Albert St, pedestrians6 Comments

Transferring Risk TO pedestrians is standard practice

Westsideaction

  This photo shows a utility truck doing some service work along Albert Street. Note the concern for safety. Bright flashing lights. Safety Cones ! And note how well he pulled off the travel lane, snuggling his vehicle right up against the retaining wall on the outside of the walk. This was so very thoughtful, not inconveniencing motorists at all. But what about pedestrians? (and timid cyclists who use the walk here since crossing Albert is difficult/impossible, and the motor traffic lanes scarily fast with badly chewed up curb lanes full of bike-eating holes). Are pedestrians supposed to walk around … Continue reading Transferring Risk TO pedestrians is standard practice

Florida, Ottawa3 Comments

More time lingering in Portofino

Westsideaction

Look carefully at these buildings. The floor inside is actually all one level, with an internal corridor like any hotel or apartment building. But the colours, varied rooflines, and different window treatments give the people outside the joy of a traditional Italian streetscape. I see no reason why buildings cannot be built here, using these techniques, but not necessarily the faux-Italian stucco. After six or eight “houses” (hotel rooms) the building row takes a shift, with an inset portion that fosters the 3D effect. These exteriors do not seem expensive to construct, but pay huge dividends in civilization. the Portofino … Continue reading More time lingering in Portofino

Florida3 Comments

Portofino is eye pleasing

Westsideaction

My architect and planner acquaintenances snort in derrision at the “nostalgia” element in new urbanism. I think some of it is jealousy, because they rarely can come up with anything as popular with the public. I made a point of dropping in on Portofino during the past winter. The one in Florida. Near Universal Studios. Its a resort inspired by / derived from / copied from / a faux version of Portofino, Italy. The drive in is a masterpiece of view manipulation, compression and release, and successfuly separates the outside Florida from the inside event.     Like all most … Continue reading Portofino is eye pleasing

Ottawa5 Comments

For want of a patch, the road was lost …

Westsideaction

There are numerous proverbs that go along the line of “for want of a nail, the [something] was lost …”, or, the sweater unravelled, or whatever the exemplar might be. The gist is the same: a small, timely action can forego a larger problem later. Conversely, large problems with expensive solutions devolve out of small beginnings. For many months now, I’ve had to swerve my bike to go around the catchbasin-in-a-moat when leaving Loblaws on Richmond Road right at Kirkwood.  A few times I’ve had to run right into it, with bone jarring results. Another time [or two] I’ve ended … Continue reading For want of a patch, the road was lost …

bike path, Booth St, cycling in Ottawa, design, Montreal, planning, roads, streetscaping, walkways

Bike Path, Walkway, Bus Stop: all together now

Westsideaction

The City of Ottawa claims it cannot possibly design the new section of Booth Street running north from Albert, serving Pimisi Station and the LeBreton Flats area, to include motorists, buses, transit, and bikes. The cyclists just don’t fit. So they are being thrown under the bus. As for their partner in crime, the NCC’s vision for their new urban downtown showpiece doesn’t seem to include complete streets or cyclists. Dusk a few weeks ago, I noticed this lovely bike path – walkway – bus stop combo in Montreal, on the side of Park Lafontaine. Everyone approaching the place gets ample visual … Continue reading Bike Path, Walkway, Bus Stop: all together now

Ottawa1 Comment

Somebody does it better

Westsideaction

Grocery stores, the holy grail of urban planning, marker of a high walk score and even higher real estate values, seem somewhat elusive in Ottawa. Developers tell me their floor plate requirements are fundamentally at odds with the pillars, etc that are required to hold up the condo tower above. I do look forward to see the Promised Sobbey’s in Claridge’s downtown towers on Lisgar … someday. But recently in Montreal I noticed that they managed to fit a largish grocery store under just two and three floors of apartments. Just what most residents claim to want: non-high rise urban … Continue reading Somebody does it better

pedestrians4 Comments

Safe Routes to School

Westsideaction

Of course, all routes to school should be safe. And schools should be located on collector streets in real neighbourhoods and not in isolated locations outside of built-up areas. Whilst in Montreal, I noticed intersections marked as shown in the picture below, presumably identifying intersections with a higher number of school kids using the crossing. Of course, I suspect the well-frequented intersections enjoy “safety in numbers” and the real risk lies in less-used intersections, which are less likely to get marked. Which is yet another reason we should have lower speed limits, and roads designed to restrict speeds to safe speeds.   … Continue reading Safe Routes to School

