clarification
I didn’t do a good job of explaining my concern of putting wireless in parcs. I appreciate the local citizens’s and the local busines community’s desires to solve the problem of public spaces not being used by some segments of the population because other segments are using them in ways that repell them. I would work for the same thing (making the parc comfortable for families and consumers, etc) if I lived in the area. However, what concerns me is the way this issue it is normally phrased in duplicite terms like sanitizing “cleaning the parc up” or “making the parc safer” when cleanliness and safety aren’t really the issues. The real issue is “them”.
It’s not a really big deal for ISF right now - because we don’t cover that many open public spaces (ie: not cafes or community centers) - but I want to make sure that we don’t simply follow the goals of Business because they have more resources. Here’s the deal - I’m going to keep pluging away trying to get somewhere with the local orgs that represent the homeless (see if we can figure out any modifications of the way we implement networks) and if you guys have any ideas on how we could be fulfilling our mandates while being more respectful of marginalized groups you can let us know.
April 25th, 2005 at 11:03 am
mike in an interesting wrinkle, cabot square is putting up a series of historical pannels (i assume old photos + text about the history of the hood). there was a “worry” that the “unsavoury” characters that make the park home (there are good numbers of drug addicts & alcohol abusers in the park, many from the inuit community) might deface the pannels.
Now, I share your worry about “cleaning up parks” meaning kicking out the bums. where are they supposed to go? If you’re goign to have puclic spaces, shouldn’t they be truly public? …
anyway, the interesting thing, and I hope some kind of positive step, was that the group putting up these pannels asked the inuit community to join the committee launching this initiative, apparently with great success. (I wondered if any of the pannels would talk about the native history of the area, answer was NO…)
Anyway, the point is that by including marginalized communities, who are after all in this case the most heavy users of the public space, in decision-making, you get a surprising positive result.
The liklihood of most marginalized groups using ISF services is pretty small, but getting them involved in the panning process in areas that affect them could be something interestin for everybody.
April 27th, 2005 at 5:35 pm
sorry hugh - I’ve thought about your entry but haven’t had the time to respond.
“If you’re goign to have puclic spaces, shouldn’t they be truly public? …” Not sure if I agree with you. I don’t think that “public” has some necessary tie to “freedom”. I think it is more tied to social norms. I don’t want to combat a rhetoric of “cleanliness” and “safety” with a rhetoric of “public” and “freedom”.
“The liklihood of most marginalized groups using ISF services is pretty small, but getting them involved in the panning process in areas that affect them could be something interestin for everybody.”
agreed. just gotta find the appropriate partners who represent the interest of these marginalized group.
and gotta find the time to do that :-\
April 29th, 2005 at 10:22 am
the question is “what are public spaces for?” if, for instance, they are “for” rich westmounters to have lunch in, then they are not very interesting (to me) as public spaces.
what should we do with the many in our cities who don’t conform to social norms, for whatever reason? My point is only that there needs to be some space for them too, and just “cleaning up” public spaces (meaning kicking out the bums) poses some questions about who gets to benefit from our projects, and who loses out.
October 6th, 2005 at 6:50 am
just as a reference: I just read http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:ZXhFp8-5nPIJ:www.ghm-mhg.mcgill.ca/publications/ppi/schmidt.html+%22Parks+in+Turn-of-the-Century+Montreal%22&hl=en
‘PRIVATE’ ACTS IN ‘PUBLIC’ SPACES: Parks in Turn-of-the-Century Montreal
Sarah Schmidt
November 6th, 2006 at 11:38 am
ionolsen40 Great website! Bookmarked! I am impressed at your work! www.wb55.com sad