Many of this blog’s visitors are outside the Philippines, accessing the blog perhaps as a way to touch base with a place they perhaps used to visit or call home. This blog entry is dedicated to their — and our — early memories of this place.
People living in this part of Quezon City up to the mid-1980s will remember Commonwealth — then Don Mariano Marcos Avenue — very differently from what it is like now. Then, it was a dusty, two-lane asphalt road that seemed to have been carved straight out of the earth, what with the rich, red of clay showing in unpaved sections of the road. Traffic was still very manageable — so there were no pedestrian overpasses and no Tandang Sora flyover. Cars and jeeps still drove in straight lines, and pedestrians could count on crossing the street without fear of being run over.
At the time, anything farther north from UP Diliman was no man’s land. That’s how that old joke about Fairview actually being “Far-view” must have come about. In fact, I’ve met a number of people for whom driving or commuting by jeep to this area back then was a experience they described as “nakakatakot” (scary) because of how far from “civilization” and from all things familiar this place was. With very few buildings and commercial establishments in the area, there were hardly any landmarks to guide visitors. The upside to this, of course, were unobstructed views of the mountains during the day, and clear, starry skies at night. And plenty of fresh, clean air to go around.
The stretch of road from Commonwealth to Ever alone has changed so noticeably since those days. For one thing, the highway — for that’s what Commonwealth has become — is about 6 lanes in either direction, and road widening seems to take place every year. In place of stop lights, there are U-turn slots to ease the traffic. Pedestrian overpasses (footbridges, as the Metro Manila Development Authority, or MMDA, call them) keep pedestrians safe while keeping vehicular traffic flowing smoothly.
Buildings, gasoline stations, restaurants, and stores now line the highway. Perhaps because of such signs of progress, this part of Quezon City now seems not too far from anything. The only thing that might be “scary” about coming here is the speeding, swerving cars, jeeps, and buses.
(We hope to soon post a few photos to show how the area has changed. Unfortunately, I personally have no photos of the area from earlier years, so contributions are most welcome. If you have any photos of this part of Quezon City from 20 years ago or even more, please consider sharing them on this blog.)