Ottawa2 Comments

Signs of the Times: lost robot

Westsideaction

At one time, “lost” posters featured cats, or the occasional dog. Sometimes a toy. * But in today’s age, more complex things can become lost. Like the notice spotted on this garbage can on the western parkway:   Yes, you read that right. A lost robot. Here’s the fine print:   I’m guessing this Quadcopter didn’t have a live video feed or the operator would know where it ended up. __________________________ * Lost toy: I don’t think most people read very well. When my [then very young] daughter lost a toy alligator from the front yard, which had never been … Continue reading Signs of the Times: lost robot

streetscaping

Street painting in Woodpark

Westsideaction

On the “far” west side, at the intersection of Flower and Ancaster, Ottawa’s blah streets got their second makeover, this time by the folks at Woodpark (opposite the Library branch at Carlingwood). The City approved 3 street painting projects for this year. We earlier looked at the one near Elmdale School  https://www.westsideaction.ca/paint-streets-red-blue-green-pink The intersection is nicely framed by painted crosswalks. The flower design grows out of a seedbed on the north side of the intersection. A great many residents came out to help with the painting Saturday.   The paint is the special “long lasting” striping paint used by city … Continue reading Street painting in Woodpark

bike path, cycling in Ottawa, OTrain bike path, Ottawa1 Comment

Making pathways relevant to real life

Westsideaction

Real life takes place on real streets. Bike paths, and walking paths, are secondary sorts of things, not for real living. So goes conventional thinking. And so goes Ottawa thinking. Our city skips the idea of having street signs where the path goes by intersections. Why on earth would a cyclist want to know what that adjoining street is? S/he wouldn’t be actually going somewhere purposeful, maybe looking for an address? The NCC does post some signage on their paths, expensively produced for quality graphic visuals, but alas, often lacking useful information or downright confusing, and subject to previous stories … Continue reading Making pathways relevant to real life

Ottawa3 Comments

Money Talks: What’s it saying at City Hall?

Westsideaction

My mother often told me “money talks”. And it’s making a huge din down at City Hall. Especially in the Planning process. Frankly, it’s scarey what I overhear. Let’s look at some of the funds swishing around. More and more often I hear of Community Associations getting “incentives”, “program money”, inducements, or whatever. No one ever uses a noun that starts with “b”. The going sum seems to be about a $30,000 “contribution”. I hear of three such payments on the west side alone; and strong hints that the same sum was available to the association of which I am a … Continue reading Money Talks: What’s it saying at City Hall?

95 Norman, Carling-Preston CDP2 Comments

Good planning vs legalities

Westsideaction

I’ve been a tich occupied recently; along with neighbours we’ve been trying to influence the Preston-Carling secondary plan. Regular readers here will recall our lack of enthusiasm for the way this study was run run over us, To provide a detailed list of suggested improvements would be so long as to bore you to tears. Councillor Holmes has pared down the list to a shorter group of four resolutions, all of which lost at Planning Committee last week. Now I do understand Committee members voting to support the plan produced by their department, according to the marching orders transmitted to … Continue reading Good planning vs legalities

Nature

More west side nature news

Westsideaction

The opening picture is looking up into my backyard Sour Cherry tree. This was the “off year” so there were fewer bushels of cherries. We make little ramekin pies. Since the tree overhangs the yard into my neighbours, they pick some and make jam. For many years, I have found my west side neighbourhood rather shortchanged in the bird variety department. But lately, more varieties have been coming. There is now a cardinal pair nesting near Gladstone/Preston (see what a family-suggestive sculpture can accomplish?). And a pair of beautiful yellow grosbeaks had been visiting my cherry supply. Alas, last week … Continue reading More west side nature news

Albert St, Ottawa6 Comments

What’s Inside the Secret Beer Tunnel ?

Westsideaction

The homes of Walnut Court, shortly to made more exciting by the City’s 2000 /day bus detour, are on the site of a former brewery, Bradings (later O’Keefe’s). On the north side of Albert, now a vacant lot,  stood the Longest Building in the British Empire, which made undersea cables. Once the undersea cable market died out, the brewery stored finished product in the warehouse. For convenience, they dug a low tunnel from the brewery, under Albert, to the warehouse. The warehouse itself did not have a full basement. This tunnel has long been fabled to contain leftover Beer, miraculously … Continue reading What’s Inside the Secret Beer Tunnel ?

