Category: little Italy

Bayview Otrain, interprovincial transit study, LeBreton Flats, little Italy, LRT, O-Train, Prince of Wales Bridge6 Comments

Light Rail and the SW (OTrain) route

Westsideaction

I am constantly amazed at what I hear about light rail planning in the City. I have to conclude it doesn’t matter what happens, people will simple reinterpret it (twist it) to fit their own preconceived agenda. It is part of the hyper-partisan-ization of our society that I find distressing. There was a SW transit plan under Mayor Chiarelli. It ran on street surface in the downtown, accross the Flats and Dalhousie neighborhoods,  and turned south at Bayswater, ran along the OTrain line, managed to miss the airport, to Riverside,  to the new Strandherd Bridge over the Rideau and thence … Continue reading Light Rail and the SW (OTrain) route

LeBreton Flats, little Italy, Preston street1 Comment

Preston Street meteorite identified ?

Westsideaction

The large stone-like lump arrived on Preston Street near Albert earlier this week. Its about 2m on each dimension, and very heavy. – It has no handle, ductwork, conduits, cables, bolt holes, or other humanly useful features. Why on earth would someone have made this giant lump of concrete? Or maybe no one on earth made it … its a meteorite made of Luigite ! Continue reading Preston Street meteorite identified ?

little Italy, pedestrians, Preston street3 Comments

Why the wider corner ?

Westsideaction

SW corner of Albert/Preston.Note the red line that cuts off the sidewalk. I really do think our city has too many roads, too wide, and despite the claims of being cycle or pedestrian friendly, too much of what gets done is car traffic friendly first and foremost. – I recall working with city staff on a project for Booth Street with the specific mandate to calm traffic and to reduce the volume of traffic on the street. The engineers/planners came back with ideas to widen the intersections, add additional lane space, etc. – Now Preston Street, after 16 years of … Continue reading Why the wider corner ?

infill, little Italy, Young street2 Comments

Young Street Infill Housing

Westsideaction

view from Champagne S. looking west Champagne S will extend a hundred feet more to the Qway right of way, presumably it will eliminate this parking lot rendering of houses seen from the southThe vacant property runs along the south side of the Queensway, starting near St Mary’s Church, opposite the City Living housing, and running down towards the OTrain railway cut. It has at varies times been proposed for townhouses, apartments, or Qway off ramps. At the foot of Young is a pedestrian bridge over the cut to the other segment of Young, where Young St Motors is located, … Continue reading Young Street Infill Housing

little Italy, Preston street, Primrose3 Comments

Lonely Luigi

Westsideaction

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

little Italy, Preston street1 Comment

Gulliver and the Toilet Paper

Westsideaction

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

little Italy, streetscaping

The Little Garden That Could

Westsideaction

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, Bayview-Carling CDP, Dows Lake, little Italy, LRT, O-Train

855 Carling Avenue

Westsideaction

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

green roofs, little Italy, streetscaping1 Comment

Small Lot Water Retention

Westsideaction

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

little Italy, plant recreation centre, Plouffe Park, Preston street2 Comments

Flooding Responsibility

Westsideaction

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

Albert St, Bayview, Bluesfest, Booth St, City Hall, Dalhousie, Dows Lake, LeBreton Flats, little Italy, Preston street5 Comments

Festival Externalities

Westsideaction

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

Booth St, Claridge, condos, LeBreton Flats, little Italy, Preston street

Recession Over ?

Westsideaction

New housing starts is a good leading indicator of economic confidence. Builders must get their product started a year or more before it is to be occupied. _ Three new residential projects have begun in the west side area. The top picture shows the excavation for the second tower of Claridge’s project on LeBreton Flats. If you look closely, you can see the base for the high crane has been installed on the right side of the hole, near Fleet Street which leads to Pooley’s Bridge and the downtown. _ Picture 2 shows the demolition of two older housing units … Continue reading Recession Over ?

little Italy, Preston street1 Comment

Where’s Luigi??

Westsideaction

It is good to see the Preston BIA trying to make the best of the holey-mess that is Preston Street this year. The exposed sewer pipes are big enough to run the little Fiat baby cars through, like in The Italian Job movie. Hey, now that Fiat owns Chrysler, maybe we will see those baby cars again ! I have fond memories of my first sighting of these mini-Fiats (so small they make the Smart Car look like a Hummer) in Rome in the 70’s, the generally skinny male driver, the 400lb momma in the front seat, grandma all dressed … Continue reading Where’s Luigi??

little Italy, Preston street

Bellagio Fountains on Preston Street

Westsideaction

click to enlarge On Monday, around 1pm, residents near the Primrose / Preston intersection were treated to a fine preview of the new fountains proposed for Preston Street. Shooting 20m into the air, the Bellagio-inspired waterworks show was a crowd pleaser. Later, smaller fountains displays were demonstrated, but I thought they looked a bit too much like the fountains previously removed from the Sparks Street Mall. Luigi was ecstatic though, claiming through his freshly-washed face that Preston Street businesses deserved fountains on the street and not just in select basements. I have it on authoritative rumour that Joe Contronio of … Continue reading Bellagio Fountains on Preston Street

little Italy, Preston street, streetscaping2 Comments

Guerilla Marketing

Westsideaction

I love guerilla marketing – or as it is more often called today, viral marketing – when it is well done. Joe Contronio of Pub Italia is always amusing, whether its the faux-religious themes, the faux-Queensway signs or now, making the most of the construction fences. If you enlarge the picture, you will see his fence that separates the patio from the sidewalk, then the construction fence that separates the sidewalk from the road-now-dig-up-zone, and the third fence that separates the construction zone from the travelled road surface. All of them are festooned with his advertising. Well done ! Keep … Continue reading Guerilla Marketing

