In the first part of this story, last week, I divided existing neighborhoods into several broad types. Within them, there are some places that promote neighborliness, and some that don’t. While there are many causes, not least among them the nature of the individuals residing there, the shape of the buildings and how they relate to the street is a key factor. We need to build friendly neighborhoods. A key factor is usable front space. I think pre-1945 neighbourhoods have this by virtue of their front verandahs. In that pre-central-air-conditioning era, hot humid weather encouraged moving outdoors. My house has both a … Continue reading Making Neighbourhoods Friendly (ii)

This will be a series of posts on how we design our neighborhoods and whether this design is friendly to urban life. It is inspired by a book recently read: Pocket Neighborhoods, by Ross Chapin. You can get it from your bookmonger or reserve it at the OPL. Three neighborhood styles From 1900 to the 1950’s most agglomerations of housing in Ottawa were built in rows along public streets. As time went on, the set back of the house from the street grew larger, oft as a City requirement. In 1900-1940 neighborhoods such as the west side neighborhood I live in, the set … Continue reading Making Neighborhoods Friendly (i)

  A few years there was a semi-popular (provided you were paying close attention to municipal issues) campaign called “one cent”. It advocated redirecting 1 cent of the GST to “the cities”. My problem with the old “1 cent” campaign, and probably its main attraction to municipal politicians, was that the money was raised by one level of govt (the feds) and spent by another (the city). What a delight: free money. And a convoluted responsibility trail that meant the mayors would be unaccountable. If you don’t like the tax, or feel taxes are too high (or conversely, that you do like … Continue reading No Santa Claus, Please

Ahh, how sweet. Some kind soul named the ped/cyclist gate at the Preston Extension. I’ll enjoy it while it lasts. Continue reading Commemorated but not memorialized

Listen, and I will tell you of one of the secret joys of working with City officials on neighborhood plans, especially transportation plans. I love hearing the city side telling us “we’d love to do that, but unfortunately, the [insert name of document/policy here] prevents us”. Of course, the same city promptly turns around and does just what you asked, but somewhere else. Community activists learn to like sharing, since our best ideas (eg Bronson road diet) get implemented somewhere else (hello, Scott Street road diet). Here’s an interesting example. Somerset is being reconstructed to two travel lanes, with two protected … Continue reading Variable standards

Continue reading Inclusive grafitti

      The City held its only public meeting on the reconstruction and widening of Bronson Avenue last night. Over 200 citizens attended. Only 130 chairs had been set out. The crowd was not hostile, but was suspicious of the City and harshly critical. City staff have intimated that they agree the street should not have been widened back in the 60’s, but now we are stuck with it. That doesn’t explain why they insist it needs to be widened another 2′. The City had the usual poster display with glamorous statements about putting pedestrians first. The cognitive dissonance between the professed … Continue reading Bronson pleas fall on deaf ears