We don’t usually signal articles that aren’t available online, but I feel the need to make an exception for the delighful and informative “The Walking Man” by Philip Preville in the current issue of Maisonneuve magazine. A meditation on the intersection of Dupont and Christie, which the author lived near and crossed constantly for three years, the article ranges across issues from why pedestrians really cross against the flashing hand to how Toronto has absorbed massive amounts of new traffic within the existing grid, all the while personalizing the characters of Walking Man, his nemesis Raised Right Hand, and their mediator, Flashing Hand, who between them controlled his innumerable crossings in those years.
Walking Man deserves a big hug for shepherding people safely across the street … I resented Raised Right Hand for controlling my access to Walking Man, the grid’s happy, permissive bon vivant.
I had no idea, for example, that the flashing hand was only introduced in Toronto as recently as 1990. The article is a must for all infrastructure fetishists — if you can’t afford the cover price, sneak a read in a bookstore.
