Thursday, February 17, 2011
Step-By-Step
I move through Edmonton in a very orderly pattern. I always know my destination and how I plan to get there. Though there are times where this order is shaken, whether by a missed turn or wrong turn or the impossible construction detours, I tend to work my way towards the path I had planned on taking as quickly as possible. This is the case when I am both driving and walking, but is mostly a condition of my familiarity with the city. In other cities, I explore, that is, I don't know where I'm going or have a plan or path. If I knew the city I was exploring, I don't know whether or not I would follow a set path, but my guess is that I would. I have never considered moving against the city and/or have yet to feel that I move against it. I am not antagonistic, very passive. The only times I have ever considered going against the routine I described above is when I am frustrated with the conditions: traffic, construction, snow...I imagine that resisting the flow would be somewhat futile, and in the case of driving, most likely illegal. Is it not uncomfortable to fight the circulation of a city? If I want my path to loving this city to become any more difficult, I might consider doing such things. With that said, I am starting to consider that maybe resistance would just be making the city my own and might actually facillitate my love of the city...I don't know...When I walk, I walk. When I drive, I drive.
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I like how you pointed out that you've never necessarily thought or felt that you were moving against the city. It's interesting because I think in some aspects, we all move "against" the city in someway without really realizing it - when we stroll off of a designated path to take a shortcut home; when we decide to avoid the main highways during rush hour.
ReplyDeleteI think a large part of learning to love the city is to treat it for what it's worth. Edmonton is still growing and maybe later on, there will be "more" added to it that facilitate our love for it. For right now, it's not going to have all the cool shops and places that other cities may have; but we can appreciate what Edmonton does have now. I think a large part of learning to love the city is to not only acknowledge its (current) limitations, but to also embrace them and shed light onto what the city already has to offer.