Floral traffic islands are a grim irony
Randy Kay, Hamilton Spectator July 22nd, 2003
RE: ‘Value of flowered medians far exceeds their cost’ (July 17).
This Spectator editorial strikes at the root of the current morass of political and editorial thinking in Hamilton with its panegyric on traffic-island flower beds.
Pulling out flowery prose and terms like “vision” and “creativity” for us to ponder as we gaze through the smoggy haze at the sad flowers stranded in the midst of asphalt traffic corridors contains the seed for a great metaphor on what ails the city.
The Spectator adds: “There are all sorts of reasons to feel good about living in Hamilton … but few surpass flowers by your car window as you idle at a stoplight.”
C’mon. This reads more like grist for the hilarious satire column by The Spectator’s Bill Dunphy.
Hamilton’s emphasis on tarting up the pavement with flowered traffic islands while planning at the same time to pave the Red Hill valley is a pretty grim indictment.
But realizing that the city — like a roadside flower — is meant to be “appreciated at 60 km/h” sums up Hamilton’s car culture better than anything I’ve heard in a long while.
Randy Kay, Dundas.
Randy Kay 