Cities in a globalizing world

Cities in a globalizing world

With the current rate of research and technological development, the state of the major cities has changed drastically. The face of most cities has evolved from traditional to modern, old to new and more importantly, haphazardly planned to well planned. Most cities have also experienced high population flux and industrialization thus making them expand exponentially. Technology has made it possible for cities to be built even in difficult terrains like on hilly grounds or even skyscrapers build in most cities. As such, infrastructure like roads, electricity, railway, and airports are usually located in cities. In addition, the best social amenities are located in the cities, thus adding to its size, aesthetics and economic value.

Additionally, most cities have recreational centres which are planted with beautiful flowers and trees.  Monuments are also erected in such places and beautiful colours painted to add on the aesthetic value of the cities. Cities, therefore, are developed under different plans, and the structures may mean a particular message on the culture or history of the people. This paper is aimed at comparing and contrasting features in Downtown St. Catharines, Montebello Park and Yates Street parts of Catharines city.

St. Catharines city was in the 1800s called the shipman’s corners after the owner of the tavern that was a famous stagecoach drawn Paul Shipman. Shipman’s corners survived the war of 1812 because of its central location although most of Niagara frontier was destroyed. The cities mills were in high demand because settlers avoided the Canadian – American border. At around 1815, William Merritt began to develop the salt springs which were discovered along the river, thus giving the village a reputation as a health resort. The name was later changed to St Catharines which was after Hon Robertson Hamilton wife; Catharine Robertson.

St.Catharine was incorporated as a town in 1850 with its borders extending even further. The city became connected to Port Colborne through railway, and eventually, an administrative and political post was added to St. Catharines. By the mid-19^th century, St. Catharines had developed an international reputation in the field of health which was spearheaded by wealthy people from the south Canadian elites. In addition, many slaves from America moved to this town to seek for freedom and equity under the law. These freedom seekers started their lives and got families in St Catharines with assistance from political and religious leaders.

Constructions of the third Welland canal kicked off in 1871, and this attracted more population to the town. St. Catharines attained a city status as a result of continuous growth and an increased in population in 1876. Manufacturing was gaining popularity in the 1900s due to increased electric supply and reliable means of water and railway transport. The city experienced rapid population increase due to urbanization and industrialization of the northern part of the city and expansion in related business activities in the city.

The fourth canal was opened in 1932, which could accommodate more massive ship thus more and heavier cargos could be transported. In 1961, the town of Merritton, village of Dalhousie and Grantham Township were incorporated into St. Catharines. Late in the 1970s, Louth Township was incorporated into St. Catharines to deal with the problem of pollution and planning. In the mid-1990s, the largest motor industry closed, leading to a loss of more than 2000 jobs in the city. This was a big blow to the manufacturing sector and to the housing industry, which lost tenants. Consequently, St. Catharine became one of the cities with the highest rates of unemployment in Canada.

The free trade policy between Canada and America brought hardship to most farmers in Niagara and later, the pressure to convert their lands for other functions. The farmers turned their farms to other uses due to climatic changes and fluctuations in markets which hindered agricultural planning. Due to the anticipated drop in demand for grapes, farmers were compensated as 40% of the farms were affected. There was an increased improvement in the success of small estate winemakers. This led to the development of better varieties of grapes which were of good quality. The whole agricultural sector declined due to the government approval of the conversion of arable lands for urban development.

Gentrification is the process of upgrading homes and neighbourhoods in a deteriorating area as a result of an influx of middle class and influential people. Gentrification usually improves the economic value of a place, and therefore it might evict the low-income earners due to an increase in rents. Generally, gentrification shifts an average positions income and racial structure by bringing in new ones. This comes as a result of people with higher income being attracted to an area from the neighbouring cities.

Another terminology used in this course is graffiti. Graffiti is drawing made on walls, vehicles or other surfaces to convey a specific message. They range from simple writings to intricate drawings or paintings which are done with or without authorities’ permission. Where this visual communication is illegal, the owner of the properties refers to it as vandalism or defacement. Graffiti, therefore, can be said to be a form of expression which to some extent makes a building beautiful.

In addition, run-down homes is a terminology used to refer to houses and neighbourhoods that require extensive renovations before one can occupy them. These houses are usually outdated and usually not attractive for residential. They are thus relatively cheap to purchase with less down payments and lower mortgages. These houses typically attract many middle-class earners who are eager to buy these houses.

