{"id":6827,"date":"2011-09-29T10:42:46","date_gmt":"2011-09-29T14:42:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingottawa.ca\/?p=6827"},"modified":"2013-01-21T09:07:20","modified_gmt":"2013-01-21T14:07:20","slug":"village-restoration-on-rails-one-euro-to-the-seaside","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/2011\/09\/29\/village-restoration-on-rails-one-euro-to-the-seaside\/","title":{"rendered":"Village restoration on rails: one Euro to the seaside"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Nothing overhead but the trees: electric-at-grade Bordeaux tram<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

There is an extraordinary thing happening in France, the little villages are growing, not declining.\u00a0 More than a 1,000 villages this year will apply to be reclassified as towns based on the fact that their population now exceeds 2,000 people.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t surprise me because everywhere I travel I see signs of this resurgence and a strong attitude towards sustainability.\u00a0 The French are just bringing out an all electric car as I write called the Mia.\u00a0 Villages have \u2018velo buses\u2019 (bike buses) to collect children for school.\u00a0 Bike buses are regular, supervised routes school children travel in groups to ensure their safety.<\/p>\n

The regional rail system (small town, small village) is being restored.\u00a0 This summer we took one of the new pilot services (exactly the same as Ottawa\u2019s pilot light rail) from Nimes to the Mediterranean.\u00a0 It cost one euro and took about thirty minutes.\u00a0 Like the O-train, it blew out all the ridership predictions carrying more than 100,000 people in two months.\u00a0 The one euro ($150) ride is of course subsidized but the effect of fast, convenient cheap access to the sea for thousands is about more than moving people.\u00a0 It has a dynamic effect on the entire economy and society.<\/p>\n

One of the big knocks on small village life is that it is isolated and isolating. Well if your children can get the train for a single Euro (fits in with most children\u2019s allowance) and they and their friends can spend the day at the sea side, this helps change young parent\u2019s attitude to living in a village.\u00a0 And it\u2019s not just transportation, if country schools are as good as city schools that\u2019s another reason to choose village life.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just the French, the town that I was staying in had more than 50 gites, (places owned by Brits, Americans and Canadians as second residences).\u00a0 One of my neighbours was a former American NFL football player with the Oakland Raiders.\u00a0 He was in the village for the same reason all the ex-pats were, the liked the life \u2013 the tranquility but also the liveliness of the markets, festivals, the quality of the food and wine, where local isn\u2019t a new concept, but the way its always been done.<\/p>\n

The difference between France and North America in this regard is striking.\u00a0 France has spent the last 25 years upgrading and expanding all of the services which make local and national life comfortable while in North America, the first commandments have been close down, reduce and privatize.\u00a0 The consequences of this are evident everywhere.\u00a0\u00a0 Twenty-five years ago, the TGV did not serve all parts of the country, now it does.\u00a0 Twenty-five years ago, most cities didn\u2019t have tramways, now they do everywhere.\u00a0 Bordeaux where I am presently staying has an exceptional one and now there\u2019s country rail service.<\/p>\n

To put it in a Canadian context, it\u2019s as if all our major cities were connected by rapid rail and when you arrived \u2018en ville\u2019, there was a city tram way waiting at the door \u2013 which you have to ride to believe.\u00a0 Bordeaux new system is powered by underground wiring, is large, flexible and fast. If you wish to rent a car, you\u2019ll find the French expressways are tolled, but are in much better shape than our largest roads.\u00a0 All of this local and national investment is not going to disappear if the recession deepens and world trade contracts.\u00a0 It will be there serving people, making life easier, more attractive and more successful.<\/p>\n

photo by Anthony Abbot<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is an extraordinary thing happening in France, the little villages are growing, not declining.\u00a0 More than a 1,000 villages this year will apply to be reclassified as towns based on the fact that their population now exceeds 2,000 people.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t surprise me because everywhere I travel I see signs of this resurgence andContinue reading “Village restoration on rails: one Euro to the seaside”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7083,"featured_media":0,"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":[5302],"tags":[3968,3971,485,3967,3969,1437,865,3965,3402,3401,929,3970,394,3966,3324,348,725],"class_list":["post-6827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","tag-anthony-abbot","tag-brits","tag-clive-doucet-on-cities","tag-electric-car","tag-eur","tag-food-2","tag-france","tag-mediterranean","tag-national-football-league","tag-nfl","tag-north-america","tag-oakland-raiders","tag-ottawa","tag-pilot-services","tag-player","tag-transportation","tag-usd"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nVillage restoration on rails: one Euro to the seaside - 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