My neighbourhood is getting quite ghetto.

Although I’ve discovered my street’s ghetto-ness for quite some time now (and I’m sure many of you who know where I live can concur), an interesting incident last night has affirmed this conclusion.

Last night, like every Monday, my sister and I wheel over to the Milliken pool for our weekly swimming adventure. Anyways, as we drove past through our ghetto street, you will begin to realize the difficulty of manoeuvering past my street.

For years now, our little quite crescent street in my suburban Markham neighbourhood has become a local street-basketball court. However, it didn’t totally dawn on me until last night when a little boy, which seemed to be accidental, bounced his basketball onto the trunk of my car. Thank God that my poor baby didn’t see any dents. I saw the terror in the little boy’s eyes, so I let it pass— though knowing me, I wasn’t really going to really do anything about it.

Planners, remember when suburban streets were engineered only for cars? Well, miraculously my street is the quite exception. If people didn’t know better, they would’ve mistaken my street as a rec centre.

Basketball program on the street is so extensive that through my casual obsevation, I could spot about three leagues:

• Elite - Consist of young teenagers, with their GANGSTA clothing


• Wannabes - Consist of junior elementary school students who so want to play on the Elite, but are too young or inexperienced


• Pee-Wee - Little Primary school children who play with those short Fisher Price plastic nets

Yes, so if the basketball games are in session, despite which league, you’re looking at having to stall a few moments and have the players clear out a small narrow path for my little Sentra sedan to pass. You can tell that I’m a little annoyed.

Although basketball dominates as the sport of choice on this street, the occasional street hockey, bicycle drag racing, skipping and waterfightting could also be witnessed.

I just find it strange that as other suburban kids hide inside their homes and play XBOX, the children on my ghetto street enjoy to do what they do on the street.

This doesn’t apply to just children. In the evening, you will see young and old adults bringing out their comfortable patio furniture and plot it on the driveway and just chill, laugh and shout.

Do you know my street is starting to resemble? My crazy street is becoming Harlem in the suburban sphere. Maybe it’s a bit cliche, but I picture Harlem as a place where people chill on the street, sit on the doorsteps, play baseball, and where fire hydrants become the source of a waterpark for children.

As a man of Planning, I must say that despite a few annoyances when driving and dodging these kids playing on the street, I really support and encourage it. It’s good to know at least that the kids aren’t sitting in front of their computer all day (like me), but doing something healthy and active that they enjoy. Also, it just brings a bit of street liveliness and comradery, not to mention more eyes on the street means less opportunity for people to commit crimes.

So all in all, we have a good thing going about on our street, and despite that it is a little ghetto, I do enjoy and am proud of living here.

A revolution is unravelling in our suburban neighbourhoods and maybe this will quickly spread, but just let it be known that its origins was a little crescent at McCowan and Denison.

Update (May 23, 2007):
Apparently, I have become e-famous from a certain Redflagdeals.com thread. I’m very flattered that one of my musings has brought upon so much discussion! This is awesome.

But I have to say that a specific user, UrbanPoet, adequately summed up the gist of my article:

I think you guys are missing the point of the article. They dont mean its literally ghetto.

I think they trying to make the point that stereotypically ghetto things like hanging out on street blocks, shooting hoops in the hood, and adults sitting on front steps talking loud is actually a positive thing for a neighborhood.

I think you guys are missing the main point of the article.

[…]

This type of thinking is common. It’s been reinforced by the writer Jane Jacobs (see Dark Age Ahead, the life and death of great American cities).

You can also check out articles by australian David Engwicht. “the nature of eco-city” in reclaiming our cities and towns.

I love my Markham, and the word “ghetto” is not to be taken in the literal sense. I in fact appreciate the fact that kids roam around the streets, because afterall, the streets should be for the people.