Wade Davis asks a tough question: How can we balance society's need for fuels with the urge to protect such glorious wilderness?

Roaming around the River

We may not have the same blue skies this weekend but this is a great time to explore the Kootenay River bed, on foot.  You never know what you might see - river driftwood, birds, plant life come to life again and endless colourful pebbles.  Then there are the spring babies to see within Fort Steele!

Michael's Musings

Ciclovia brings the "magical good" of public space to a city

By Michael J Morris

Enrique Penalosa, referencing Jan Gehl, the brilliant Danish urban planner  tells us that a great city is where people want to go out of their homes and where we all feel not excluded.

Rhonda Winter, in an article in ecolocalizer.com in July 2009, 'What is a good city?' refers to Gehl's thinking while discussing the merits of Ciclovia, the brainchild of the former visionary mayor of Bogota, Colombia, Enrique Penalosa. Ciclovia has now become an integral part of community life in cities around the world.

Referencing Jan Gehl, Penalosa said: "A great city is one where people want to go out of their homes. Public space is a magical good and never ceases to yield pleasure: we should pay it a lot of attention. Public good prevails over private interest. A great city is where we all feel not excluded."

And he added, to my delight as one who walks everywhere I go: "The quality of sidewalks in a city is a most telling thing. Just as a bird needs to fly, fish need to swim and deer need to run, we need to walk."

When Penalosa was mayor of Bogota, a city of about seven million people, 120 km of the city's streets started to be closed to traffic every Sunday for seven hours for the hugely popular Ciclovia.

On some Sundays Ciclovia attracts1.5 million citizens who came together to walk, bike, play and socialize. They have continued for about 30 years now.

                          

In her article Winter argues that how an urban environment is planned, designed and constructed greatly influences how we live, get around and interact. Ciclovia has been a major factor in changing Bogota in a society where walking and biking are becoming more important.  

Penalosa also cautioned that doing what benefits everyone in the name of the public good requires real political leadership and risk.

"I want to emphasize the things that make people happy are not very costly, but they are politically difficult," he said.

He also noted: "I would say that the great city is not the one that has highways, but one where a child on a tricycle or bicycle can go safely anywhere."

When I was a child, I was able to travel safely around the community on my tricycle and later my bicycle. As I walk about Cranbrook today, and turn back the clock, there is no way I would feel safe. As I watch vehicles roar by me on Victoria Avenue, Second Street North and The Strip for example, I get the feeling all the drivers want to be in the Indianapolis 500.

Back to Ciclovia. As I read more about it, I thought -- this is something that might work in downtown Cranbrook.

By other names some of it already occurs -- the Farmers Market, Sam Steele Days, the two major parades a year and the Children's Festival. 

I discovered that for the past four years Winnipeg, Manitoba, holds a Ciclovia, in the downtown area, and looking at a map of the boundaries for the event, and having lived in the city at one time, they really do close it down for one day, for "a free eco-friendly, healthy, lifestyles festival". It is sponsored by Downtown Winnipeg BIZ with support from many stakeholders.

The activities include a wine and cheese festival, kids' activities, animal rest area, music and cardio on the stage (live music followed by a fitness class on the hour all day), a live art zone, book readings, story telling, a chill zone (Yoga, tai chi, massages), a bike show, farmers' market and the list goes on.

In Bogota, Ciclovia is held every week while in Winnipeg it is only once a year, but no matter how often, they bring people from their homes and none are excluded, which serves the public good, but in so doing, private interests, (i.e. businesses) also benefit.

Imagine if Ciclovia happened in downtown Cranbrook in public space, where the "magical good" would occur as Jan Gehl suggests, and citizens would focus on those things that bring us together, rather than divide us throughout the city, in all we do.

Penalosa again:  "Children are a kind of indicator species. If we can build a successful city for children, we will have a successful city for all people."

Think about the possibilities. Please feel free to share your thoughts with me. My email is mj.morris@live.ca.

Full disclosure: I am not now and never have been a member of the Citizens for a Livable Cranbrook Society; however, I did conduct a workshop for its members for which I was paid.

Post note from the editor - check out:

https://www.facebook.com/CicloviaWinnipeg

http://www.8-80cities.org/resources/ciclovia-open-streets.html

What's Happening.......

Thursday April 4th

Community Forest Annual General Meeting
COR, Room    S114
7:00pm
All Forest users invited.

