Mississauga city council has voted to keep its residential street sports ban in place, meaning hockey and basketball on the road will remain out of bounds.
The Nov. 6 vote came more than a year-and-a-half after Ward 2 Coun. Alvin Tedjo brought forward a motion aimed at amending the bylaws, noting that some residents have “weaponized” the existing rules to prevent kids from playing on their streets.
Mississauga has observed the ban since 1979. It was amended in 2010 to also include the prohibition of sporting equipment, like hockey and basketball nets, on the roadway.
The curmudgeon in me who can’t stand the sound of a bouncing basketball approves, but really, this is awful. Kids need to play and they need to get outside.
Car centric hell.
There seems to be an obvious and extremely concerning trend in Ontario.
- Clear-cut green spaces for… cars.
- Don’t allow kids to be kids on their own street because of… cars.
- Cyclists aren’t allowed to be safe because of… cars.
- We must remove farms to make way for… cars.
- Can’t breathe clean air because of… cars.
- School areas are a hazard because of… cars.
- Pedestrians aren’t safe using crosswalks with a right of way because of… cars.
While cities and countries all over the world are working hard to return public spaces to the PEOPLE, it seems like Ontario has to give up everything for these metal cages.
Why are we putting up with this?
They also got rid of balls in school playground, because a few kids got hit once in a while. Physical exercise does wonders for kids inherent need for actual play, and their mental health. Ontario is sliding backwards.
Cars and car infrastructure are bankrupting cities, destroying our climate, and paving over our land. EVs don’t really solve most of this problem. We need to stop prioritizing metal boxes over people.
They might have my father’s mentality. More car lanes equals less traffic… He has a small view on life, and thinks short term. He will argue and have tantrums if you try to have a discussion. He is never wrong in his opinion, and will never change his mind.
So many people have never experienced decent mobility outside of a car that they can’t comprehend it.
Yes a trend. This bylaw has been in place since 1979.
This bylaw has been in place since 1979.
Yes, we’ve been prioritizing cars that far back, and have continued the trend.
City council could have voted to give kids the right to use the street, but chose not to.
Wow. Seems anti-childhood. Safety conscious, yes, but still…isn’t there a third way?
Truly being safety conscious would be doing things like traffic calming, removing through routes from side streets, lower speed limits and other solutions that don’t revovle reatriction of children. This does a little bit to improve safety but mostly shifts blame to parents and kids by making it illegal to play in the street, which might be the only outdoor space some kids have access to.
City Council: They could be playing safely in the streets for free, let’s make them play inside for fee!
I read that as street hockey and baseball.
Ya playing hockey on the street makes sense. Where else duh
But who the fuck plays baseball on the street…how the … damage ….road is too narrow
I
Stickball was a thing. We played all the time.
On a lot or a field sure but not on a street with houses and cars around.
Relevant video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPWY9Mka4Io
