There are, it seems, cities of happiness. Places where life is good. No trash cans or smell of dead rats. Healthy cities where town planning respects humans. In this dream city, the lampposts refer a beautiful pink light.
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Happiness cultivates it with everyone’s contribution. People sweep the sidewalk every morning in front of their homes and repain the public benches whose painting is glowing while humming their happiness of living in a haven of peace. I exaggerate of course.
Nor is it the reality of the “happy” citizens of Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures and Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Top 1 and 2 of the survey of the cities of light happiness.
In these two small cities, each of the 20,000 inhabitants, however, benefits from a surrounding nature and a tight municipal management. It takes that to be happy. These two cities also apply three basic rules: “asphalt, trash, snow removal”. Had to think about it!
We are content with little
Poor Montreal and Laval, still at the bottom of the list. The largest cities in Quebec are drowning in a sea of social issues that go beyond them. And the government watches them flow. In Quebec, road congestion worthy of large capitals without having their infrastructure. In Gatineau, social inequalities explode, as in Trois-Rivières, where homelessness is a real issue.
How can we say that we live happy when we give ourselves a note of 73%? There are limits to be in denial.
I come back to Montreal, which has become the scene of various conflicts and frustrations. Sometimes I just want to make my boxes and plant it there, on the sidewalk. “It’s enough, Montreal, you exasperate me, stop without me.”
What makes a city happy?
Examples? Copenhagen, Zurich, Helsinki. Cities where quality of life is an assumed political objective. Urban decisions are made with and not against the population. Happy cities are those who consult the most those who live there. We think of the pedestrian, the cyclist, but we do not demonize the motorist.
We invest in public services instead of letting them crumble. We put on calm, cleanliness, proximity, access to culture, nature and affordable housing.
With us, some small towns manage to create an amazing quality of life thanks to courageous choices. But still too many decision -makers think the city as a space to develop and not as a place to live. The social fabric crumbles. Public space belongs only to those who scream the strongest.
Everyone at home. Each for oneself.
Can we really talk about collective happiness when it becomes increasingly difficult to take root where we live? As if our cities had trouble taking care of us. Or maybe it was we who stopped taking care of them?