The change doesn’t convince Wanda Banas.
While Edmonton has various plans in the works hoping to encourage more people to ride their bikes and take transit, Banas worries her freedom to drive a car could be curtailed. She sees council’s plans to expand the bike lane network, despite the city’s cold winters, as a signal their priorities don’t align with hers.
“That’s why there’s the mistrust, because you’re doing something that’s illogical because it’s part of some plan that you’re following.”
Her experience with a redevelopment next door also fuels her mistrust. Plans to replace houses with an apartment complex will block sunlight on her property and make it difficult to see around the corner when she’s leaving her driveway.
“I’m going to be sitting in the dark,” she said. “I don’t get sunlight, ever, in the afternoon or evening. Never again … what about my plants? What about my trees? Will they survive?”
“That’s my quality of life, and this was supposed to be my retirement place to live. So I can’t age in place, not anymore, not with any comfort. I have to decide if I have to go somewhere and start over.”
