Defensive architecture on tour (Part 2)

Needs More Spikes’ CRD defensive architecture tour wraps up this week. Find part one here.

Oak Bay

First up this week is Oak Bay! The people in these houses might like their ocean view, but Oak Bay isn’t letting anyone else in on the fun. If the non-homeowning public were allowed to sit down and soak in the view, that could lead to chatting, which could lead to smoking, necking, and heaven knows what else. Rather than tempt fate, there are rocks and rusty fencing cemented in place on the ledge. Views are for homeowners!

And if you’re looking for somewhere else to sit in Oak Bay, you’d better believe the sheltered bus stop bench in Oak Bay Village has a defensive centre arm rest.

Bus stop bench in Oak Bay with defensive centre arm rest.

Saanich

The defensive architecture tour has a strict distracted driving policy, so no original photos here, but these stones at McKenzie and Shelbourne in Saanich are real head turners. Look, but don’t sit, because these rocks aren’t human friendly.

Anti-sitting rocks at McKenzie and Shelbourne. Image source: Google Street View.

Saanich is also mounting its defenses against skateboarders. No grinding on these ledges or these angled benches.

Skater haters on a ledge and bench in Saanich.

Sidney

This Sidney shopping complex cemented rocks in place to make sure its pedestrians don’t sit down on their tiny, out-of-the-way parking lot island.

More art-as-obstruction. Other nearby benches don’t have any statues.

Sidney locks the doors to this public bathroom at 6:00 pm in the fall and winter, and 8:00 pm in the spring and summer, presumably because most of its residents are already fast asleep. The bathroom is open until 9:00 pm for “SIGNIFICANT PUBLIC EVENTS,” though. When my diarrhea becomes a “significant public event” after sundown, Sidney will only have itself to blame.

Sooke

What’s happening in this empty field behind Western Foods in Sooke? No camping, that’s what, per the sign. There was a discussion in 2017 about turning this area into a dog park to displace homeless people who were camping back here. Gross.

Sooke has bus stop benches that take their defences to another level, including leaners. You can’t even sit on these ones, let alone lie down, and forget about trying anything on the benches with fake armrests on the other side of the shelter, either. I’ve seen leaner benches in Saanich as well. In another Sooke bus shelter there’s a bench with raised metal bars that drop the pretense of being armrests; those metal protrusions are transparently there to keep people from lying down, and nothing more.

Victoria

Most of this website is about defensive architecture in Victoria, so the CRD tour didn’t make an official stop here. Check out the home page!

View Royal

This alphabetical-order defensive architecture tour ends in the municipality of View Royal, which I’ve pointed out on the map below. It’s a tricky one! (I wasn’t exactly sure where View Royal was until I did this tour; sorry View Royal!)

The benches in View Royal’s Quality Foods complex (Eagle Creek Village) have armrests that are set just a bit in from the ends, shortening the usable room on the bench to a level that might be uncomfortable to lie down on.

The same complex also put up this oddly-positioned sign telling people that they aren’t permitted to “loiter,” skateboard, or “in-line skate.” Any sign that says “no loitering” could easily read “poor and homeless people not welcome,” or different intersectional variants, but that would violate the societal norms that allow for defensive architecture in the first place.

And it’s called rollerblading, folks. Just write “rollerblading.”

Conclusion

If this had been an actual tour I’d have offered you some mini Ritz, but apart from that there’s no big takeaway here. Defensive architecture is anti-poor, anti-homeless garbage when it’s in downtown Victoria, and it’s anti-poor, anti-homeless garbage wherever it appears throughout the region.