Photos: Jane's Walk Weekend, Day One

Ward 19 city council candidate Karen Sun led a Jane's Walk near Stanley Park in Toronto, Ontario on 1-May-2009

TORONTO, ONTARIO - This week's update to my photo site begins coverage of Jane's Walk weekend. The walking season opens each year with Jane's Walk weekend, with 120 walks across the Toronto, Ontario area. I only managed to make six; on Saturday, 1-May-2010, these were Garrison Creek led by Karen Sun, pedestrian infrastructure led by Dylan Reid, and the Grange Park neighbourhood led by Max Allen.

Culture: When Songs Become Culture

TORONTO, ONTARIO - There are moments when one realizes that a song has become not just a pop hit, but a part of the culture of the times. When then-presidential candidate General Wesley Clark claimed to listen to OutKast, "Hey Ya" moved from crossover break-out to cultural icon of the time. When U2 performed "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out of" in the secretive post-September 11th concert in 2001, despite the fact that it was actually about suicide, it became the song symbolic of the time after the terrorist attack, more important than its modest commercial success would imply.

I take more stock of more casual moments to realize that a song has "made it" beyond the radio. Once, in spring 2003, while riding a local train near Zurich, Switzerland, a pair of teenage girls boarded the train, started horsing around, and one exclaimed, "Chihuahua!" At that point, I knew the hit by Swiss German rapper DJ BoBo (from whom, I oddly have only two degrees of separation) used in a Coca-Cola campaign had become at least a Swiss cultural phenomenon. (It never made it in North America outside of the owners of that breed.) When I was walking down Dundas Street West in Toronto in the summer of 2006 and heard Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" coming out of two different car radios not in simulcast, I knew that song had become the symbolic song of that summer and the World Cup soccer tournament ongoing at the time, as each car was flying a flag of their favored national team.

I had another of those moments yesterday. While walking down a very low-traffic street in my neighbourhood, returning after a Jane's Walk, I passed a family playing in their front yard. As two children circled after one another, seemingly chasing one another, the mother sang out loudly, "When I get older..." Immediately recognizing the tune, I sang back, "I will be stronger..." and then one of the children completed the phrase "They'll call me freedom, just like a wavin' flag" before breaking up in giggles while rolling on the lawn.

These, of course are the opening lyrics of K'naan's "Wavin' Flag", which had long-since became a global phenomenon when it was selected as the song for the 2010 World Cup, as discussed last week. Yet, in my mind, that moment yesterday will be the moment that the song became something more than pop music, a cultural touchstone of 2010.

Margin Notes: Walks, Buses, Robin Hood

Madeleine McDowell (with library bag) led a nearly 100-person group on her Jane's Walk through the "Laneways of Runnymede" in Toronto, Ontario on 2-May-2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO - After six Jane's Walks and at least thirty kilometers by foot, I've pretty much expended all the energy I have for this weekend. Interestingly, the first walk I went on Saturday morning began at Christie Pits Park and the last walk I went on Sunday evening ended at Christie Pits Park, lending some symmetry to the experience.

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There were a lot of references to divine interventions by Jane Jacobs over the course of the weekend. One has to wonder if she had anything to do with the fact that the first time I took transit this weekend, avoiding a trek downtown to attend a "Skyscrapers of the Financial District" walk, the subway was shut down. Decide not to walk somewhere, and see what happens. With clever detouring, I was only five minutes late to the walk.

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I never did ride a bus all weekend, but I discovered that I had not been paying much attention to the bus fan web sites. I was surprised to see diesel Orion VII "Next Generation" buses, numbered in the 8100-series, running on the 29 Dufferin route. The 2010 order for 120 low-emissions diesel buses is well underway.

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Spring colors were still readily visible at High Park in Toronto, Ontario on 29-April-2010

I didn't walk through High Park during the weekend, but I was there earlier in the week to find the Japanese Cherry Blossoms gone, but still plenty of spring colors to observe as seen above.

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One might find Robin Hood not out of place in High Park, but instead I found people dressed as Robin Hood in Union Station. They were there to support a tax on banks known as the Robin Hood Tax. The group behind it, called At The Table 2010, has a surprisingly wide set of progressive groups behind it, likely explaining how they could afford to be lobbying in Union Station.

Radio Pick: Barbara Budd Tribute

TORONTO, ONTARIO - There wasn't much question what the weekly radio pick would be this week. The importance of acting skills to making quality radio, in particular for news shows, is often overlooked. In their 30-minute tribute to outgoing co-host Barbara Budd, the CBC show "As It Happens" managed to present a variety of examples of how Budd used her skills to create exceptional radio.

Listen to streaming MP3 of As It Happens "Barbara Budd Tribute"

Politics: One of Jane's Legacies

Max Allen spoke during a Jane's Walk at Grange Park in Toronto, Ontario on 1-May-2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO - This weekend, all over the world, people are remembering the legacy of urbanist Jane Jacobs by participating in Jane's Walks. Toronto, Jacobs' chosen home and the origin of the Jane's Walk just three years ago, will have 120 mostly neighbourhood-based walks to partake in this weekend. I managed to participate in only three today.

One of the delightful things about Jane's Walks is that one never knows what one will learn. From a possible renaming of Harbord Park to what kind of pedestrian signal activation is preferred by the city of Toronto (PS2MVG--I'll get around to explaining that in some future post) to the fact that Grange Park is actually owned by the Art Gallery of Ontario, there were a multitude of interesting facts that I would not have otherwise learned had I not gone on these walks today.

