Creating safe communities: Growing up in Trend-Arlington
A great place to grow up!
Arlington Woods and Trend Village (Trend-Arlington) are two neighborhoods situated side-by-side on the edge of the Greenbelt near Huntclub and Greenbank roads. My family moved to Parkland Crescent from Monterey Drive in Leslie Park in 1970, when I was four years old, and I can attest -- it was a great place to grow up!
I have many fond memories of life in Arlington Woods from my childhood. Whether it was foresight or just luck, the residents of Arlington Woods can thank Campeau and MacDonald Homes for not destroying the majestic White Pine and Beech forest they and the local wildlife call home.
Since our home was one of the first homes completed in the neighborhood, I arrived to find a child’s dream come true – a 15 foot sand pit in my backyard! As soon as my parents let me out of the house I made a bee-line for my new playground!
The next year, as I began to meet some of the kids in the neighborhood, my friends and I couldn’t believe our good fortune when we discovered that all of the resources we required to build a tree fort, like wood, hammers, nails, screws and screw drivers, just happened to be lying around on the construction sites surrounding our houses. :)
Whether it was playing hockey on neighborhood streets, cruising on our 10-speeds on a Saturday night or finding a cow's skull in the tall grass behind the Trend-Arlington church on the way to school, our community of Trend-Arlington has always been an exciting and fun place for children to live and grow up.
However, for these memorable experiences to occur our community MUST be safe – safe for children to play, travel, live and laugh.
A disturbing event
Two years ago, for the first time in the 40 years that my family has lived in Arlington Woods, the safety of our community was violated when an 11 year old girl was sexually assaulted not 400 metres from my front door. An unspeakable act committed by a sick young man in a place where many pass daily.
While its very difficult to prevent something random like this from happening, it is possible for the City to do things to help reduce the likelihood of violence occurring. Simple things, like lighting the pathways that intersect our community. Had this path been lighted, perhaps Brent McGrath may have decided that the risk of being seen and caught would be too great.
Lighting our pathways
I believe the City of Ottawa needs to take action to prevent this type of violent act from happening again by 'lighting the pathways of our community'. Now that many outdoor lights are solar powered, the cost of implementing a solution like this will cost less and be more eco-friendly than the traditional approach of wiring lights underground.
'Lighting the pathways' has the added benefit of 'plowing' in the winter, providing year-round access to the pathways. As the Trend-Arlington Community Association recently discovered, the City only plows lighted paths in the winter time.
As your city councillor, I will work to make our communities safer and more accessible for everyone, by advocating for lighted (and plowed) pathways.
James O'Grady
