Jane’s Walk 2020

For the past few years I’ve been wanting to do a Jane’s walk. This year, with all the pandemic complications, I finally did one. The focus is active transportation and I walked, mostly by trail, from home to work. This was a few weeks ago. I tweeted it out at the time but here it is again for the record, with the tweets presented as a photo essay.

Commuting by active transportation

First, choose your mode of transportation.

You can use my map or go to grandconcourse.ca for a digital one and much more.

1. Rawlin’s Cross, it’s surprising how relaxing it is walking through this little car free stretch. (This is what I tweeted at the time but now this little stretch is gone and the traffic lights have been replaced. I think they needed to be replaced, for safety and accessibility, but felt sad to lose that space and wondered if there couldn’t have been a better option than either of the ones that were tried.)

2. Wondering how accessible the rest of the route will be. Curb cuts on Rennie’s Mill Rd. intersections are good for wheelchairs and strollers.

3. My walk is from home to MUN – about 30 minutes via Bonaventure and Elizabeth (mostly clear sidewalks in winter!) but today I’m trying an off road route using the wonderful Grand Concourse trails. Entering Rennie’s River Trail from Rennie’s Mill Rd.

4. Lots of useful information on the sign. It indicates that the trail is accessible for wheelchair users.

5. But there are stairs in a couple of places…

6. Entering part 2 of the trail north of Elizabeth Ave. Such a beautiful walk, and right in the heart of the city!

7. There are several beautiful waterfalls and rapids along the trail. In fall you can see trout jumping up them–amazing to watch!

8. Where this section ends at the Prince Philip Parkway you can walk to the government buildings by this path. No crosswalk on the Parkway though, unfortunately.

9. Cross Allendale to Long Pond. No crosswalk here either. Note guerrilla path making. As Jane Jacobs wrote “There is no logic that can be superimposed on the city; people make it, and it is to them, not buildings, that we must fit our plans.”

10. Entering Long Pond Path to head along the south side behind the campus. No curb cut for wheelchairs on either side of Allendale.

11. Sign of the Times: We are so lucky to be able to walk freely here.

12. Interesting to see how the community gardens evolve over a season of walking commutes! Another Jane quotation: “Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.”

13. Research finds people have lower levels of stress hormones after walking in woods than in urban or clinical settings. Also improved mood/ability to concentrate and sleep; reduced blood pressure/stress; better immune system/energy levels.

References:

Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides and Programs, 2019.

Ioannis Bakolis, Ryan Hammoud, Michael Smythe, Johanna Gibbons, Neil Davidson, Stefania Tognin and Andrea Mechelli, Urban Mind: Using Smartphone Technologies to Investigate the impact of Nature on Mental Wellbeing in Real Time, BioScience, 10 January, 2018.

Chorong Song, Harumi Ikei, Bum-Jin Park, Juyoung Lee, Takahide Kagawa and Yoshifumi Miyazaki, Psychological Benefits of Walking through Forest Areas. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(12), December 2018.

Qing Li, Effect of forest bathing trips on human immune function, Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine, 15(1): 9-17, 2010.

Shinrin-yoku (Forest bathing)

14. Exit the trail at the flume tank, where the storm at sea scene in The Shipping News was filmed.

15. From here you can either walk on to Health Sciences or enter the northwest end of the main campus. It only took me 40 minutes, about ten minutes more than my normal walking commute. I should do this more often!