E Bikes are the Cat's Meow!

An e-bike is to cycling and mobility what the vote is to freedom and democracy...they both enable people!

An E-Bike is a  2 or 3- wheeled bike with bike gears and brakes that can be pedaled like a regular cycle but that also provides you with a battery-powered motor that'll help you when you need it. Millions of e-bikes are in operation around the world. They may seem new to us in Canada, but they are firmly entrenched in most European and Asian countries and pretty well every where else in the world. Some are classic bicycles, others look more like a motor scooter; I am opining about the former.

E-bikes are safe; they are accepted by people young and old; their performance is proven on city streets, bike trails and pathways and even in factory settings. They are reliable enough that police and emergency workers ride them in many communities. They are convenient; parking is free in most areas. You can ride them (almost!)* anywhere you can ride a pedal-only bike. You do not need a driver's test or licence to ride. You do not need vehicle registration and plates. You do not need liability insurance. Some models fold up for easy storage in apartments, condos, boats and RVs. Other models fit on a bike rack comfortably so they can go with you to town, or camping or to Florida. With ever-better Lithium batteries they have "legs;' you can get up to 60 kms on one charge. Best of all, they're cleaner and greener than motor scooters. And, they are price competitive with middle to upper end pedal-only bikes. 

* There are in my neck of the woods, some trail snobs who continue to deny e-bike riders (some e-bike needers) the legal permission to ride the extensive trail system around my hometown. They can walk or run their huge dogs, race around on their multi-speed titanium road bikes, but an older person who needs a little lift can't ride their bikes on the trails. Wake up eh.

Admiral Place Collingwood

Many want to debate whether the development should be treated as a heritage property; be it yes or no, this is not the important point. Mark Krause’s (Espresso Post)  comment at the meeting was right on; the new facility - whatever it’s density and height -  is replacing something special…something that people would have wanted to see and when inside, imagine and be at one with. The least we can do is make sure that it is replaced with something that itself is special.  If we all argue about process and regulation, we’ll lose sight of the fact that the town NEEDS something special there.

And by special, I mean special looking, something that oozes the history of the town and begs people to “come on in” to the greatest little downtown in Ontario. It must be a (good) siren on the shores of the main street.

When I look down Hurontario there are lots of buildings that breathe warmth…but there are far too many that are non-descript, unspecial and not looking like they belong in an historic district at all. They just look new…they just don’t have heritage in their DNA.

As cases in point….Loblaw is just a big building with little character, particularly the fort-like wall along 1^st street. Take a look too at the RBC Plaza, the Scotiabank building, Macs and Sporting Life, the Collingwood Plaza the add-on to 158 and I could go on. The new Library is highly functional but not a “special” building…it is neither warm nor inviting. It pales beside the Tremont which looks like – and really is – a heritage building. Why can’t we make structure that really fits with the older stuff that we want to celebrate? 

On the subject of density, the more people that live downtown the better. So…let it be what it needs to be to make the development economic…too few units and we miss out on attracting some great families and downtown customers; but too many and we’ll have an economic disaster for the developer and initial buyers. To those who seem to feel strongly about height and think that 3 stories is economic, I say…let them put their money on the table and finance the development. Those who are putting skin in the game should be the primary assessors of what the marketplace needs and will support.

So, the issue is look and feel. That should be it. Forget how we get there procedurally…just work together…Council, the developer and “us folks”…to make sure that we (all) get something special. 

I am not convinced that the proposed design is the best it can be; it’s not the height…it’s not the density…it is the look and feel. It looks new; it feels like Big City; it is not a series of 5 buildings as the architect stated at the meeting (which sounded good). The next iteration of the design just needs some more creativity. Mr. Architect, let’s make it look warm and inviting… provide for a mural or two…give it some relief from the army of (new) bricks along Hurontario in the current design… make it look like a multi-story Tremont on steroids… make it look a bit like a school! I’d bet if you do the people will love it, visit it, shop there, move in and  just feel special being there as part of our great downtown.