This week’s featured comment comes from Katie Pirquet, who comments on
Ryan Gravel‘s TED Talk:
How an old loop of railroads is changing the face of a city. Katie’s comment was the perfect follow-up to watching Ryan’s talk, and a great travel tip for anyone who was really interested in Ryan’s idea! It makes me long to visit Vancouver, picture how my current community would utilize something similar, and long for a loop of up-cycled railroads to call our own in every city. Wouldn’t it be great if other community members followed suit, and shared their stories of the urban parks in their cities?
Katie Pirquet’s comment: Victoria, BC in Canada has long enjoyed a resurrected rail bed known as the “Galloping Goose Trail”, named after a noisy, gasoline-fired locomotive that plied its routes long ago. The trail extends from an abandoned gold rush town (Leechtown), 10km from Sooke, BC, some 30km to downtown Victoria, with a branch that wanders about the same distance up the Saanich Peninsula to the town of Sidney. Check it out on Google Maps. It is heavily used by commuters on bikes, walkers, hikers, and joggers. The Trail is accessible to everyone, with safe crossings at many roadways and no big hills. Many sections are paved, others maintained with packed gravel and/or chips. It passes through a few parks on its way, giving access to them, too. The Galloping Goose Trail has become an important feature of the Vancouver Island outdoor-loving lifestyle, and will remain so even if the corridors one day become shared with some form of light transit. Vancouver Islanders love to get “out there”, rain or shine, and the GGT is one of our favourite amenities!
Katie Pirquet’s comment: Victoria, BC in Canada has long enjoyed a resurrected rail bed known as the “Galloping Goose Trail”, named after a noisy, gasoline-fired locomotive that plied its routes long ago. The trail extends from an abandoned gold rush town (Leechtown), 10km from Sooke, BC, some 30km to downtown Victoria, with a branch that wanders about the same distance up the Saanich Peninsula to the town of Sidney. Check it out on Google Maps. It is heavily used by commuters on bikes, walkers, hikers, and joggers. The Trail is accessible to everyone, with safe crossings at many roadways and no big hills. Many sections are paved, others maintained with packed gravel and/or chips. It passes through a few parks on its way, giving access to them, too. The Galloping Goose Trail has become an important feature of the Vancouver Island outdoor-loving lifestyle, and will remain so even if the corridors one day become shared with some form of light transit. Vancouver Islanders love to get “out there”, rain or shine, and the GGT is one of our favourite amenities!