thinking through the beauty of abandoned spaces, and whatnot.
(moss graffiti by Edina Tokodi (and found on Inhabitat)…can we get some in Mile-End please?!)
Well, the Mile-End Citizen Committee is moving forward with its sub-committees, and it currently looks like there will be two of them (although I suspect another one or two will emerge out of these two).
One will focus on questions of ensuring that affordable living and working spaces continue to exist in the neighbourhood, for artists and (other) low-income families. This group will work in primarily two ways: 1) look for a building to buy collectively in order to manage this for artists; and, 2) as a collective, look for ways to organize longer leases, and at better prices so that artists have a bit more stability in their lives. Both of these primary directions will mean that this committe will be spending a lot of time investigating every nook and cranny in the neighbourhood to see what they can set aside for artists and those with lower incomes. And in fact, those who are on this committee have already been engaged in this work for some time.
The second committee right now has a whole bunch of goals under one roof. Namely:
1. green development in the sector
2. protect the field between De Gaspé and Henri-Julien
3. encourage and help the owners of the mega-structures to green and clean up their buildings
4. create a public space where Mile-Enders can come together informally and formally for any and all reasons
5. get a seasonal organic market going in the neighbourhood that would also highlight local artists and artisans
6. promote an environment that would encourage the growth of a truly local economy in sector St-Viateur Est.
7. create a space in the sector that would engage adolescents, preferably through sport and/or culture.
…anyway, I think that is it!
Sounds like a crazy big task for sub-committee number two, but like I mentioned, I think that group will soon divide into other smaller groups.
This eco-urbanism sub-committee will be meeting next week (Friday, it looks like) to talk specifically about just one part of this mandate: the field.
The Field
(this photo comes from our good friend Roger Latour at Flora Urbana, check out his blog, you won’t regret it).
It goes by many names: the field, le champ, Maguire Meadow, the CP land by the tracks … but it all amounts to Mile-End’s largest, and wildest green space. And a place that seems to inspire all kinds of strong feelings in residents.
Those who will be out next week are surely those who have positive feelings regarding this green space. Certainly there are others who have less positive feelings about this space, like the Laotians who live directly across from it and feel that it is frequented by a dangerous crowd at night, using hard drugs and getting up to no good. As well, some of the building owners that border the field have been said to be tired of having to fix broken windows and damaged goods due to this same unsavoury crowd.
Nonetheless, it is impossible to deny that in a quantitative sense this space is the biggest chunk of green in an otherwise concrete heavy neighbourhood.
(moss graffiti by Edina Tokodi (and found on Inhabitat)…can we get some in Mile-End please?!)
There will surely be many ideas for this space at the next meeting, but one of the things that we are going to be bringing forward is the idea that we need to look at this space not as a negative, or as a blank slate looking for a future utilitarian end. Instead, we think it should be considered as a space that is already carrying out incredibly important ecosystem functions that are beneficial to human and biodiversity health in the neighbourhood.
And more than this, we would like to stress that this particular field is not alone in Montreal, but is one of many such vital spaces. Part of our planning should be to help the city value these spaces for the ecosystem functions they are already carrying out (i.e., cleaning the air, providing corridors for plant and wildlife dispersal and migration, retaining stormwater run-off, etc.), as well as help them plan for ways to encourage greater diversity in these processes and the species richness accommodated.
And perhaps most importantly, we hope to help the city connect the dots in terms of linking these vacant or abandoned lots into a green corridor system across the entire island of Montreal that ties into other “official” green spaces, such as parks and eco-territories. (Oddly enough, these vacant lots are probably doing more for biodiversity and in terms of ecosystem functions than most “official” green spaces (such as Parc Outremont, for example).
Anyway, that is just one of our ideas that we are currently working on. The reason I bring it up is because I just came across this group called the Shrinking Cities Institute and a report they released that seems to be thinking in the same vein.
It’s all about valuing vacant lots! Check it out here.
I love that!
More soon…
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