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3 months ago
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Since 2016, a local man has walked nearly 3,000 km through routes in Guelph, Hamilton, Toronto and beyond to get to know the areas where natural and urban environments collide.
What started as a way for Trevor Heywood to learn more about where he lived turned into a website called Metroscapes, where he documents his six-to-eight-hour walks through photos, videos, maps and data.
It’s his way of advocating for spaces to be publicly accessible and seamlessly connected through paths between urban developments and natural elements like rivers.
Heywood is originally from St. Thomas then moved to Guelph for university to study environmental sciences before moving to Toronto for work. He made his way back to Guelph to grow his family. When he lived in St. Thomas, he didn’t know much about the world, but coming to Guelph opened it up for him.
More than 90 per cent of Guelph’s riverbanks are publicly accessible, said Heywood.
He considers the river Guelph’s biggest shoreline and would like it to be 100 per cent publicly accessible. He referred to the United Kingdom's right to roam, where people can walk through privately owned land.
An example he pointed out while walking along a path behind the Metalworks buildings between Arthur Street and Wellington Street, is the use of space where the Speed River can still be accessed next to the development through a public path.
For a long time the urban landscape was humans conquering nature, said Heywood.
Toronto, for example, is busy, noisy, polluted and has large public squares and malls. Sometimes people need an escape from environments like this and spend time in nature.
Now things are a bit more progressive when it comes to urban planning.
“You have all this new housing going up, new commercial spaces, and it just bleeds naturally. You can just wander not even a minute, and you're in a natural space. So I think there is beauty in being able to achieve that,” he said.
As much as his website shows areas of Guelph he stressed the importance for people to walk the paths themselves to get the full experience.
Metroscapes had an interactive map that shows every documented walk Heywood has gone on. He distinguished the walks by type; riverine, shoreline, utility and railway/highway. The data he collects ranges from what parts of the riverbanks are public or private, to how many hectares Guelph’s watersheds are.
He collects the data because it can give citizens tools to push for better spaces in their cities. It will also become an archive of photos and videos to see how the environment has changed and what has been improved.
Some of the barriers he’s noticed are things like highways or wastewater treatment plants that can’t be accessed. But he’d like to bridge those gaps and have governments or private landowners negotiate to compromise so walking paths can be made around those environments.
With Metroscapes, he’s trying to get people to buy into his philosophy that having public spaces be connected and barrier free is a good thing. He hopes people add their voices to the chorus to get engaged and speak up.
“If I can provide all these inspiring pictures and tools and information that it motivates them to get to that point, well, then that makes a bigger, stronger chorus,” said Heywood.
Since Heywood has walked nearly 3,000 km, about 700 km of that in Guelph and the Tri-Cities, you may be wondering where his favourite place in the city is. It was hard for him to choose but down the Eramosa River, east of Victoria Road, there is a footpath that leads to a cliff where there is an outcrop.
“This photo is not doing it justice,” he said.
It’s not like he was in northern Ontario where he would expect to see something like this. He was in his own city.
“So this is why people should get out there and explore because you find things like this, where you're just absolutely mind blown,” he said.
In the future, he hopes to turn Metroscapes into a full-time job.
“I want to be at the forefront in leading that conversation, but I'm not there yet, so I'm just happy to provide the information today,” said Heywood.
