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Frank Murphy |
It's about the space between the buildings.
Like you, I love cities. Always have. Nanaimo, British Columbia is home now and has been for about the last 20 years, preceded by about 25 years in Vancouver. I've lived in or gotten to know some great neighbourhoods in this country: Toronto's Kensington Market, Montreal's Main, Halifax' Spring Garden Road, Vancouver's Commercial Drive, Main Street and Strathcona/Chinatown.
In 2004 my wife and I and our daughter who was then completing her Bachelor of Education studies here at Vancouver Island University moved from a North Nanaimo suburb to the downtown "Old City", an isolated pocket of walkable urbanism in an expanse of sprawl, malls and busy arterial roads.
At that time the City was preparing for its 10 Year Official Community Plan Review. The "review" in fact was the formalizing by the City of its intent to eliminate the Plan's Urban Containment Boundary and greenlight low density subdivisions and big box retail and a fantasy destination golf course resort across the previously protected greenfields across the southern extremity of the city. Mercifully, none of these foolish fantasies were ever built, tho the Urban Containment Boundary is long gone. I decided then I should perhaps pay a little more attention to civic affairs.
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Title graphic and avatar from Curbside Haiku, a New York City Department of Transportation collaboration with artist John Morse that takes poetry to the streets via traffic safety signs throughout New York City.
www.stardogstudio.com. John Morse is an artist and writer who lives and works in Atlanta and New York City.