{"id":7465,"date":"2016-11-04T15:13:07","date_gmt":"2016-11-04T19:13:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/?p=7465"},"modified":"2016-11-07T14:37:50","modified_gmt":"2016-11-07T18:37:50","slug":"bikes-belonging-helping-toronto-feel-like-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/2016\/11\/04\/bikes-belonging-helping-toronto-feel-like-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Bikes and Belonging: helping Toronto feel like home"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post\u00a0by Yvonne Verlinden is part of Spacing\u2019s partnership with the Toronto Cycling Think & Do Tank at the University of Toronto. Yvonne’s research project was\u00a0funded through the RBC Partnership for Change: Immigrant, Diversity, and Inclusion Project<\/a> at Ryerson University.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

How can a bike change one\u2019s experience of a city? This summer, I explored this question with participants in Bike Host program. This unique initiative\u00a0loans bicycles to newcomers (immigrants and refugees), and matches them with a cycling mentor. I asked the cyclists to reflect on their experience\u00a0riding a\u00a0bicycle through the lens of their smartphones.<\/p>\n

Photo by Joy: “I feel free. I can go on any route, anyway I want to go.”<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The results were startling. Participants were able to explore their diverse neighbourhoods, including Crescent Town, Riverdale, and Scarborough Town Centre. Newcomer cyclists\u00a0spoke powerfully about the photographs they took.\u00a0\u00a0In particular, they highlighted how their bicycles allowed them to go where they wanted, when they wanted, with minimal effort.<\/p>\n

Photo by: Rima Momtaz,\u00a0“Biking promoted my mobility, and when my mobility was more than before, my engagement with the society was more than before.”<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This newfound freedom \u00a0facilitated daily trips to work or for errands. In addition,\u00a0it\u00a0prompted a summer-long exploration of Toronto locales, both the remarkable and the mundane.\u00a0As one photographer described it, \u201cwe didn\u2019t have any destination.\u00a0We\u2019d just say, \u2018Ok, today we will go this way, and we will see how far we can go.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

While cycling, participants also\u00a0discovered new and exciting neighbourhood assets they hadn’t seen,\u00a0even if they lived around the corner. These discoveries included\u00a0new parks and pathways, new grocery stores, and new places of worship.<\/p>\n

They also learned just exactly where the street went if they turned left. \u201cAlmost everyday,\u201d said one photographer, \u201cI saw something new when I went outside with my bicycle.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Photo
Photo by: Bishan Pandey, “Through the bike, I can discover the city.”\u00a0<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The\u00a0process of learning or\u00a0cognitive mapping as researchers have called it, led to a\u00a0profound shift in the participants\u2019 sense of belonging: \u201cWhen I came to Canada, I felt everything was strange. But now I feel like everything is comfortable for me, it\u2019s like my home.\u00a0 Like back home.\u201d<\/p>\n

And these positive benefits were not limited to those who\u00a0arrived recently.\u00a0Another participant who had already lived in Toronto for four years reported: \u201cI never felt so much as if I belong to this society.\u00a0 When you bike, you know places, you notice more, you see more.\u00a0And then, because you know the city, you feel like you belong equally as those people who\u2019ve been living here a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Canadian Community Health Survey includes ‘sense of belonging’ as an indicator of positive mental and general health \u00a0(Statistics Canada, 2015<\/a>).\u00a0 For newcomers, achieving a sense of belonging is a process that takes time (Statistics Canada, 2016<\/a>). The bicycle, it seems, can be used to make Toronto feel like home quite a bit sooner.<\/p>\n

Bike Host newcomer cyclists and their mentors participated\u00a0in a celebration to wrap up the summer. The event included an exhibit launch with the photographers\u2019 work, which is currently displayed\u00a0at AccessPoint On Danforth (3079 Danforth Avenue). In addition, it will\u00a0also\u00a0be showcased at\u00a0South Riverdale Community Health Centre (955 Queen St E), as part of their 40th<\/sup> Anniversary celebrations.<\/p>\n

\"Photo
Photo by: Tzvetelina Tzoneva, “I feel so much closer to the city, to people.\u00a0 I feel like I belong more to the community.\u00a0 To Canadians.”\u00a0<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bike Host is affiliated with CultureLink\u2019s Community Connections Mentorship Program<\/a>, funded by Citizenship, Immigration and Refugees Canada. In 2016, it was offered in collaboration with the South Riverdale Community Health Centre<\/a> (SRCHC) and Scarborough Cycles<\/a>\u00a0a project funded by the Metcalf Foundation<\/a> and led by the\u00a0Toronto Centre for Active Transportation<\/a>, a project of Clean Air Partnership<\/a>, with partners Cycle Toronto<\/a>, the Toronto Cycling Think and Do Tank<\/a>, and CultureLink.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This post\u00a0by Yvonne Verlinden is part of Spacing\u2019s partnership with the Toronto Cycling Think & Do Tank at the University of Toronto. Yvonne’s research project was\u00a0funded through the RBC Partnership for Change: Immigrant, Diversity, and Inclusion Project at Ryerson University.\u00a0 How can a bike change one\u2019s experience of a city? This summer, I explored thisContinue reading “Bikes and Belonging: helping Toronto feel like home”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8161,"featured_media":7472,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18,476,411,408,422,425],"tags":[524,523,497,525,526],"class_list":["post-7465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bikes","category-cities-for-people","category-civic-engagement","category-community","category-neighbourhoods","category-spacing","tag-belonging","tag-bicycling","tag-bikes","tag-community","tag-newcomers"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBikes and Belonging: helping Toronto feel like home - Spacing National<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/2016\/11\/04\/bikes-belonging-helping-toronto-feel-like-home\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bikes and Belonging: helping Toronto feel like home - Spacing National\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This post\u00a0by Yvonne Verlinden is part of Spacing\u2019s partnership with the Toronto Cycling Think & Do Tank at the University of Toronto. 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