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Illustration by Marley Allen-Ash
“You’re a corner person!” my friend exclaimed as he drove me home. “I’m a corner person too!” he added with a big grin pulling into my driveway. I was intrigued by this “corner person” concept and began to reflect on my role and responsibility in the neighbourhood.
Many people avoid corner lots. I like the idea, not minding the usual responsibilities of snow clearing and property management. To quote Jane Jacobs, “there must be eyes upon the street, eyes belonging to those we might call the proprietors of the street.” With my large corner windows and many vantage points, Jacobs would be pleased that my eyes can scan my whole corner. Some people avoid corner houses for their vulnerability. I guess I’m one of the few that actually embraces this.
You can enrich the lives of neighbours and passersby, my friend explained earlier, to create connections. You are the hinge between two neighbourhoods. Jacobs also talked about this community-based approach to city building. At the height of the pandemic, I began a COVID-kindness project. Living on a corner, it was the prime location and over the past four years, I’ve grown many different herbs, in pots and containers at the edge of my driveway. Neighbours from far and wide walk by and then stop to snip a few herbs for their dinner plans, which they’ve shared with me.
There were growing pains of course and some laughs, too. When I first started, my signage wasn’t clear and I awoke to find my herbs dug out and taken. I started over and moved the herb project to the end of my driveway and of course, made the signage clearer. Success! The original herbs were returned, obviously a misunderstanding. Over the years, the herb project has led to many conversations, thank you notes tucked in the herbs and Christmas gifts. One woman asked to contribute and brought me a sage plant to add to the collection. Feeling this purpose became contagious. Is this how a city functions? Cities can bring people together, and the corner lot person facilities this beautifully.
“You build community by living on a corner,” my friend said. In my case, it’s the newspaper project I began three years ago. After reading the papers myself, I put them out on a little table with a sign, “Help yourself to a newspaper.” Many come for the papers and there’s become some friendly competition for different publications, I’ve heard people estimate at what time my papers will be out on the table.
You have to be committed to your neighbourhood, my friend reminded me. Corners are critical junctures, meeting places and hangouts for people and dogs alike. Recently I received a thank you card with cookies from a dog owner who appreciates my yard for his dog. Condos have sprung up all around my corner lot’s prime real estate and the fact that I have a lot of open space makes me a dog park of sorts. More signage asks neighbours to clean up after their dogs, and they oblige. That’s a commitment from both sides.
Every Christmas, my friend creates a magical holiday window in his neighbourhood, which includes a slide show with a musical loop of 19 songs. As people walk by his corner in the darkness, their lives are brightened by this creative display of joy. When I finally stopped by, it warmed my heart.
My friend also likes to leave coins from all over the world on his sidewalk for passersby to pick up and wonder about. He also put designs into his sidewalk using a water seal so that messages and graphics appear only when it rains. It promotes new conversations and interactions, all from small acts of kindness using a sidewalk as a canvas.
Aside from these creative endeavours, he goes above and beyond the corner person role by hosting a social event every weekend. His neighbours meet and get caught up over coffee and scones.
Jane Jacobs asked us to examine our lives and environment knowing that grassroots initiatives are the key to community and healthy city building. Thinking back to my friend and his corner-person comment, he knew this all along.
Do you now aspire to be a corner person? Let’s meet at my corner to discuss further!
Susan Marchiori lives in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont.