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We’re not talking about your favourite neighbourhood restaurant, where you might want to keep your rave reviews quiet to ensure you can still get a table. Nor about Mount Everest, where the challenge of the life-threatening inaccessibility is half of the reason to make a visit (the other half being simply “because it is there,” of course). 

Parks are spaces designed, maintained and programmed to allow residents to relax, have fun, and while away the day. Getting there should be the start of that unwinding, not some final-boss test of endurance that proves you’re worthy. 

And yet look at the case of the islands, where the city has spent years not adequately providing ferry service, not acting to make the boarding of those ferries less of a hassle, not looking into alternative ways to access the islands. 

Or look at the case of High Park, where restrictions on the driving and parking of cars have turned off many of the park’s most devoted users and boosters as my colleague Francine Kopun reported this week. Such as the senior citizens who used to be regular off-hours diners at the Grenadier Restaurant, or the participants of the youth sports leagues who have for years been playing there, or the volunteers who staff the little zoo there. These park regulars form local civic institutions in a big park like this, the kind that make the park vibrant and active and well watched and loved. They’re like anchor tenants in a mall. 

I live near High Park — I jog there, wander there, sometimes coach baseball games there — activities that bring me into the park several times a week. For me, the changes have been not that big a deal. But when I get there these days, the predominant soundtrack of the place is complaining about how hard it is to get to. The one-way traffic that is allowed on weekdays leads to vast swaths of parking spots that are blocked off, their use prohibited. Trying to do a second pass to find a spot involves an elaborate drive around the block.

The hassle of getting there has become a defining feature of the park in the minds of many who have loved it most. As I say, for me, it’s not too big a deal. But for those with mobility issues, and those who don’t live nearby, and those trying to bring in supplies for a family picnic or a sporting event, it all adds up to a reason to stay away. 

And the frustrating thing is that it isn’t clear to me, outside of cherry blossom season, that there was a huge problem that needed fixing. The bike racers, who run all the wilder now in the car-restricted era, always seemed to pose a greater problem for pedestrians in the park than the low-speed car traffic on the already very few roads through the park.

It seems to me that, even if they continued to restrict traffic to the one-way route they have now, they could resolve a lot of accessibility issues by keeping the parking spaces that are already there available. And whether they do that or not, providing massive amounts of (frequent or free) bus service through the park to take people to various destinations inside it is an absolute must, one that should have been in place ����ڴǰ�����they made the changes that required it, not months or years later.    

At the islands, the city has been dragged kicking and screaming into studying a bridge. Many people (city staff members, island residents and a good number of politicians) have resisted the idea, saying it is impractical given ship traffic, the environmental sensitivity of the eastern islands or the cost. 

But honestly, for me, it’s not really about a bridge. They could ramp up ferry capacity sky-high. They could find some way to modify and use the island airport tunnel. They could buy a fleet of water taxis and provide mass employment as well as frequent rides. The point is that people ought to be able to get to the islands.

Both of those parks are huge civic treasures. Both should be as open to people as possible. That should be the mantra that guides us.