Walkcast

As Edmonton prepares to look at its snow and ice clearing policies, we catch up with two people who hope things change.

Giselle General came to Canada from the Philippines. But while many people told her how bad winter here would be, they didn't tell her how to walk. Some interesting things happened as a result.

In act two we talk with Bean Gill, who runs ReYu Paralysis Recovery Centre in Edmonton. Bean lost her ability to walk about six years ago. Rolling around in the snow has changed her perspective on where cities lose the plot on accessibility.

As Edmonton councillors prepare to inspect the city's latest Vision Zero report we catch up with two people who have lost faith in the project.

Jane Cardillo and Steve Finkelman lost their son, David, after a driver struck him in a crosswalk on Whyte Avenue in 2014. They were powerful advocates for Vision Zero.

But now, four years later, after few results and what they describe as a reticence to rock the boat, they say they are disillusioned with Edmonton's implementation of Vision Zero. They hope a private group takes it away from the city.

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"When the LRT came to our neighbourhood, it was designed for an arena and a mall," says Scott Rollans, a resident of Central McDougall in Edmonton.

In episode eight we ponder how that happened. Just who is LRT for? Is it for things and for people with money? Or is it for people who are on their feet and need transportation options?

Edmonton recently built a $655M LRT called the Metro Line right through Central McDougall. The line famous for all the wrong reasons, the main one being its signals do not work and that's messing up the rest of the city's system. But beyond that, for residents of Central McDougall, it's famous for rolling through without stopping.

The episode references a story by @estolte. Here's the link (http://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/edmontons-top-10-neighbourhoods-might-be-unexpected-gems-u-of-a-students)

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In episode seven we explore the intersection of walkability and accessibility on the still wintery streets of Calgary.

Blogger and Twitter phenom Mike Morrison (@mikesbloggity) takes us for a walk and shows us just how bad snow clearing is on his city's sidewalks and pedestrian spaces.

Morrison says he never thought about snow and sidewalks until he met a friend in a wheelchair, who struggles to get to work throughout winter. Now, Morrison can't see anything but problems whenever he goes for a walk. And he's calling for change.

** Apologies for some wind rustle. A chinook was rolling in the day we taped the episode.

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Urban LRT is supposed to revitalize neighbourhoods and put walkers first. So what does it mean when one resident along a future line in Edmonton says the design discussion is being driven by the concerns of motorists?

Rather than scream and throw accusations, Julie Kusiek and her group worked tirelessly to keep it positive and get their city to rebuild their streets to be more walkable and livable. Their approach could be the blueprint for how to get results.

In episode four we explore the theme of getting lost.

First we meet Edmonton’s pedway "rat" and get lost with him—literally—in a mall, thanks to poor wayfinding. Thankfully we had some extra cheese.

Next, we explore lost ambitions as we ride an LRT line back in time.

In 1978, Edmonton built commuter rail into its northeast suburbs and dreamed of transit-oriented development (TOD) stacked beside the rails. Then, well, not much happened. Today, the original line is a story of ugly storage yards and industrial wastelands, not housing. We ask: How did one of Canada’s fastest growing—and sprawling—cities forget to build TOD?

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Journalist Tim Querengesser goes on a walk in Edmonton with Dr. Karen Lee (www.drkarenlee.com). Lee helped re-design Times Square in New York for pedestrians. And business boomed as a result. Lee is from Edmonton and her parents live in the city. How does she feel about walkability in their neighbourhood? "I worry," she says.

* Thanks to SoundBible for some royalty-free sound clips

** Apologies for some poor audio quality — it was windy while we walked and I had to crank the mic sensitivity to compensate.

In episode two we speak with Dr. Darren Markland about the way we talk about drivers who hit (and often kill) pedestrians on our roads.

"If you want to kill somebody, you get into a car — because you can be assured you won't be charged with anything more than a minor driving fine," Markland says. "I think we really need to take away the blinders."

Journalist Tim Querengesser goes on a walk in Edmonton with urbanist academic Kurt Borth (@kurt_borth) to talk about the theory of location efficiency. He also catches up with an Edmonton hotelier who's invested in a new hotel in what should be the city's most walkable neighbourhood, thanks to a $50M new street. But things didn't turn out so walkable.