To the Woman I Met at the Mall on Friday

You don't know who I am, and we will probably never meet again, but I hope that you are able to get the help that you need. I met you on Friday afternoon at the entrance to Conestoga Mall near the bus terminal. I had just gotten off a bus to do some shopping. You were obviously in distress as you reached out to take my arm and asked me for help. You were staggering and stumbling and I tried to do the best I could to support you.

Outwardly, you seemed to be a kind, older woman, and at first I feared that you were having some sort of physical attack. As we walked down the main hallway, I realized that you had been drinking a lot. That is not the kind of thing I expected to find 5 o'clock on a Friday afternoon at a busy shopping centre. As we walked, your talking was mostly incoherent, but it seemed that you were going through some sort of crisis; I surmised that you had been drinking as a means of coping, but I can't really pass judgement. We arrived at Guest Services safely, and Security was able to help you to contact a family member.

Even though I'm sure you'll never read this, I hope that you were able to make it home alright on that day, and I hope that you are able to deal with whatever problems you are going through. I'm glad that I was able to help you in some way that day.

Regional Transportation Master Plan

Last night I attended a workshop related to the Waterloo Regional Transportation Master Plan (RTMP). For those who don't know, the Region of Waterloo is trying to come up with a plan for what to do about transportation for the next couple of decades as part of something called Moving Forward 2031.

I must say that I am very impressed. We have come a long way since the last plan in 1999. Transportation is now seen in a very holistic way. It's more than just cars; transportation is about cars, bikes, pedestrians, transit, trucks, and so much more. Roads aren't just ways to get cars between home, work, and Wal-Mart. There are so many opportunities for roads to build communities, and they do a great deal to affect our outlook on life.

The main point of the workshop was to get input from residents on a number of questions related to transportation. There was a lot of interest in making it easier and nicer for people to walk, take the bus, ride their bikes, in addition to driving their cars. Of course, the topic of big-box stores came up, but I think that comes up in just about any public forum. I realized last night that what we really need is more integration of different types of development; it's very difficult to do anything here without a car, and I have limited shopping opportunities between my home pod and my work pod. The other thing I got out of the workshop was the understanding that there are a lot of other people out there that feel the way that I do.

Cars have come first for a long time in this area, and they will continue to do so for the foreseeable future, but pedestrians, bikes, and buses don't need to be second citizens. The transportation planning that is going on is really trying to address these concerns, and I am very excited about what we are doing here in Waterloo. And that's a very good feeling.

I encourage those who live in the region to attend one of the other two workshops taking place. Last night's was in Waterloo, but there are two more, one in Kitchener and the other in Cambridge (Events Schedule).

Thursday, February 21, 2008
Regional Administrative Headquarters
150 Frederick St., Kitchener

Thursday, February 28, 2008
United Kingdom Club
35 International Village Dr., Cambridge