Downtown St. Catharines

In downtown St. Catharines, the streets are noisy all day, and the traffic is heavy. The footpaths along the roads are more extensive and sufficient zebra crossings are available for the pedestrians. There are also several traffic lights with automatic buttons for the pedestrians to press I order for the motorists to allow them to cross. The names of the streets are also curved on the sidewalks at every block. The main roads in downtown St. Catharines are one-way traffic roads which make it easy to control as compared to two-way traffic roads. Two-way traffic road also gets congested quickly and thus managing becomes hard and tedious (Field notes page 1. 1-4). For instance, the junction of Ontario Street and Paul Street, Pauls street and Geneva and the Geneva Street itself, the roads are half blocked for construction, and this has led to congestion in this area. These constructions have brought about too much inconvenience to the city dwellers and thus the government to improve their work efficiency. Such kind of projects would take not more than two weeks in some countries like China (Field notes page 1. 5).

Many public parking lots are located on the block between St Paul Street and King Street. People seem to enjoy free parking during the weekends; however, during the weekends, most of the parking lots have designated event parking which requires $5 cash no matter how long People Park. The exciting thing I found about the Garden park is that the road is half one-way and half two way. The end near the King Street is two-way, and the end near St Paul Street is one way. St Paul Street is narrow and thus can only allow one car at a time. The area has sufficient garbage bins, and therefore the garbage management is well handled. There are two garbage baskets in the containers which hold both garbage and recyclable waste. I even found two garbage bins that are similar to the bins in Condo Garden park where I am living (Field notes page 1.11).

Figure 1 St. Catharine’s garbage bins at Garden Park

In downtown is St. Catharines, there are very few dwelling houses, and most of the homes here are for commercial purposes. The gaps between the houses are narrow, and the apartments are all well designed and decorated. The main streets in downtown St. Catharine is decorated with the snow-flake- shaped light boards similar to downtown Hamilton. There is also graffiti around Fulton’s 24-hour FitnessFitness.

Figure 2 St.Catharines Fulton’s 24-hour FitnessFitness

Figure 3 St.Catharines Fulton’s 24-Hour FitnessFitness

The Fulton’s Fitness has no manager and the customers enter by inputting a password (Field notes page 2.15). The library plaza is also well gentrified with bushes, flower beds and benches for people to sit and relax outside the library. The library offers three hours of free parking.

Montebello Park

There is a big parking lot in front of the City hall between James Street and King Street. There are also two condos on Wellington street where I am currently living. The road surface is worn, and the Wellington Street is narrow only allowing one car to pass at a time. There is a small parking lot near the south end of Wellington Street, and spaces are reserved for the customers of a Korean BBQ restaurant. The BBQ restaurant is located at the crossing between the lake street and the intersection of Welling Street. The restaurant has a unique exterior, and it looks like a log cabin from the outside.

Houses in Wellington Street are densely distributed, looks old and non-gentrified. This is unlike the new build communities where the apartments are spacious and the driveways in front of the houses full (Field notes page 3.7).

Figure 1 Montebello Park, old and non-gentrified houses

William Street is a one way street between Queen Street and Lake Street. The small condo on this street is called condominium Commercial Residential, and the bigger one is called Chelsea. The houses in William Street are gentrified with good looking exterior.

Figure 2 Montebello Park condos on Wellington Street

There is a beautiful park which is located at the crossing of Ontario Street and Lake Street. The park is equipped with children’s playing facilities like slides, right looking fountain, a big pavilion and benches distributed all over the area. This park is ideal for having picnics and holding festivals. The Niagara Grape and Wine festival was held here in October. The park also has very decent washrooms as opposed to other parks that have disgusting portable ones.

Figure 3 Montebello Park children’s slides

Figure 4 Montebello Park fountain

Figure 5 Montebello park washrooms

Yates Street

Along Ontario Street to St Paul Street, many shops are found not in use as opposed to the neighbourhood. Norris place is the entrance of Yates Street on Ontario Street, close to the crossing of Ontario Street and Lake Street. In this street, many vehicles are parked along the Norris Place and Yates Street that makes the roads narrow for only one car passage. Some houses lack a garage, and that is why people are parking along the way. The homes in this street are the best gentrified in St. Catharines. All the apartments are for residential and no businesses along the roads. The space between houses is wider, and lawns in front of the houses decorated with flowers and small statues. All apartments are more than two stories, and no bungalows are seen.

There are no footpaths along the street of Yates Street, and this makes it dangerous for the pedestrians. There are newly added stop signs at the crossing of McGuire Street and Carlisle Street. There is also a big arena surrounded by IceDogs Way with ample parking in the meridian centre.  The exterior of the First Ontario Performing art centre is well gentrified and decorated with colourful bricks on its sides. The downtown bus terminus is organized in such a manner that 18 bus routes start to form it. The bus route to Brock University has more passengers than the other terminus. The terminus also has bike racks where people can pack their bikes and then take buses. The street is thus environmental friendly as it reduces the emissions from private cars.