Reclaiming The Streets
Why You Should Bike (or Walk) Places With Your Kids
I seem to remember the streets being a lot safer when I was a kid.
Now, that could very well be because I was a kid and unburdened by the anxieties that I now carry as the parent of two children; but I’m pretty sure my parents didn’t think much of it when I jumped on my bike and took off to a friend’s house or the bulk candy store or just to go ride down the hill a few neighbourhoods over. I mean, I’m sure they cared for my general safety and wellbeing but it just seemed more normal for kids to be out playing in the streets in the 90s.1 Plus, they didn’t have to drive me everywhere because I was able to get around on my own — and that is what I want to spend some time thinking about in this post.
A few quick notes:
This isn’t to suggest that cars weren’t a concern when I was kid — they were. I remember having to jump off my bike and into a ditch once to avoid getting hit in an intersection.
This isn’t just about quiet neighbourhoods either. For part of my childhood (ages 8-10) we lived on the main road that brought trucks and traffic into town. I still remember playing, walking, and biking on the very narrow sidewalks.
This isn’t a post complaining about “kids these days” 👴🏻 or helicopter parenting styles. Our streets are less safe and I think there are genuine reasons to be anxious about letting kids be out on and around them.
What I am suggesting is that we — as a culture — have embraced a car dependant approach to our lives that has changed our relationship to our streets and that a major consequence of this has been that kids are less safe on them than they used to be. Our vehicles are getting bigger, drivers are driving faster and more aggressively, and our communities are designed to advantage moving throughout them in our vehicles. There’s loads that could be said about all the reasons why car dependency is making everything worse2 but I want to keep my focus on the kids.
Specifically, I want to highlight the way this becomes a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy. As we have increasingly designed our public spaces (and yes, streets are public spaces) for cars rather than people, our kids have been pushed out (or rather, pushed inside). The less kids we see on the streets, the more drivers feel comfortable driving faster. Then whenever a kid does enter that space, it becomes their fault for being where they shouldn’t be. So rules and norms are established to keep kids off the streets, enabling drivers to continue to drive without caution. Yes, we say it’s to protect the kids but we’re really protecting something we care about more — our right to drive how, when, and where we want.
But this vicious cycle has come at a cost, our kids are being conditioned into car dependency before they can even drive. It’s no wonder they’re spending so much time inside.
Biking, as a kid, represented freedom. There was no greater feeling than jumping on my bike and knowing I was able to get around my community. It allowed me to know my community; and, crucially, it let the community know that I was a part of it as well (because I was seen). We’ve increasingly robbed them of this freedom and belonging by driving them everywhere. Driving them to school, to their friend’s houses, to the store, to church, to a local restaurant. Kids are experiencing their communities from the backseat and as a result are becoming less capable of navigating them safely themselves.
But, there is another way.
As my kids have gotten older I have become a major advocate for biking and walking places with them.3 Whether it’s going to school, a friend’s house, the library, or even out for dinner I try to increase the amount of time that they get to spend out on the street (sidewalks are a part of the street) and teach them how to get around safely and confidently. It’s been giving them a frame of reference for their community, they know where they live in relation to other places. It normalizes healthy activities and being outside. It also plays a vital role in reclaiming the streets for kids simply by being seen on them. Jane Jacobs famously described public spaces as being safe because people use them. It makes sense, people feel safer where other people are. It’s a concept she calls “eyes on the street.” We don’t make our streets safer by keeping people away from them. We make them safer by encouraging their multi-use purposes.
I love the concept of the street being a destination itself — as distinct from a road, which is a means to an end. As a kid, I was similarly fascinated by streets. I didn’t have any of this language but I knew that I loved being out on them, getting to know them. By age 10 or 11 I had biked my entire town all by myself, there was no neighbourhood I had not explored. I had my own library card and would bike downtown to get my own books. I had an allowance that I could use to go get candy or baseball cards. I was able to do all of that because I felt like I belonged on our streets. I want my kids to have those same opportunities.
Resisting car dependency is not about a war on cars, as some have tried to paint it. It’s about offering choice and freedom, and most importantly, it’s about advocating for our kids to have the right to be seen and move about our public spaces safely.4 It’s been reasonably well documented how our car dependent suburbias have had the most negative impacts on kids and the elderly.5 By reclaiming our streets we can take active steps to improving life for some of our most vulnerable community members.
A common question in environmental activism is what can I really do about it? Believe it or not, this is a small form of everyday activism you can do — and get your kids involved in it as well. It doesn’t take much, just a commitment to make a few less trips by car and a few more by bike or foot.
Weekly News Digest - “The Blowhole”
Here are some emerging stories and events that we think are relevant to our region.
Ford won't rule out opening up more 'so-called' Greenbelt lands for development. We’ve been concerned that more land swaps in order to develop on Greenbelt land would be coming.
There are several townhalls happening over the coming weeks on the Bradford Bypass. Consider attending one and having your voice heard.
Why We Won’t Raise Our Kids in Suburbia (video). Great video that touches on many of the things written about in today’s post.
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I don’t think this is nostalgia bias or anything. There has been a steep decline in kids playing outside with each successive generation. I’m sure my parents were outside significantly more than I was and with less structure or supervision. My dad told me his brother fell through the ice in a river once and was pulled downstream and popped up in another spot. He was okay but there were no adults around or even aware of what they were doing.
If you’re at all interested in engaging on this subject (even if you disagree with it) I highly recommend checking out Daniel Knowles new book, Carmageddon. I read it recently and I’m seriously considering giving a copy for every birthday gift this coming year.
There is also the huge benefit of promoting modes of transportation that challenge our reliance on fossil fuels. This being an environmentally focused newsletter, I don’t want to overlook that. By walking and biking places with our kids we are a) cutting down on short trips in our vehicles; and b) normalizing emissions free travel with our kids.
There are various factors contributing to this there have been studies showing higher depression rates in suburbia and exploring how our built environments can affect loneliness. When we build our communities around driving we maybe have failed to consider the cost on those who are unable to drive.