Photo by RodThorne, member of Spacing Atlantic‘s flickr pool.
ATLANTIC CANADA – Remarkably, popular ways of finding love in the city have been funneled through internet dating platforms where men and women alike seek partners to share the city experience. An anonymous Spacing Atlantic contributor told me recently: “I haven’t had much luck finding love in the city. I’m looking for a partner that likes taking romantic walks along the industrial waterfront or likes riding double on a bicycle through the streets. It would also be so nice to get a love letter through city mail or find a valentine sentiment on a telephone post.” The comment, while akin to a personal ad, reflects that people have love for their city and want to share that love with someone else.
Like internet dating websites that extol the success of finding love in the city, I have collected testimonials from Spacing Atlantic contributors who want to share where they have found love for and in the city.
“Finding your own Pulse”
In order to find love in the city, you first have to first make sure that your own heart is working properly. To check your pulse, “place your forefinger and middle finger where an artery (a blood vessel that carries blood away from the heart) crosses over a bone and is close to the skin’s surface” (How to Find your Pulse). As a Nurse, the Co-Chair of the Halifax Cycling Coalition and contributor to Spacing Atlantic, Stephen Bedard comments on his ephemeral love connection with a certain Halifax intersection and the pulse of sustainable transportation development:
“As a nurse, working at the Victoria General Hospital in downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia, my favourite part of this area is University Avenue at night, especially around where it intersects with Summer Street. During the summer, the streetlights cast out a very white light, and when they hit the leaves of the trees, along the side of the road and along the boulevard, you see a green-glow above your head that is unlike anywhere else in Halifax. Being a major supporter of sustainable and active transportation, I’ve looked into the potential that HRM has when it comes to making us more cycling and transit friendly; I’m heartened to see the big city staffers involved are starting to come around and make sustainable transportation issues more of a priority, over the past 3 years.”
“Lost and Found”
According to the testimonial from Halifax’s Spacing Atlantic contributor Sarah Craig, the city often reminds her where her heart is and that it requires good food to keep on beating:
“The heart of the city for me is the Farmer’s Market every Saturday morning. Here I find my own heart over and over again. I also continue to find love in the City of Halifax; every time I think I know all the friendly faces, cozy cafes, and beautiful trees, something new to learn presents itself to me.”
“Love is Within”
Sean Gillis, Spacing Atlantic contributor from Saint John, New Brunswick, tells all which urban architectural feature he has found love in:
“I live in Uptown Saint John – which I love. The heart of Saint John is Uptown and the area I like more specifically is King’s Square which includes, the City Market, Old Courthouse, Imperial Theatre and Admiral Beatty Building. The Admiral Beatty Building is probably my favourite building in Saint John. It’s a large (think bulk or size, not height) eight or nine storey residential building. Somehow it fits perfectly right on the Square, but also feels out of place because the size and style could fit well on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. A great residential building. They don’t make ’em like they used to.”
“Love & Reciprocity”
Spacing Atlantic has found love in the city and you can too.
While internet dating sites have claimed virtual space for finding love in the city, nothing can replace our lived experience of the love we receive from the city and the daily love we put into the city through our soles, our creativity and our words.
Photo by Crystal Melville
Like any good relationship, reciprocate the love the city offers you or put to good use your hearts rage, when the things you love are lost in the city, through both critical and quirky dialogue, or snapshots of ephemeral moments where love is and was found.