You drive what you are, part two

Dad has started biking to work – about time! Being nice and Prairie flat, Regina should be an obvious place for bike commuting. The City only just started putting together a commuting cycling system a year ago, but the streets are simple and wide enough that bike routes are really more to remind people about bikes on the road, than actually providing infrastructure that makes cycling faster or easier (like bike-controlled traffic lights and left-turn lanes, for example).

He still has to take Mum to work in the morning sometimes, so the car gets out about half the time. Which is probably “optimal”, between the bike and the car – you’re still paying for the car insurance and maintenance after all, and you do have to run the car every so often to keep the lines clean and pistons lubricated (or whatever it is that needs to be clean and lubricated, I don’t know) so you kind of feel compelled to use it at least a little.

He rides a Gary Fisher Tiburon, an aluminium 21-speed hybrid, complete with front shocks and suspension seatpost. It’s a different ride from my Kona Smoke – his 700c wheels are a bit bigger, so it seems a little faster, and with the suspension the ride is a little “cushier”. Maybe it’s just my posture, but I think his seat position is a bit more relaxed and upright, perfect for surveying the traffic around. His saddle is a Bontrager “Suburbia” – how appropriate!

Riding my bike over the same path, ruts are definitely more jarring though I still find my steel frame and 26″ wheels smoother over flat pavement. I’m bent a bit further forward – from where I’m sitting, I need to consciously sit straight up to get the same street view as on the Tiburon, though for getting over hills, it feels more natural to be a bit forward. I guess I’m still tuned for my Victoria commute. Style-wise his Tiburon has the fancy racing waves and stripes beating my plain matte black frame, but I actually like the simplicity better. Whatever floats my boat, I guess.

My brother, however, will have none of this cycling nonsense – not when he just got his new baby, an Acura CSX

I didn’t get a chance to try it, though I did get to drool over its futuristic sweeping lines, bling-bling LED display and navigation screen, and the cute yet useful factory-equipped Acura first aid kit in the trunk. You can get a sense of our different personalities by what we drive; “you drive what you are”, after all. My Rabbit – “doesn’t look like much” – vs his CSX – “it exudes quality and luxury… it has a lot of class”. I guess that pretty much says it. Technically my 2.5L 150hp 170ftlb beats his 2.0L 155hp 139ftlb, but, as he says, “Well, I’m going to drive out now and see my girlfriend. What are you doing?”

Touché.

Regina

Back in the ‘gina. Last time I was here they were still hard at work at decentralising everything away from Downtown – business, shopping, entertainment, dining, anything that might be a draw. Looks like it’s coming along: Victoria Av E is the city’s new “restaurant destination” – by design, pulling people away from Downtown and the rest of the city. One of the new restauranteurs welcomes the change

The more competitors that locate out here, the more it creates a restaurant destination. When that happens you’re more likely to draw from all over the city. We’re already seeing that in what our competitors are doing

There’s our new Chili’s – patio overlooking Vic Av E and the Husky Car/Truck stop. Sweet

There’s also a new TCU bank – real stone and back-lit glass!

It’s got to be the only bank left in Canada that actually builds its own buildings. Back in the day (eg, the Gold Rush) no self-respecting bank would transact in anything less than a free-standing marble-columned stained-glass temple to the virtues of wealth and saving – the building was a symbol of strength and trust, that the bank wouldn’t just collapse overnight (as many Gold Rush banks would). But today? I do my banking at a rented branch in a strip mall, next to a porn store.

Decentralising the essentials complements the de-urbanising the Downtown, making room for more parking lots and low-rise office plazas that befit a modern, sprawling city, eager to make its mark (literally) on the Prairie horizon, spread out in sheer leisure and decadence, and pave the plains into submission. No tall, crowded brick-faced peaked-roof gargoyle-topped sidewalk storefronts here – no sir, that would be living in the past, so anachronistic. Here, only the newest stucco’ed slabs, with plenty of parking in front, all the comforts of the suburban boxes Reginans know and love! None of those frills, like sidewalk shopping and patios and terrasses other Downtowns waste their time on. This is a booming economy, after all – better build cheap and fast, and cash in while it lasts!

So, one year later – welcome to Downtown. We’ve got parking!

On the lot for visitors, right in front – because putting the parking underground, or in the back, or behind some trees, would be too confusing. Workers get their own garage: solid block concrete to protect the precious contents within (ie cars, and the fuel they contain) and camouflaged to distract passersby. The coloured wavy pattern pacifies deviants and anachronists who claim something about “greenspace” and art being essential to city living

Seriously though, now that the building’s done I think Regina’s picked up on the crap they’ve let slide, and now they’re doing the best they can to salvage the mess. I’m told they’re planning to put some trees along the front, and pull off some 3D landscape trompe l’oeil effect. Putting lipstick on the pig, as it were – still a pig, but hey, the city still has no design oversight standards. You can’t expect too much from Regina.

Things are looking up though. They are starting to think about good design – not nearly as self-aware, -reflective or -critical as Ottawa yet, but at least they’ve come up with a new Downtown plan that isn’t just “more parking”

Wow – does that say “Walk to Work”?! What a concept! They’re also thinking about cycling now too

and building a new bus station Downtown helps make alternatives to air travel more attractive and convenient

There’s at least a little landscaping now around the many gravel car parks

and a few public spaces – here, a reclaimed back alley

and even a full-on restoration project – lucky, it’s one of the only pre-war buildings left

And the free wireless Internet might help Downtown cafés and restaurants get an edge over the suburban spots

And, despite Regina’s suburban restaurant focus, there’s still new places opening up Downtown. A Thai restaurant – Regina’s Asian cuisine scene is now 2G! (“G”s roughly matching the waves of immigration leading to critical masses of ethnic groups – 1G being Chinese (or “Chinese-Canadian”); 2G Thai, Japanese, Vietnamese, etc; 3G Cambodian, Mongolian, etc.)

It was lunch time, and the place was reassuringly packed, all twenty or so seats taken, and another dozen takeaway people being tortured watching us eat as they wait. Which would definitely be worth it

So maybe there’s still hope yet. I even finally got a reply to a letter I wrote way, way back about Regina’s street sign mess – for some reason, they always made a mix between ALL CAPS and normal text, and played around with their abbreviations willy-nilly

so I wrote a letter and showed how it’s supposed to be

and voilà, problem solved – or at least, prevented in future

DS – where are you? We need to meet up!