Part One: Walking, cycling, or automobile – what were the most common options for daily living?
Paula E. Kirman
Bike lanes. Walkability. 15-minute cities. All of these are buzz terms filling our local traditional media and social media feeds with information, debates, and lots of opinions. Throughout the decades, there have always been folks who prefer to get around without needing a car, and make their choices of where to live based on their decision.
But what was life like back in Jasper Place before people even had these kinds of conversations? We asked people who lived in JP before (or very close to the time) it amalgamated with Edmonton in 1964 about their memories of how they and their families more frequently got around. These responses came from a number of social media platforms. Only first names are being used, and responses have been edited for length and clarity.
Coretta: We walked almost everywhere. Dad would take our car to work so we walked to Stony Plain Road. In the spring it was so muddy that Dad would have to park on SPR and walk home.
Barbara: We walked and there were corner grocery stores we always used.
Donna: We lived on 156 st and 115 ave. In order to go to downtown Edmonton, we would have to walk to either 148 street and Stony Plain Road or 118 avenue and 124 street. I was in much better shape then.
Valerie: We usually walked from 94th Avenue up to Stony Plain road with Mom when Dad was at work. If we needed to go to downtown Edmonton we would walk up to the city bus turn-around just past 149th Street. Dad had a 1949 Dodge that we used (he drove) when we had to go further afield. We got groceries at the IGA on SPR with the car.
Laura: Like most of our neighbours, we had one car, which Dad drove to work, while Mom stayed home with the kids. During the week, we would walk to visit neighbours or my aunt who lived a few blocks away. The ladies on the block took turns hosting a coffee break each day. We had visits from the Fuller Brush man, the milkman (with his horse), the breadman, even the dry cleaner would drive by on a certain day and if you had cleaning to pick up, you put a card in your window so he would stop. Most women were at home, so door-to-door sales were a regular thing. On Saturdays, Dad would drive us all to the IGA for groceries and on Sunday we dressed up and drove to church.
Kathryn: My parents moved to Edmonton from ON in 1955 (in their late 20s early 30s). I don’t know the exact year they bought 10724 152 St (it was before the annexation). I’m pretty sure their main means of transportation was driving as I seem to recall my mom saying it was muddy and the sidewalks were made of wood. My mom worked downtown and travelled by bus but I’m not sure what year she started doing this. She retired in 1989 after 30+ years with TD Bank. Children didn’t arrive until 1966. Too bad my parents aren’t around anymore.
Susan: Before my dad had a car he took the bus to work or was picked up by another worker in winter. All us kids used our 2 feet to get around. Mom & I would take the bus to go downtown to shop at Woolworth’s or walk to SPR to shop at the stores. Big groceries were bought at the Loblaws on SPR, then there was the small neighborhood store for the odds & ends, plus penny candy. Family outings were usually to visit family in the country.
Laurent: We lived close to Stony Plain Road so we could walk to most businesses and amenities we needed. We didn’t have a car. We’d take the ETS trolley into Edmonton. We occasionally used the Jasper Place bus service. We kids cycled a lot. We’d walk to the Edmonton Library bookmobile which came on Monday evening, IIRC, to 146 Street and Stony Plain Road.
Maxine: We moved to Jasper Place in 1948. My Dad did not have a car so we walked a lot. To go downtown we had to walk to 148 street . If it was muddy we carried our shoes under our arms and left our mud boots at the terminal (a bench). My Dad did not get a car until 1969, Later we did get the Blue Goose service and actually the bus went right in front of our house on 156 Street. We got our groceries from Stan’s store on 156 street and SPR. I went to all three schools, the little wooden one for grade 4, then the middle one for 5, Canora (the first year it was built) for grade 6 and 7.8.and 9 on the first floor of the big school and high school on the top floor. I did not have siblings. We were all so poor, but we didn’t know it, because we were all having so much fun.
Barrie Touchings, interviewed by the JPCHP, talks about having a bike:
I had a bike. I would’ve been I think it was nine years old. My dad went to a police auction, and he bought this bike for me, and he paid $9 for the bike. That’s a lot of money. [….] The thing was so big I couldn’t ride it. I had to teach myself how to ride this bike by putting my feet through the crossbar. I couldn’t sit on the seat, so I’d have to ride this bike like this. It was probably two to three years before I could ride the bike properly by sitting on the seat, because I was too small. But that was my bike, and I had that bike up until I was finished high school. [….] I remember when they built the Jasper Place Hotel, and about the same time, they paved Stony Plain Road. I remember one Sunday morning taking this bike and going down to Stony Plain Road. It was all blocked off, fresh pavement, and I had this huge flat area that I could ride the bike on. That was a real treat. [….] We used to go to an area which would be west of Mayfield Road, probably about three blocks west of Mayfield Road and about 111th Avenue. There was a farmer’s field there and he had some bush. We went to that area, and we built a fort in that bush. That was late ‘50s early ‘60s.
While many families had a car, a lot of people could get exactly where they wanted either by walking or cycling. Could the Town of Jasper Place have been an early example of a 15-minute community? Next time, we will look at public transit and taxis in Jasper Place.
Paula E. Kirman is a freelance writer who grew up, and still lives, near the Jasper Place area.
[This post is an expanded version of an article that appeared in Summer 2023’s SPANN]
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