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Design for nature not cars in McMaster west campus

Monday, January 20, 2020

Rethinking McMaster's West Campus




Floodplain and Simple

I really hope that the vision for west campus does look to rehabilitate the floodplain under McMaster Parking Lot M. In these times of global climate emergency, what better contrast than cars parked on top a coldwater wetland. One is a source of our current predicament, and the other is a part of the solution to mitigate the issues we face.

Meanwhile: Trail to Trespass


McMaster still has to come to terms with the fact they won't allow people currently parking in the west campus to use the perfectly lovely remnant of the former Royal Botanical Gardens nature trails to access campus.

It's very odd that it was easier to get hundreds of parking spaces removed to create the required 30-metre buffer to the coldwater creek there than it is to get McMaster to stop blocking access to the trail.

I'm hoping to open (another) conversation with McMaster about this trail. In the meantime, I will be checking out the ideas generated through the Designing Paradise project.

If you want to help with a campaign to re-open access to the trail ("Maria's Walk" in the former Coldspring Valley Nature Sanctuary trail system) - shoot us an email and we will get you on the team.






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