little Italy, pedestrians, Preston street1 Comment

Little things make a difference

Westsideaction

Greenbelt Taggart Winter … then roadwork. How road reconstruction is handled makes a big difference to motorists and pedestrians too. Last year, on Preston, contractors used crowd control barricades to separate sidewalks from dug-up roads. These barriers, silver colored and looking vaguely like old bedsteads, have side legs that extended a full foot onto the sidewalk, narrowing the already chopped up walking space and rendering passage impossible for strollers, walkers, or wheelchairs. They also frequently toppled/were pushed over into the construction holes. This year on Preston the preferred fencing is the thin high wire fence panel system. Taggart, working on … Continue reading Little things make a difference

little Italy, Preston street, streetscaping

Uniform Rules for Buried Utilities (Wiring)

Westsideaction

(While browsing some buttons on my blogspot site, I found this older post that somehow never made it onto the blog. Recall that there was some controversey and commentary in the blogsphere and in the Citizen on burying wires. Old, but still relevant: ) – The city does not pay to bury the gas mains, it just requires the gas company to do that. It does not bury the water mains for free, it charges the users to do that. It charges customers/forces the utilties in most areas to bury the electric, teleco, cable tv wires but exempts existing urban … Continue reading Uniform Rules for Buried Utilities (Wiring)

Booth St, condos, little Italy, streetscaping2 Comments

Booth Street update

Westsideaction

double click to enlarge pictureA few weeks ago, this blog featured Cousin Edy Garage and Chados Auto Body as the ugliest, messiest businesses in the neighborhood. As I went by today, the old tires left on the boulevard are gone, the garbage picked up, and as shown in the picture, several unhappy people removing some of the sign clutter. If they mow the lawn … and the mysteriously disappeared trees replaced … the place will once again be an acceptable neighbor, at least until someone redevelops the lot for condos! Continue reading Booth Street update

Eric Darwin, little Italy, Preston street, streetscaping

Preston Street repaving

Westsideaction

Final topcoat of asphalt being applied to Preston Street north of Beech. The finished landscaping sections of the street look great. Unfortunately, while two sections are finished, work is just commencing on the other three sections, and major construction will continue until late December. But the finished sections will encourage residents and businesses and visitors to have courage, better times are coming. Final landscaping and decorative intersection pavings will be done in 2010. Continue reading Preston Street repaving

little Italy, plant recreation centre, Preston street, streetscaping1 Comment

Plouffe Park landscaping

Westsideaction

note the two receivers mounted on each end of the blade sod rolls; elevation transmitter in the background laying the carpet … Plouffe Park is behind the Plant Recreation Centre at the corner of Preston and Somerset. The playing fields were torn up last fall in order to lower the ground level several feet. This permits the fields to function as a storm basin in case of severe flooding expected only every 50 years or so. The Park is the lowest point in the entire Preston street catchment area, and has no natural overland outflow. The bulldozer spreading the topsoil … Continue reading Plouffe Park landscaping

little Italy, Ottawa, plant recreation centre, Preston street, somerset street

DCA – AGM Tonight

Westsideaction

There is a community association for the neighborhood bounded on the east by Bay St – on the north by the Ottawa River – on the west by the O-Train tracks – and the south by Carling Avenue. Called the Dalhousie Community Association (DCA) after the now-retired ward name for the area, the association concerns itself with planning, traffic, and social issues in this mixed income changing neighborhood that incorporates both “Chinatown” and “Little Italy”. Their Annual General Meeting is tonight at 7pm at the Dalhousie Centre, corner of Empress and Somerset, 3rd floor. Free cookies. I’ll be baking my … Continue reading DCA – AGM Tonight

City Centre, little Italy, LRT, Preston street, somerset street, Vietnamese Monument

LRT – the 1950’s version

Westsideaction

This video of the former streetcar service in Ottawa is certainly interesting. At minute 4.19 there are shots of streetcars on Elm St running up to Preston (Elm street was the exit from the Champagne Streetcar Barn. The entrances were from Champagne [now City Centre Ave] In the background is a large structure the predates the City Centre complex, which is now nearing the end of its lifespan). Most of the houses filmed on Elm are 100% recognizable today. My house abuts the Champagne Barn, I enjoy a great westward view over its rooftop. The roof used to be mostly … Continue reading LRT – the 1950’s version

green roofs, little Italy, Preston street

More Green Roofs in Ottawa

Westsideaction

There is a very nice and useful green roof at Preston Square, 333 Preston Street in the heart of Little Italy. It is bordered by the two taller office towers (Xerox and Adobe towers) and the low rise office building (Ontario services) and the mid-rise apartment building. All buildings open out on the roofscape, with paths, benches, deep planters, lawns, etc. It is well kept and accessible to the public. Below the roof are parking areas, shipping and receiving areas, etc. I especially like this green roof for its accessibility and utility to a variety of office and residential users. Continue reading More Green Roofs in Ottawa

little Italy, Preston street

Corso Italia – aka Preston Street – Closed

Westsideaction

Preston Street has been closed to through traffic until December, to permit reconstruction. Happily, the tree and shrub planting now going on at Plouffe Park and the sections of Preston rebuilt last year, demonstrate that the aggravation, noise, and dust is well worth it. One of the minor little pleasures last year was the ability to easily stroll across the street just about anywhere that wasn’t a pit, without being run over by a bus or speeding commuter. Continue reading Corso Italia – aka Preston Street – Closed