The Rapibus is the Gatineau City version of Ottawa’s Transitway. These are bus-only roads that by-pass a lot of traffic congestion, improving transit times and reliability and thus modal share. The rapibus road, routes, and branding are all very recent. Comparisons to Ottawa’s 35+ year old transitway show how some things evolve, and how some challenges were addressed differently. Keep in mind the Rapibus is at its initial stages, whereas the Transitway is mature and being converted to rail. The logo is modern and attractive, note the arrows outline a negative version of the letter R. I really appreciated that the … Continue reading Rapibus excursion, premiere part

This shipping label was on a box I got. Note the return address. City of Industry. Who names a city like that? California, of course. The city of industry basically has no residents (ie, expenses) but has lots of businesses (ie revenue sources). Recall that businesses cannot vote in elections. Increasingly, their ability to donate money to candidates is being restricted. Not unnaturally, politicians favour those who vote, and pluck funds from those who don’t, or can’t vote. It is surely a politicians wet dream to have a large industrial or commercial tax base to subsidize the residential (voting) base. … Continue reading Is this the weirdest city ever?

Back before it was trendy or politically correct, houses in Ottawa were made mostly from local materials. It was too expensive to import stuff from much further, unless you were JR Booth. In doing some kitchen renos, here’s a snap of a wall board we uncovered. There are many similar sized boards, but this is the largest: At nineteen inches, that tree was right some thick. We don’t grow them like that anymore. In the basement, I have a very uneven concrete floor that was poured by the previous owners (from 1925 – 1982) in small batches. We broke through … Continue reading The 100-mile house

The library board has decided it needs a new building, and it wants a trophy building. And it wants it downtown.  Don’t be fooled for a minute about the mooted site at Albert/Bronson. That’s a stalking horse, although it would not be a disaster if all else fails and a library goes there, adjacent a major LRT station and surrounded by as many residents (eventually…) as the Metcalfe Street brutalist pile. And don’t rule out larger city-building plans pushing the Library further west than centretowner’s might like, to Trinity Development’s Bayview – LeBreton Arena – Bayview Yards innovation centre site … Continue reading Search for a new Library

The Trinity Developers acquisition of the lands adjacent LeBreton Flats and their drawings – shown in the previous story — of 50 storey buildings with large above ground parking garages — is a product and a harbinger of Ottawa’s latest downtown development thinking. I am not optimistic about a city core with large above ground garages, no matter how pretty. This downtown core has glittery buildings, including one that took the “temple of commerce” idea literally:   Look closer: that’s the base or podium of the temple of mammon on the right, and while glad in nice granite and shiney gothic … Continue reading Real Estate Updates (cont’d)

Here is a grab bag of assorted observations from my brief sejourn in Montreal earlier this month. Not everything is wonderful there. I did try in this series to relate the feature to the unique conditions that may have spawned it. Not everything can be transplanted to here and survive, let alone thrive. But one way to improve our city is to observe what works elsewhere and steal that idea. Bicycle friendly, in little ways: (see also the last pic in this set) Surface drainage swales / stormwater gardens, in our climate, right downtown:   Imagine, a park you cannot … Continue reading Montreal Week Finale

The 1900’s neighbourhoods of Montreal like LePlateau and Mile End are undergoing another era of gentrification through renovation, and intensification through the construction of new infills. Here are some typical infills on corner lots. Corner lots offer greater intensification potential than mid block lots, as they have two street frontages. Here is an example I have watched.     The lot appears as a destroyed building, with spray foam insulation against the walls of the next house in on the block: Then construction begins, right out to the rear lot line, using up what is back yard in the other houses … Continue reading Montreal Week: corner lot infills

The LePlateau neighbourhood and surrounding areas that comprised the high density urban expansion in the 1870’s – 1920’s often had “back lanes”. These accessed the rear yards of the houses, most of which are duplexes and triplexes. They had spiral metal staircases that so captivate the “look” of these neighbourhoods, in the rear yards too. It is possible to use the lanes to access car parking in some back yards. But most yards are too small, are too valuable as living space, or parking spaces were unneeded, or houses expanded ramshackle-ly into the space. Les Ruelles Vertes are lanes that … Continue reading Montreal Week: les ruelles vertes

Central Montreal has all sorts of bike infrastructure. I suspect some of it they might now find less than satisfactory. But nothing starts out perfect. There is a learning curve. The pic above shows a typical residential street bi-directional bike lane on one side of a one-way street. I was nervous on these streets, apprehensive about being doored. If the bike lanes had been on the opposite curb side of the street, oncoming cyclists would face parking cars, giving more notice of activity and potential door movements, but with the risk of encountering car passenger movements, which are used to … Continue reading Montreal week: Eric on bixi on the street

