by Claudia Chan | On Sundays, some go to church, some spend the day recovering from Saturday night debauchery, and some fine folk congregate at a neighbourhood roundabout. There’s nothing quite like a fair-weathered Sunday afternoon with a premium cup of Matchstick coffee in hand and conversation among new and old friends sitting in the middle of, well, a traffic circle.

Julien Thomas is the visionary behind transforming this glorious roundabout on St. George and Tenth into what one could possibly deem Vancouver’s smallest park. On every Sunday since the month of March, he’s hosted barbecques, tea parties and afternoon gardening sessions on the main bike artery running through the heart of Mount Pleasant.

The loitering-abouts of several persons in the middle of the street has undoubtedly piqued the curiosity of many passerbys in their cars and on their bikes. Many are compelled to stop and join in or holler words of approval from their cars as they transit through. The traffic circle has become a centralized community hub for folks to meet and be chummy with one another, encouraging them to take ownership of their green spaces in the city.

The adoption of this roundabout is one of Julien’s few eco-art projects where he hopes to increase accessibility to nature through streets to park transformation. The ultimate goal is to see more and more streets used to bring neighbours together, getting them to think about reprioritizing our roads for people over cars. You can come by on any given Sunday and enjoy the company of traffic circle frequenters, the greenery, and a cup of heart-warming East Van goodness.

Julien is currently seeking community member(s) to take over the traffic circle in the upcoming months. If you’re keen to get involved or find out more about the project, visit gatherround.ca or e-mail [email protected].

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