By Redner Jones

Victoria has the reputation of being one of Canada’s most desirable provincial capitals: comfortable for walkers, with easy grades, modest vehicular traffic, and a harbour that would seem to be designed with tourism in mind.

The community of James Bay – ours – has similar accolades but it also includes several other key features: Beacon Hill Park, Ogden Point Cruise Ship Terminal, Fisherman’s Wharf and the Coho Ferry Terminal. All of these amenities are vital to Victoria’s tourist industry. We can claim the Parliament Buildings, too. Moreover, what is most used by us local residents day in day out is available conveniently at the Five Corners shopping area. Nearly everything we need is sold there, by merchants who are as friendly as one would expect of a small village.

While the mood is welcoming overall, there are few places for one to just sit and socialize without first having to buy a cup of tea or coffee. There are three benches but they are not together. Besides, with vehicular traffic scudding by so close, this resting spot is far too noisy for comfort and not even healthy. This increasingly busy place was designed primarily for cars, not pedestrians.

How did it all get started, anyway? Let’s go back in time.

Historical records include a copy of a map of James Bay, dated 1884, showing Five Corners surrounded by plots identified by numbers. It is possible that the area was covered still by trees or brush and, with a dwelling here or there, was a nascent community already started. The corners shown on the map were planned for the simple conveyances in use at that time, and which we know now are not adequate to handle our projection of traffic needs into the future.

Some of us might be inclined to ask, why the configuration of Five Corners in the first place? Writer and expert in such matters, former planner-author Jane Jacobs, herself, might have posited that this was a formal concept transposed from a particular grand corner somewhere in England and seen as desirable for this part of the new colony – a lofty notion by the governor, perhaps, with memories of his home back in England?

In any case, this Island community was then just a way-by for cargo carrying sailing ships entering the strait from the Pacific Ocean. Any streets planned then were likely designed for purely pragmatic reasons and not for any grand scheme of a big city. The original pathways servicing the movements of workers and their animals, all coming to a star-shaped point in that particular place so long ago, have now become our village centre. But, while this progression is all very well for now, how will it serve our needs in the future?

We might fast-forward from 2008 and to another 124 years and see what we might expect then.

More tall buildings, more pedestrians and more automotive traffic can be imagined. More scooters and bicycles too would crowd this tight intersection but to the point where pleasure would no longer be possible.

Need this be our most sophisticated vision for the very heart of James Bay? Instead of, letting Five Corners degenerate, by planned inaction, into an ad hoc jungle, why not redesign it as a plaza – a gathering spot for pleasure and relaxation? Merchants would benefit from this becoming an attraction for tourists from cruise ships or others seeking a respite from the downtown hustle.

On paper, while seemingly a major undertaking, a plan such as this rather would be more a shift in our perception of the function of the intersection. After all, Five Corners ought not to be there purely for the benefit of merchants alone nor for drivers merely passing through.

In order to go in this direction, we would have to reroute vehicular traffic around Five Corners altogether by blocking off some streets and making what are now other secondary streets more important. The latter streets, which now contain mostly apartment blocks and bed-and-breakfasts, conceivably would gain from having a great recreational plaza nearby. Traffic-calming strategies could apply on these new pathways.

Furthermore, and an interesting possibility, would be to test this proposal beforehand, at modest cost. With positive feedback from residents – and merchants too – we then could start seeking approval from various governmental bodies to put this proposal into action.

Contiguous with the proposed plaza is Irving Park, just a block from Five Corners, on Menzies Street, which has washrooms and lovely specimen trees, but is underused. It could be transformed by a visual connection with the new plaza so close by and have an upgraded design. Wouldn’t this be an ideal spot for large sculpture exhibitions? There is space enough.

Similarly, Toronto Street, leading from Douglas Street is one way, and, because there are no separations between road and sidewalks, and drivers go much too quickly, it is particularly hazardous. Being a major route between Five Corners and Beacon Hill Park, it would benefit greatly from having traffic-calming islands and suitable landscaping.

So, this is a possible template for a bold, new look for James Bay: as attention/getting as Emily Carr with her monkey on her back, in her day.

This subject is open for discussion by James Bay residents and the new people at City Hall. There is a lot of time to break a few eggs and cook the omelet. We could set the table in 2009 and draw a new map for the future of our delightful home.