Recreation on a Major Brazilian Avenue
HAVANA TIMES – Near the neighborhood where I live, about a 10-minute walk away, Presidente Wenceslau Braz Avenue connects important parts of the city of Curitiba. With over 30 years of existence, it is not only a useful and visually pleasant roadway, but also home to several initiatives by the city government aimed at making this a better city.
Its median is quite wide and forms a green area with trees. It has a kind of concrete walkway on each side where locals cycle, run, or walk in the mornings. It features two skateparks, a basketball court and a tennis court, several playgrounds, outdoor gyms, among other attractions.
Connected to some marginalized areas of the city, such as Parolin, a neighborhood that houses one of the city’s most dangerous favelas, these attractions often draw in young people who are interested in sports or physical activity. I believe it’s a good way to reduce crime without resorting to repressive measures.
The avenue is lined with businesses that range from an electric company to restaurants, car dealerships, art galleries, jiu-jitsu studios, gyms, and private daycare centers. The Southern Circular bus route also runs along it, and as its name suggests, it covers a large part of the city’s southern zone, connecting important outlying neighborhoods with residential and commercial areas.
This avenue, which measures about 5 kilometers, is named after an important Brazilian lawyer and politician who served as constitutional president from 1914 to 1918. One of his main contributions was the first Brazilian Civil Code, considered advanced for its time.
Likewise, Braz promoted national industrialization during the context of World War I, due to the difficulties of importing manufactured goods from Europe at the time.
I think it’s excellent that such an important historical figure is honored through this avenue. Four Brazilian municipalities also bear his name — two of them in Minas Gerais, one in São Paulo, and another in the same state of Paraná.