City Hall yells "Kill the Street!"

Sparks Street, 1909

Public space, Marshall Berman has noted, has the urgent quality of a common terrain where "men and woman can come together to heal their inner wounds" (186: 476), where strangers can articulate their differences, and where people "can begin to deal with the contradictions of urban life and potentially work them out (1986: 477).” For Berman, the right to public space is implicit in basic democratic rights, and a key aspect of the transformative aspect of liberal individualism. An ideal public space includes access for all, a place where strangers can mingle, is attraction to all, has plenty of exit routes and has no visible police. Street life, Berman insists is key to the creativity of the city: fun, theatrical display, dance, are all part of the structural transformation of everyday life.

This celebration of street life, somewhat romanticized by Berman’s incessant belief in the redeemable qualities of bourgeois urban life, has, since the emergence of Jane Jacobs fabulous critique of the concrete modernization of the post-war urbanization, become the key anchor of principles of urban planning.

Last week, the City of Ottawa demonstrated its complete ineptitude in making this city a truly walkable city – and its continued attempts to “kill the street.” Our civic-ly owned army for the propertied class, the Ottawa Police Service, undertook a pedestrian sweep. Yes, the coppers targeted those damn pesky and dangerous pedestrians with a blitz. The crime, jaywalking! The coppers issued 108 tickets to those purveyors of evil disobeying the crosswalk lights that run along Ottawa’s ONLY pedestrian street. How dare they think they might once have the right to own a whole street!

Now as you might gather, this irks me for several reasons.

What the he-double hockey sticks? Don’t the cops have something better to do? In the last budget debate the OPS was crying so poor it got a whopping increase in their budget, no questions asked, thank you very much. Now, surely, they must have some excess staff if they are able to spend a day issuing tickets to the most vulnerable users on the transportation ladder (Cars-Transit-Pedestrians). It makes you wonder how much the City actually cares about pedestrians and transit? While the coppers get a huge cash infusion, and take liberty to target pedestrians, transit users, some of the poorest of users, faced a massive fare increase. Are you as confused as I am about the City's priorities? Really, if the Cops are that bored, what about tagging those damn cars always blocking the crosswalks?

Now on a more serious, and disturbing tone. The OPS, faced with massive backlash, noted that the order to target pedestrians came straight from the Mayor’s office (Larry O’ denies this, but considering he is under trial for paying off a rival I will not give him the benefit of the doubt, and yikes, will believe the cops instead). Either way, someone had a brain cramp.

Here is my tow-bit theory. Probably the Mayor was driving (so ecologique, M. le Maire…) from the Daly Prison for Rich People, when he was made late for a meeting with his defense lawyer since his Gold Gaz-Guzzling Mercedes (GGGM) was blocked from its zero-mission by a jaywalker. Our revanchist Mayor, delayed on important duty, called out his henchmen (i.e. le cops) to target those damn obstacles to a modern city. Bravo, M. le Maire!

As Berman has noted, public space is only open if it "engenders encounters between people of different classes, races, ages, religions, ideologies, cultures and stances towards life" (1986: 484). I urge the Mayor to fix the brain cramp at City Hall. Perhaps cut back on using Mr. Clean on your head, it might clear your thinking. Or try reading something other text on urban life than the “Transforming Governance” blueprint. I suggest All that is solid melt into air… Mabye then you'll ditch the GGGM and embrace city life, with all its contradictions...