The most unexpected revelation came during the "360 Degrees: Grange Park as a Time Machine" walk in the evening with local resident association chairman Max Allen. In the course of explaining how the Ontario College of Art and Design's famous stilted building, he launched into an explanation of how development is normally accomplished in Toronto, and then went into a sidebar on how Toronto Ward 20 Councillor Adam Vaughan has tried to change it.

I had heard about the standard process plenty of times before, which could be summarized as back-room dealing between the local councillor and the developer usually leading to the local residents going before the Ontario Municipal Board in an attempt to stop the project. I hadn't heard that Vaughn decided that was all backward, and tried to change it. Rather than cutting a deal with the developer himself, he forces a community meeting and public buy-in before he will endorse the project. What usually happens is that the residents don't outright reject the proposal, but tell the developer to go back and do it better, and then they go and do it. The improved design is not only accepted by neighbours, but tends to be more attractive and thus sells better for the developer. Why don't developers do this by default? In the opinion of Allen, it's because they were never asked to before. When they are so challenged, architects usually love the chance to do something interesting.

Jane Jacobs fought to establish livable communities. If Max Allen is correct, Adam Vaughan has stumbled on one way to help make that happen, and it is as simple as deviating from the normal development process to get public input earlier.

Jane's Walks continue tomorrow, in cities all over the world; see the official website to find out if there are any where you are located.

Media: She's Really Gone?

TORONTO, ONTARIO - It hasn't sunk in yet. Barbara Budd's last night as co-host of As It Happens, the flagship CBC Radio One newsmagazine on weeknights, was tonight. Never again will we get to hear her distinct voice telling us the distance to Reading or that we have reached the dance portion of the program.

When I moved to Canada, one of my new co-workers tried to tell me that the "CBC had no 'names' amongst its hosts." "Are you kidding me?" I replied, "Barbara Budd is not a 'name'?" She was certainly a name to public radio listeners in the United States, at least in the relatively few markets that ran "As It Happens." To us, the quirkiness of the show was embodied in Budd herself, especially as she lent stability to the broadcast as co-hosts moved on to other assignments.

As discussed previously, Budd didn't leave the show voluntarily after 17 years, she was fired by the CBC as they move to replace announcers with journalists. The problem with that philosophy is that good radio is all about story-telling. Journalists certainly can tell stories, but when the task is also about stringing disparate stories together, I'd rather have a actor take on the task.

The reason Barbara Budd is a 'name' and is so beloved to her listeners is that she guided us through the serious and absurd stories of the day, providing the glue throughout a presentation that was appointment radio, informing and entertaining a nation. Apparently, the CBC is so focused on quality journalism that it has discounted the role of an announcer like Budd in creating good radio.

I suppose we'll still get to hear Budd's voice on occasion on the broadcast. Much as predecessor Alan Maitland's "The Shepherd" is played each year on Christmas Eve, we'll likely be treated to several repeat Budd readings each year. It won't be the same, though. I hope Barbara Budd finds a more lucrative position where she is appreciated now. I may not have been listening for 17 years, but I have been listening long enough to understand what we are losing. Thank you, Barbara. You will be missed.

Railfanning: The Allure of the New

Nearly-new VIA Rail Canada F40PH-3 #6452 arrived in Toronto, Ontario as a trailing unit on the "Canadian" on 29-April-2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO - The railroad enthusiast (or railfan) community usually gets quite excited about new things, and communicates their discoveries quite widely. In the past two days, I've been informed twice about approaching new locomotives for passenger service in time to go see them. One of the first VIA Rail Canada F40PH-3's, a rebuilt version of the F40PH-2's that VIA has used since 1986, returned to Toronto today on the transcontinental "Canadian" after a tour of crew bases across the country. Yesterday, two new GO Transit MP40PH-3C's, on delivery from MPI in Boise, Idaho, were noted at Lambton Yard in my neighbourhood as they made their way to GO's facility at Willowbrook Yard.


GO Transit MP40PH-3C's #631 and #632 sat nearly hidden in the Canadian Pacific's Lambton freight yards in Toronto, Ontario on 28-April-2010

Sometimes, there is good reason to be excited about new locomotives. Not only are they freshly painted and good looking--a rarity on modern North American railroads--but they may be undergoing acceptance testing. They may be used in ways that they will not for the remainder of their careers, and in some cases, they may prove to be so unsuccessful that they will not last very long and be disposed of, never to be seen in their original form again.

Yet, that's not likely to be the case in these situations. GO already has its original order of 27 MP40PH-3C's in regular service; this additional order of 20 will simply retire older F59PH's. There's no doubt that the new units will just go into commuter service. The F40PH-3's have been well-tested in service out of Montreal; the first one, the 6400, was different and is unlikely to be rebuilt after a recent wreck, but the production units like the 6452 which arrived yesterday will simply take the place of the unrebuilt F40PH-2's until there are none left.


In a sight not expected to be seen with these units again, GO Transit MP40PH-3C's #630, #631, and #632 crossed the Humber River in Toronto, Ontario in Canadian Pacific freight train #244 on 21-April-2010

I'm usually more interested in the locomotives that the new ones are about to replace. The new ones will be around for years, but the ones they replace will likely become extinct, or at least radically change in duties. In this case, that means GO Transit F59PH's and VIA Rail Canada F40PH-2's. Any chance to take pictures of those units will be taken very seriously until they are gone. By some accounts, that will occur at the end of 2010 for the F59PH's; if VIA's plans are executed, it will occur by the end of 2011 for the F40PH-2's.

"Shoot'em when they are new" and "shoot'em before they are gone" are sometimes competing mantras among rail photographers. In times like these, I am inclined toward the latter.