Normandy Court wins Best City Block award

Nine-year-old Shae Coffee thinks her street on Normandy Court is the best in the city.

And she has the sign to prove it.

The quiet street off Trotter Road won the Best City Block Award and was presented with a sign at a BBQ event on Tuesday. The city judged the nominated streets based on visual impression, element in landscaping, edge articulation and maintenance.  Normandy Court follows in the footsteps of previous winners including Ridgeway Street, Erindale Street and Ferndale Crescent.

But Shae said she still thinks her street is the best in the city.

“It’s a really nice place and I’ve lived her since I was born,” Shae said. “The best thing about it is probably that I have a lot of friends who live close and I get to decorate my house every year and people come to see it on Halloween. I like that a lot.”

Bob Doucet has lived in the neighbourhood for the past 24 years. Being quiet, and being close to Municipal Golf Course helped to keep Doucet in the area but he said it was that the cul-de-sac offered him a chance to get to know his neighbours.

He said other neighbourhoods on busier streets don’t build those relationships.

“It’s a good place to raise kids,” Doucet said. “In town people don’t know their neighbours. My son lives in town and he knows one neighbour and not the other on the other side. You don’t see that here.”

Jim Kalyta, chairman of the 2012 Best Block award, said the real appeal of the area was when they turned the corner and were blown away by the trees.

Since the awards started two years ago, Kalyta said it’s has benefited the city by making blocks work together in order to make their street the best.

“Normandy Court was chosen because we go for the wow factor,” Kalyta said. “That’s basically the highest points allocated. As soon as you turn the corner, it hits you and you say ‘wow. What a place.’”

Kalyta added the secret to any great neighbourhood is going a bit extra with maintenance.