Regent Park From the Other Side of the Tinted Glass

By: Martha Jack

Due to an injury, I hadn’t had the opportunity to actually physically walk through Regent Park until this week. All of my previous interactions with the area had been from the passenger’s seat of my father’s car or the backseat of a cab.
I’m sad to admit this, but after hearing and reading about some of my classmates’ experiences walking around Regent Park, I was kind of glad that I had thus far only seen the neighbourhood through tinted glass.
I have to say that actually walking down Parliament Street was a much different experience than driving. To actually be amongst the people and be able to look in store windows was a much more personal encounter than I had previously experienced.
One of the things I noticed while walking down Parliament Street was how much the construction is affecting the area. Of course it is affecting the businesses in Regent Park with the street closures, but I think it is also affecting the psyche of the neighbourhood. When you walk past, it is unclear whether you should stare at the gaping hole in the dirt, or whether you should turn away and try not to notice the construction. When I was walking, there seemed to be equal numbers of people who wanted to look at the progress that had been made, and those who were tired of the construction and what it represented.
I was encouraged by what I saw on Parliament Street; friends meeting and shaking hands, families out shopping for their dinner meal, children hurrying home from Nelson Mandela Park Public School with backpacks full of homework. Obviously there are problems in Regent Park, but there is hope as well. To me, people getting along with their everyday lives is a sign of hope.
Since this my first opportunity to really get into the community, it was also my first chance to see first-hand what John Sewell was talking about when he visited our class. I thought I understood what he has referring to when he talked about populated streets creating a feeling of safety in a community, but it is another thing entirely to actually experience that feeling when deciding whether or not to actually venture down certain streets.