This is the back room roof of a house that faces Somerset St, as seen from Percy street. I love the green roof plantings, the ecological clothes dryer, the cozy spot tucked away from the commercial frontages. Continue reading Somerset-Percy Green Roof
Some of the Toronto and Ottawa papers have had stories about a proposed safe injection site. I was part of a focus group for that study. I was “representing” neighborhood citizens from the Dalhousie catchment area. Most people who watch the news or read about current affairs will be familair with the distressful situation in Vancouver’s downtown east side (DTE). There, hundreds if not thousands of drug addicts congreate and shoot up in public, buying the drugs openly. It is a miserable scenario. As part of government actions concerning this (I say concerning, because helping and other words are value … Continue reading Safe Injection Site (revised*)
The Ottawa Civic Hospital Community Assoc. held a meeting on Tuesday evening. On the agenda was the 855 Carling Ave project proposed by Arnon Developments. They already own the two red brick office towers on Carling between Preston and Rochester (a site I vaguely recall might already have planning approval for a third tower?) – From their planning documents I had concluded in my post a few days ago that this was a rezoning well in advance of any project, but at the meeting it became clear that this project might proceed in the near future, and my interpretation was … Continue reading 855 Carling, part ii
Mother Goose better watch her feet in the Ottawa River ! Continue reading Aligators amongst wildlife in Ottawa River …
in May, NCC path is laid, looking south from Wellington in August, Claridge lays path behind 200 Lett St condo Now Claridge may not be the fastest developer in town, but he is finally implementing the landscaping around the 200 Lett Street yellow-brick condo tower on LeBreton Flats. The path behind the condo, along the tailrace/aquaduct, is being laid and connected to the NCC path. The path is laid to City of Ottawa standards, as spec’d to Claridge in the subdivision agreement. Look at the not-yet-paved gravel path in picture two, which extends the NCC path. Notice that the new … Continue reading How Wide is a Bike Path ?
new wall, 18″ highexisting wall, 6-8′ ft, depending on location and which side of the wall wall removed, south side of park, along St Frances St.St Francois school in back right There is a large green park behind St Frances church, the Hintonburg community centre, and St Francois school. Formerly religious grounds, the property is enclosed on the east and south by stone walls. About 25 years ago, when the City acquired the lands, window slots were cut into the walls and a few sections lowered to permit oversight into the park from Fairmont and St Frances avenues. A year … Continue reading St Francis Park
view from temporary path towards north end of Pooley’s Bridgeview north along the temp path towards Wellington –Pooley’s bridge is an historic stone arch bridge over the aquaduct/tailrace at the foot of Bronson hill. It permits pedestrians and cyclists direct access from the downtown via Commissioner St (that part of “Bronson” that extends downhill north of Albert) to LeBreton Flats. It was renovated and restored a few years ago, for pedestrian and cyclist traffic only, but then was promptly closed when Fleet Street was closed to public access during construction of residences on LeBreton Flats.–I have been part of the … Continue reading Pooley’s Bridge Re-opens
On Wed. Sept 16th there will be a presentation on ways for householders and ordinary people to save energy and reduce their carbon footprint. The presentation will be held at the Montgomery Legion hall.For more info: http://www.seventhgeneration.ca/projects.html Continue reading Energy saving seminar
Luigi is the mascot/image for Preston Street. His image on signs reminds people that the restaurants and businesses are still open. I found this Luigi sitting on a doorstep on Preston Street near Primrose. – During Bluesfest and the following classical music nights, I noticed people taking pictures of themselves with Luigi signs at the corner of Preston-Albert. Weird, I thought. But then there is the picture above showing a passerby loving Luigi. Maybe the BIA has something here …. Continue reading Lonely Luigi
The Ottawa Chinatown Gateway project aims to construct a Chinese archway over Somerset Street at Cambridge, in the heart of the Asian district, just west of Bronson. See photoshop picture at the top. – There are already Chinatown archways in many North American cities, including one just opened in Toronto. However, Ottawa’s will be the only one with status of a Royal Archway, suitable for an Emperor to pass under. Ottawa is twinned with Beijing, which has supplied the design of the archway and the materials. – Gathered together this morning to announce the construction and design were politicians (Mayor … Continue reading Chinatown Arch Unveiled
On Sunday evening I saw this hilarious image on Preston Street, a few feet south of the Qway overpass. The equipment is a giant excavator with a heavy ram attached to it. It was used to puncture the pavement of Preston where it goes under the Qway. The road surface was then pushed away, allowing a regular shovel to fit under the underpass to dig the trench for the new sewer and utilities. – Some one draped the machine in toilet paper, perhaps from the yellow structure in the background. Delightful contrast of man and machine, double ply strength, etc. Continue reading Gulliver and the Toilet Paper
I am all in favour of mixed use neighborhoods. The success of mixed use depends on compatible uses and neighborly spirit. Unfortunately, our neighborhood has several examples of ill-fitting or incompatible land uses. In the past, I have high lighted the blight of Cousin Eddy’s and Chado’s body shops on Booth Street. As a result of complaints by myself and other members of the Dalhousie Community Assoc the clutter of signage was reduced, garbage, old tires etc was picked up. However, the mysteriously absent trees from the side boulevard remain unreplaced. A blog reader (Thank you !) has alerted me … Continue reading Eyesore for sale
The City carved a public parking lot out of the south end of the Adult (formerly Commerce) High School playing fields a year or two ago. Between the lot and Preston is a boulevard of green grass, a fence, and a strip of perennials. – I have called the city’s engineers on this site more than once, to get the contractors to remove the heavy equipment and supplies they sometimes dump on top of this garden. All the contractor site guys I talk to on Preston are really nice … so why do they think no one will notice when … Continue reading The Little Garden That Could
855 Carling is a parking lot bounded by the OTrain Carling Station, Champagne Avenue S, and Carling Avenue. Immediately west of the site is the CMPA office buildings and beyond that is the Merion Square townhouse and two apartment towers being built by Domicile. The site is currently used as a park and ride lot for the Civic Hospital. The lot is owned by Arnon Developments, which tore down Campbell Steel and related industrial works on the site a number of years ago. The photo above is taken from Carling Ave near the Otrain Station, looking northwest. – The planning … Continue reading 855 Carling Avenue
The World Exchange Plaza has some delightful garden space. It is hard to believe this attractive patch of green is downtown at Queen/Metcalfe, and is on the roof of the parking garage, and available for anyone to enjoy. Continue reading WEP Green Roof
We have all heard the “jokes” about a new employee at the civil service/union shop working diligently and being reprimanded by the existing employees to “not work so fast”. – Those stories came to mind this week while cyling past Britannia Park. There was a young male driving a large lawn mower, obviously a “summer student”. He was clearly having fun driving the mower, he was moving very fast. I stopped to see if he could actually mow the lawn at that speed, and it looked fine. A few hundred yards further east, an older man was driving another mower. … Continue reading Grass is Greener ….