Montreal’s Bixi bike share system is serious service. Notice all the red dots marking the location of bike share docking stations. My apartment was just to the right of Parc Lafontaine, with three stations within 100m or so. Only a few select areas of the city are well supplied, where density and urban form encourage biking and walking and discourage car driving. I’ve previously used Bixi as a visitor, where one has to use the kiosk, insert credit card, key in numbers, and what not. All vaguely anxiety provoking. This time I had membership keys. Just insert in the slot, … Continue reading Montreal Week: bixying around

Ottawa has few planting strips between the sidewalk and curb. Generally, our engineers-in-charge like to have no setback for the sidewalk, and if one is unavoidably necessary,  to leave it all paved. Montreal is busy removing those concrete strips, and planting plants. Here is one demonstrating neighbouring pride: And here is one that is rather neglected in the commercial (mainstreet) end: We noticed that the latest bits of street greening now leave the full concrete surface for the first 100′ or so in from the commercial streets, and the nicer green planting commences when the residential properties begin abutting the … Continue reading Montreal week: curb side planting strips

I’m just back from a week in Montreal, and saw lots of things to inspire Ottawans to a better city. Let’s start with bulb outs, you know, those funny little peninsulas that stick out from curb at corners and occasionally at midblock. (In the US they are called neckdowns, which reflects a motorist’s windscreen point of view…). Ottawa prefers to pave these with concrete or brick. Ta da ! Done !  Cheap and low maintenance to boot. Occasionally, if community groups or an alert councillor gets in early enough, we can get a tree planted on the island. And if … Continue reading Montreal week – fashion mecca for bulb outs

As part of Phase 2 of our LRT network, the preferred track alignment going south of Lincoln Fields will require “relocating” the pedestrian bridge over the parkway. The current bridge spans the transitway connecting to Woodroffe High School on the east side. It is a concrete bridge. Assuming it is still structurally sound, it makes sense to move it the short distance required,  simply mounting it on new piers. (some more thought as to where it ends on the east side would be nice, too). But it is made of concrete, and looks heavy: If the city / light rail … Continue reading Reduce, reuse, recycle …

I noticed new parking stalls being installed in the downtown for the bike share system, successor to BixiBike. I hope this system does better. When in Florida a few months ago, I noticed this bike share network and thought it offered numerous advantages over the original bixi concept. Since the promoter of the Ottawa system is a Florida-based company, maybe they will turn out to be the same bikes. The racks certainly looked the same. Some photos:   The most noticeable difference from the familiar Bixi system, is the simpler parking posts. Bikes are locked with a basic-looking U-lock, which you … Continue reading Bike Share System Finally Appears

It was Canada Day and everyone wore red … including this cardinal. Alas, the Ottawa shoreline, transformed decades ago into a sort of frustrated golf course-like landscape,  is dominated by the Ottawa River Commuter Expressway. This guy didn’t make it. Maybe when the folks wanting to “liberate” the Chaudiere Falls are finished there, they can shift their attention to re-naturalizing the riparian landscape. They stand a much better chance of success where fewer people are making money from the river. Yes, I participated in the NCC’s charrette “re-envisioning” the parkway lands, but as long as the primary use is for … Continue reading Not natural by any means

Along with a [too] few other community members, I go gardening on Thursday mornings. Our targets are all those planters along Bronson (from Laurier to Gladstone) that the city installed, planted, and promptly ceased maintaining. There seems to be some sort of fond hope that adjacent property owners are supposed to go out and weed them or add additional plants. And its true, when the city replaces grass in front of houses it doesn’t come back to mow it; and if it replaces driveway asphalt it doesn’t plow it in the winter. Somehow people know this, but miss the planters, … Continue reading Guerilla delight

The Hickory Street bridge for people who walk and people who cycle is finally being assembled on the stub end of Hickory, by the semi-occupied SOHO Champagne condo tower. The bridge is of black steel. As of Sunday, the north arch was supported upright on temporary cribbing, and part of the deck supports were in place. This picture shows the south arch lying flat, soon to be stood up right. The high posts that extend beyond the arch are probably for the security fence to prevent suicidal Ottawans from jumping off the bridge. After several weeks of assembly, a crane will … Continue reading Hickory bridge ready to dock

One of the more distressing habits of politicians is to distract critics of what they do (or don’t do) by highlighting the evils of someone else. This is best done if the someone else is a higher level of government, beyond their influence. Thus the sin is compounded by the frustration of helplessness. And is often followed up by an appeal for more money from that someone else, or failing that, from your and my pocket. The space to be taken up by community mailboxes falls into this category. Blame someone else for cluttering up the city, someone beyond the … Continue reading Postage Stamp Crisis (the second lick: sidewalk clutter)

There’s been a lot of media coverage lately about community mail boxes and how much space they will take up. Imagine, added up, all those box footprints are equivalent to a city park ! Before the local letter carriers started driving those post-branded mini-vans to their routes, they used “relay boxes”, one of which is shown above, possibly still in use, in an affluent west end neighbourhood. There used to be one across the (less affluent) street from my house. And another one at the intersection just up the block. And the intersection beyond that. In fact, there was one … Continue reading Postage Stamp Crisis (the first lick)