Category: City Living

Albert St, City Living

Mysterious construction

Westsideaction

Travellers along Albert west of Booth can justifiably be mystified by the construction project in front* of the Ottawa Community Housing project. The new wood fence constructed a year or two ago has been demolished and the gardens dug up. No ped detour is necessary, it seems. According to OCH, the problem is that the brick wall is on a concrete foundation. It isn’t very far out from the building foundations. Moisture gets trapped in the soil, saturates it, and cause leaks and mold in the housing. The amount and repetitiveness of repairs to these units has astounded me for … Continue reading Mysterious construction

City Living, downtown

Maclaren Tower – bye bye red brick

Westsideaction

The two photos above are of the senior’s residence on Maclaren street. The photos were taken from the small part of the apartment lot that opens onto Somerset, beside Hartman’s grocery store. New balcony railings were installed earlier. Now framing is being attached to the red brick tower to put a new skin on the building (and hopefully upgrade the insulation at the same time). Soon, the only brick visible will be on the inset balconies, and the traditional red brick residential look will become some sort of panel exterior. This makes an interesting project for sidewalk superintendents. Continue reading Maclaren Tower – bye bye red brick

City Living, downtown

Maclaren Tower – bye bye red brick

Westsideaction

The two photos above are of the senior’s residence on Maclaren street. The photos were taken from the small part of the apartment lot that opens onto Somerset, beside Hartman’s grocery store. New balcony railings were installed earlier. Now framing is being attached to the red brick tower to put a new skin on the building (and hopefully upgrade the insulation at the same time). Soon, the only brick visible will be on the inset balconies, and the traditional red brick residential look will become some sort of panel exterior. This makes an interesting project for sidewalk superintendents. Continue reading Maclaren Tower – bye bye red brick

Albert St, City Living, streetscaping

The City taketh away …

Westsideaction

Just a block down Albert Street from the new tree planting at the parking lots, the City has removed a dozen trees from their City Living housing projects. These trees were in front of the project at the corner of Albert and Booth, and Albert and Rochester (the trees were removed on the Rochester street side) and the corner of Albert and Preston. As shown in the pictures, these were mature trees, planted about 25 years ago when the housing projects were built. The housing is now undergoing “renewal” by recladding the stucco with artificial wood; and removing the brick sound … Continue reading The City taketh away …

City Living, drug issues, hintonburg, housing policy, transitional housing

Conversion to Transitional Housing

Westsideaction

This elderly blue-clad apartment building on Holland Avenue just north of the Queensway has been purchased by the Ottawa Mission for use as transitional housing. Acording to Ms Vicki’s neighborhood blog the Mission intends for its clientele to occupy about half the units. She does not identify who will occupy the other half – presumably it is market rentals. I support the move to transitional and supportive housing. I strongly feel they need close supervision and much more “tough love” than laissez-faire. I have three “second hand” experiences with apartment buildings undergoing similar changes. In one, my aunt was a long term … Continue reading Conversion to Transitional Housing

Albert St, City Living, cycling in Ottawa, LeBreton Flats, Ottawa, Preston street2 Comments

City Living Renovations (Lite)

Westsideaction

City Living is renovating their housing units along Albert St. They were originally built in 1980 as the first part of rebuilding the LeBreton Flats neighborhood. Jim Watson, once and possibly future mayor of our fair burg, was recently on-site for a photo-op (when else do politicians come out into the real world?). I thought it interesting that the Citizen story mentioned energy efficiency as part of the renovations. The renovations shown in the picture are exterior. New wood product siding is being put over the stucco exteriors. They are adding house wrap first, which reduces drafts and moisture infiltration, … Continue reading City Living Renovations (Lite)