This high metal fence surrounds the brownfields development just east of the Rideau Centre, near Daly. It is immediately striking to the passer by, because of its high height. My first thought was its like prison fence. But it is to keep people out, not in. Accross the street is the Mission. The curbsides there are held down by persons sitting on the edge of the road, edge planters, edge of street closures. – It is not a pretty sight. Nor a vibrant streetscape. Continue reading Untitled
midway between Cumberland and King Edward east of Cumberland west of Cumberland These three pictures are taken on the same street in the Market, a few hundred feet apart. The red brick condo is a full block west of the Shepherds of Good Hope. It is a renovated building, open green lawn, no fence.– The gray building is gutted, windowless, abandonned. It is one half block east of the red brick condo in the other picture, on the other side of Cumberland cross street. The street is just as busy … it’s still far enough from King Edward to be … Continue reading What a difference a block makes … and who your neighbors are
Just a few blocks east of the unveiled Cambridge corner store signs, is a house that always gives me pleasure to walk past. It is at the corner of Lisgar and Bay. Note the bricked up store windows, the too-small replacement window, the missing corner door, the old painted signage on the brickwork. – Someday I am sure someone will “improve” this house with a coat of paint or (shudder) aluminum siding. And then the story it tells will be lost. This house is like a friend on the street, a very old friend, showing what life used to be … Continue reading Historical signage
I am not a great fan of aluminum or plastic siding. Who knows what sins are hidden behind the smooth facade, what is rotting the soul of a building? I do like metal siding in some applications, usually when it is designed into a building from the beginning. And I like corrugated metal much better than the fake-board version. At the corner of Primrose and Cambridge is a corner store with apartments above. Expand on the pictures to notice the addition that was built onto the orginal structure and that is now “separating” from the main structure. Notice too the … Continue reading Behind the Siding
The first photo shows a black cormorant ( I think … I googled the name and it seems to me to match) on the Ottawa River near Lemieux Island. If I recall correctly, cormorants are rapidly becomming an invasive species and are moving en masse into the Ottawa area having already over run the Great Lakes. It seems bird populations have bubbles just like our economy. Back in university, didnt they call it the boom/bust cycle? I first saw these birds about 3 years ago, there were a lot more last year, and this year I see them by the … Continue reading Bird sightings along the Ottawa River
1.gravel fill 2.vegetation coverage 3. front yard hosta on red stone mulch 4.pea stone driveway 5.permeable pavement patio 6.ye old water barrel 7.gravel drip line along garage I think it is possible to retain almost all of the water that lands on a lot. The biggest benefits come easiest: reduce impermeable paved areas, provide soft areas to absorb rain, store rain on site. – The above photos all come from my 29×100 downtown lot. The lot line is less than 2 feet from the city sidewalk. Photo one shows a retaining wall under the fence at the back lot line, … Continue reading Small Lot Water Retention
I feel empathy for the residents flooded in recent heavy rains. I live in a neighborhood area that has suffered sewer backups/flooding in the past (although not this year that I know of…). I dread the thought of having to tear up my basement etc. But a common thread throughout the media reporting on the flood really bothers me. “The City should … the City must … it’s the city’s fault…” Why are we so quick to blame the City and want taxpayers to cover the cost of our personal losses? All over the City, in surburban or urban areas, … Continue reading Flooding Responsibility
Every festival has impacts external to the site it operates on. These get managed in different ways. Winterlude and the Tulip Festival have numerous events along the canal, abutting neighborhoods like the Golden Triangle and The Glebe. For both these festivals, shuttle buses run along the canal to get crowds to and from the event sites. This distributes parking impacts over a larger area. It also means the City Hall garage and Lansdowne Park parking lots get used. For Bluesfest, there are no shuttle services, leaving adjacent neighborhoods to suffer from a huge influx of parkers. This is most noticeable … Continue reading Festival Externalities
I never cease to be amazed at what I see along the NCC Ottawa River bikepaths. At dusk the other evening, I watched a group of people with a large trebuchet (a seige engine of the catapult family) flinging objects several hundred metres across the lawns. In the picture above, the upper triangular object is the counterweight, the fulcum is in the centre of the tripod of posts, and the weight to be flung (in earlier days this could have been a stone to break fortification walls or a dead body to fling over the walls to spread terror or … Continue reading More Observed Wildlife …
