When did ‘car‘ become a dirty word? And why is car culture vilified as the source of everything that’s wrong with the big city? There’s a propaganda campaign against motorists, and it isn’t hard to find. Take a look at this ridiculous clip from the movie ‘21 Jump Street‘ to see exactly how the popular media portrays car guys.
There are some horrible drivers in Toronto that get a lot of negative attention. But to paint all motorists as stunt-driving fools parking in handicapped spots? That just isn’t right! In Toronto it feels like there’s a War On The Car, and anyone not ideologically aligned with the ‘green’ initiative is the enemy.
Case in point, city council is considering banning cars from High Park (our Central Park) a 400 acre green space on the west side of the downtown core. Members of the group called the Car Free Coalition claim they want to drink their soy-milk lattes while walking their rescue dogs through the park without cars around. So what about the grandma who want to go to the park and feed the ducks? They’ll just have to park on the street and push their walkers up to the pond.
The anti-car community is misguided and intolerant. Cars and traffic are the result of poor city planning, such as allowing increased urban development when the TTC was able to support it. Increasing urban density without a mass transit system that doesn’t treat the mobility impaired as second class citizens, should never be permitted.
Banning cars from High Park includes the disabled driver whose wheelchair van is a source of great personal freedom, and the senior citizen whose independence depends on their car. Not everyone is able to hop on the TTC and walk the 1.5 km from the subway station to the High Park Zoo. The driver is not the bad guy. The intolerant in society are, those who will not make accommodations for others differently-abled than them.
The real issue, what’s really under attack, is personal freedom. The notion that a God-fearing, tax-paying, freedom-loving Canadian shouldn’t be able to drive their car to the park and enjoy the cherry blossoms like anyone else.
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