. Our family has been car free for over two years now. We gave up on the car while still living in Toronto, opting to take advantage of public transit options our wise choice in choosing an apartment. Location, location, location… it’s a really big part of reducing your transportation energy demands and improving your quality of life. When we purchased our first home upon returning to Owen Sound we had really only one deal breaker. The house had to be “in the valley” (as it turns out we actually bought a house on a dead end street partially embedded in the valley wall = don’t have to bike the really big hills but there’s still a bit of an incline on the way home). In hindsight this has proven to be quite a boon as well given that it adds a little more resistance to our training (oops!, I meant commute there but as you might imagine there are some pretty significant health benefits to moving about under your own power.

I’ll leave my commentary for the moment at that and let you get on with the show… otherwise I might have to start weighing in on the numerous other benefits of our reduced car lifestyle. Perhaps you have some thoughts to share? If so leave a comment below or leave an audio comment by calling 519 416 6936 (OWEN). As you can see I could likely go on about this topic at great length… if you are interested in carrying on with this discussion it only takes a moment of you time to share your thoughts/ideas not to mention give me a little more reason to dig up more resources on this topic.

Enjoy the show….

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Written by Ryan · Filed Under Sustainability, Community, Video, Transportation

Dave & Trish Hawkins Live Musically

December 18, 2007

December 21, 2007
7:00 pm	to	9:00 pm
7:00 pm	to	9:00 pm

Location: Copper Ridge Restaurant, 640 10th St. West
Cost: The price of what you order (donations of non-perishable food items are also appreciated)
Phone: 519-371-7070

Featuring some tasty holiday appetizers & specialty coffees for the occasion in addition to our regular menu. Seating is limited so reservations are advised.

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Written by Nathan · Filed Under Events

Live Band Night at the Sound Club

December 14, 2007

December 15, 2007
5:00 pm	to	8:00 pm

Location: The Sound Club, 1125 8th St. East
Cost: $8-$10
Phone: (519) 416-4489

Live up and coming bands in the Owen Sound area performing live at the Sound Club. Featuring Kaltrop, DeadXDawn, and Dead Inside. An alcohol free venue for all youth.

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Written by Nathan · Filed Under Events