Living in the city

Suburban families enjoy the neighbourhood toboggan hill.

I've kept my granddaughter away from 'the hill.' It doesn't frighten her; It attracts her. I see the threat of injury; She sees the promise of fun — excitement. I'm a senior; She's a kid — a three-year-old kid.

'The hill' is a slope behind the houses immediately across from my suburban home. My granddaughter sometimes sees families leaving 'the hill' after an afternoon of sledding. She knows other kids use the long slope and doesn't understand why I won't take her there.

It frightens me. And after chatting with some of the parents, I've learned it frightens some of them, too. One common solution is to take the kids to the half-way point, or maybe a little further down, and let them slide down from there.

Most kids don't argue and I think some are quietly happy not to have to muster up the courage to slide down 'the hill' from the very top. It can be a heck of a ride.

Cold and snowy but spring is in the air

It is still quite cold in London, Ontario. The ground is still hidden under a blanket of snow. Yet, to someone who has lived his entire life in Southwestern Ontario, spring is in the air. The sun is strong and warm, it is no longer dark at six in the evening and warm days don't seem like a lucky breaks from winter cold but a sample of the warm spring days to come.

In less than a month Londoners will begin removing their snow tires and the first robins will be bathing in the bird bath which is now quite frozen.

Modern apartment tower cluster in London

After developments like the Pruitt-Igoe housing project in St. Louis failed in such a spectacular fashion, a myth grew up around vertical neighbourhoods. In the States the failed clusters became known as the projects and the most infamous have now either been demolished or soon will be: Pruitt-Igoe is demolished; Cabrini-Green in Chicago is gone; Brewster-Douglass in Detroit is slated for removal this year.

There are those who believe the death of the American projects sounded the death knell for modern architecture as it applied to housing. Nothing could be farther from the truth. In fact, despite the myth, all three of the developments mentioned were good places to live in the early years.

The developments in London are not unique. All over the world highrise neighbourhoods have succeeded. Still, I look at these buildings, so alike, huddled so tightly together, and I cannot help but think -- surely this could have been done so much better.

Mid-winter snow storm moves through London

A walk about my London neighbourhood did not find one car stuck in the snow.

It was billed as a big, mid-snow storm storm. So far it has not lived up to its advance billing.

It will be interesting to see how the media reports the storm. For instance, the OPP are reporting a lot of accidents, about 150, but they also add that there was no reason for such a high number. This may be Canada, famous for snow, but lots of Canadians haven't a clue how to drive in the stuff.

It is amazing how many Canadians don't bother with snow tires.

Snow hardly reaches the kid's knees.

No sled? There are still ways to get in a good slide.

Swings and slides are found in numerous neighbourhood parks dotting London, Ontario. One would think that winter would be down-time for the little parkettes. Nope.

While Fiona cleaned the slide with her snow suit, another child, sitting in a sled, was being pulled about the park by her mother and grandmother. It's funny but urban planners never make a big deal of these busy little spots. Places where children meet children and adults meet adults. Neighbourhood friendships are born and nurtured in these little parks.

Braywick Bistro in the urban core

The Braywick Bistro is a pleasant little restaurant on London's main street right in the heart of the downtown core. Taking pictures inside the restaurant at night, unless one uses a flash, is impossible. This is too bad as I would have loved to post pictures of our dinner.

We started by sharing an appetizer of mussels in a saffron sauce with a side order of hot, crispy, fried-to-perfection french fries. It brought back memories of Paris, France, where there is a chain of mussel-serving restaurants called Chez Léon. Other dishes are served but mussels with fries are the big draw. The serving size in Paris is far larger than anyone should ever be given. I found the only way to finish one's dinner in Paris was by washing all down with pints of Belgium beer.

My wife followed the appetizer with duck served with fingerling potatoes and fresh green beans. I had pan fried trout served on a bed of couscous and arugula. My wife had dessert and I finished with a coffee.

We live in the suburbs and like to dine at restaurants in the area where we live. I found it interesting that all the restaurants we frequent in Byron were full, unable to handle even one more reservation.

It takes less than fifteen minutes to drive from my far, southwest suburb into the city core. With a diesel powered Jetta it costs about a buck an half to make the trip. Why folk are always pitting the London suburbs against the old downtown core is a puzzle to me. It really should not be an either or situation.

Cities, at least small cities like London, should be working to stay small, to stop the sprawl and to improve transit. A hundred years ago, I believe, one could have taken a streetcar from my suburb to the downtown. Today, this is impossible; The streetcar service is long gone.

Another approach to dense housing

Clusters of low-rise apartment building in the above style are found in a number of locations in London, Ontario.

I watched some of these going up in North London. I was surprised to see what appeared to be a form of platform construction being used. Platform construction uses 2x4s. It is lumber and not steel that supports these buildings.

I worked at the local newspaper back then and I had a chance to chat with a fireman about the buildings in North London. He expressed misgivings about such large structures, housing so many people, boasting wood framed walls.

The science of building materials is often at odds with our gut feelings. I would not be surprised to learn that these buildings, despite the wood used in the construction, are as safe in a fire as other low-rise apartment buildings.