April 4th,5th,6th

Thursday Friday Saturday
Rockies Film Fest
see http://www.rockiesfilmfest.com/Film_Festival_2013.pdf

Saturday April 6th

Fruit Tree Pruning Workshop

April 6, Kimberley & Cranbrook, Free

Learn how to maximize your fruit harvest and maintain the health of your trees at Wildsight’s hands-on, outdoors workshop taught by a certified arborist. Register online at wildsight.ca/apples.

Saturday April 6th

An Evening with Fernie Band, The Bickerton's, Corky Evans, Annn Edwards and Norma Blissett
Studio opposite the soon to be opened NDP Office
7:00pm
A Fundraiser for Norma Blissett, NDP Candidate for Kootenay East
Tickets $10 Lotus Books

Saturday April 6th Social Dance
Senior's Hall
Music provided by The great Canadian Barn Dance of Hill Spring, Alta
7:00pm - 11:00pm
Alcohol Free
250-489-2720

Spin and Invisibility Cloaks

Editorial

There is a lot of spin appearing already around the upcoming May 14^th Election but with all the strange stories of leaky emails, a mysterious shrinking tower in Prince George, the even blacker secrets of carbon sinks in Dark Woods one should not be surprised at other spin doctoring in the media.

Now it may be real or imagined but has MLA Bennett become an Independent?  His advertisements and latest flyer make no mention of his membership in the Liberal Party. His latest flyer certainly gives no credit either to the Liberal Party or those citizens who provided the seed funds and countless hours of volunteer work for the many valuable projects that government administration matched, which makes one wonder what is going on.

One must also question the purpose of the unscientific Readers Choice Awards supplement to our local, Black Press owned, Townsman.  It is wonderful to recognise some of our favourite businesses and politicians but it was noticeable that for those on whom we depend for our well-being there was no favourite, nurse, RCMP Officer, teacher, dentist or church for example. It appeared room ran out for winners of equal standing to have their photographs printed and that was a shame.  Readers can have fun surmising the reasons and goals.  There is no award for answers.  Playing favourites can be a difficult game. 

Another perceived difficulty for many is the mixing of business and politics.  It might be questioned when a business is used to promote political office or when political office is used to promote business. This situation can be interpreted as ethically questionable especially if one unduly influences professional decisions of the other or if one stands to gain from the other.

Sometimes what is not stated sheds us much light on what is going on, as what goes into the recycling bin.  Spotting the spin, which often wears the cloak of invisibility is often more interesting than the visible face value.

Rockies Film Festival

For the full details go to:

http://www.rockiesfilmfest.com/Film_Festival_2013.pdf

Click to enlarge

Tickets at Lotus Books.

A Stunning Easter Sunday at Fort Steele

Families from far and wide, staff and many volunteers were out in force for this stunning weekend at Fort Steele.  With all the chocolate and sugar sprinkles, bonnets on bicycles, turkeys with only one thing in mind, blue skies and warm temperatures, it could not have been better.  Only the pigs seemed to be not impressed.

Dog Dazed

With all the talk around around the Council table of dog parks, dogs in Moir park, dog doo and so on, this article from Ann-Marie MacDonald may interest some:
http://www.cbc.ca/doczone/episode/dog-dazed.html
The article begins:

Canada’s dog population has doubled over the past decade. And, with 84 million dogs now sharing public space with human beings across the continent, conflicts over canines are breaking out all over urban North America. As boomers age and millennials stall on starting families, our demographics are going to the dogs. There are now more households with dogs than kids, and that means that the canine has clout. Otherwise intelligent and reasonable human beings turn rabid when anyone criticizes their dog or attempts to limit his freedom.  Non-dog owners, forced to defend their increasingly limited turf, howl in protest.

North Star Trail Report for the Easter Weekend

The bikes are out.  Many are wondering about conditions. Stewart sent us this .....

Trail is clear to Shadow Mtn. parking lot. There are several places
like that shown below between Shadow and the bridge, but these are
negotiable with patience and care, as I discovered on my hybrid bike
with thinner tires. Trail from Wycliffe to Marysville is clear apart
from one short section near highway. Alternate trail is available
between R2T and highway for that section. Marysville to Kimberley is
clear (according to a senior who had ridden it). Great day for bike
riding!

Photos from Stewart Wilson and Kate Ruoss -all taken the Easter Weekend.

These guys put their lives at risk by sunning themselves on the warm asphalt trail - watch out!!

Visit:
https://www.facebook.com/NorthStarRails2Trails

The Good News on Poverty - Bono