Ottawa2 Comments

Streetcar tracks to Memoryville

Westsideaction

Streetcar ghosts appear in the expected places. Like just under the surface of of asphalt road. This pictured pile of streetcar ties leads to whole complex story of my house. Right at the corner of now-Albert and now-City Centre Avenue is a strange little triangular corner holding a turn lane. This used to be where the whole road turned to run over the now-OTrain tracks and connected in a straight line to West Wellington in Hintonburg. The wooden bridge over the tracks exactly paralleled the current ramp up to the second level of City Centre Building. The start of both of … Continue reading Streetcar tracks to Memoryville

bike path, bikewest, Booth St, Cdn War Museum, cycling in Ottawa, pedestrians, planning, road diet, roads, sidewalks, streetscaping, walkways6 Comments

Churchill Cycle Track takes shape

Westsideaction

  Churchill Avenue running north from Carling Avenue towards Westboro is being rebuilt today as a complete street. In addition to the regular car / truck traffic lanes on the street, there will be concrete walks and at the same level as the walkway, a cycle track. A cycle track differs from a bike lane, which is a painted zone on the street just off to the side of the car traffic. Road traffic can readily intrude into the bike lane (hello FedEx). The cycle track is separated from other vehicular traffic by a curb and buffer zone. The opening … Continue reading Churchill Cycle Track takes shape

95 Norman, Carling-Preston CDP, Ottawa9 Comments

Supping from a poisoned chalice

Westsideaction

I have written (too-) much previously about the details in the Preston-Carling and Preston-Gladstone plans. The Preston-Carling documents go to planning committee on Tuesday. I will be there, and speaking. Albeit with great reluctance. The Preston-Carling plan in particular was hijacked from the planning staff by city executive. The biggest and first clue was George Dark and his planning charade. He launched a veritable snowstorm of high rises onto the area. It wasn’t an ordinary planning exercise, so much as a snow job on the community, designed to burry the yokels. Its brazenness taints the “profession” in my eyes. Amongst … Continue reading Supping from a poisoned chalice

roads, streetscaping3 Comments

Paint the streets red…and blue…and green…and pink

Westsideaction

If you are out cycling or walking this weekend, make a point of passing by Clarendon and Iona Streets on the West Side. There you will see Ottawa’s first officially sanctioned, artist-supervised street painting exercise. It is mid-block, whereas most street painting projects I have seen on-line favour intersections (to slow vehicles down) or along main streets (same reason). Ottawa, of course, is still very much under the thumb of conservative traffic engineers who seemingly cannot distinguish a road (for getting from point A to B) from a street (which is for local access, and therefore reduced speeds). In their … Continue reading Paint the streets red…and blue…and green…and pink

Albert St, Bayview Station, bike path, Booth St, cycling in Ottawa, OTrain bike path6 Comments

No leaning on shovels at this city construction project

Westsideaction

A short while ago I mocked a City transit project on the west side that I described as “lollygagging along”.  * So it’s only fair we look at one that is moving with the (relative) speed of light. Yes, it’s back to the (in)famous Albert Street bus detour. Construction only began last week:  The city originally just wanted to remove the multi-use path on the north side of Albert, never to replace it. Community input caused it to be (temporarily **) saved, relocated. Then the same pressure got the City to replace it first with the new path, before digging … Continue reading No leaning on shovels at this city construction project

design, hintonburg, intensificatioin, little Italy1 Comment

Industrial Chic: where-ever you can find it

Westsideaction

Thanks largely to the NCC’s penchant for eliminating Ottawa’s industrial heritage, we have extraordinarily few industrial sites to convert into condos, lofts, or trendy retail. A few years back, retail pioneers took over industrial space on Elm and Spruce Streets. The trend then spread to the adjacent City Centre building which has many great industrial features: high ceilings, cheap space, lotsa concrete surfaces. I used to joke the only thing it was missing was Stephen Beckta. A similar trend has taken over the industrial garages on Beech Street, east of Preston. The baseball bat factory gave way to architect’s offices … Continue reading Industrial Chic: where-ever you can find it

Booth St, Nature, somerset street, streetscaping, walkways1 Comment

Community Gardeners carry on …

Westsideaction

Community Gardeners, sometimes called guerilla gardeners, inspired by a love of plants, work to beautify their neighbourhood through planting things. Sometimes this is into otherwise empty planters the city leaves scattered around. Other times it is in less-expected places, ie real guerilla planting. Here is the community garden planted outside the Plant Rec Centre:   In the Plant case, gardeners worked with the city to install the garden. The city provided a truckload of topsoil as part of the Somerset reconstruction project. Volunteers spread the soil and did the planting with material from other sites and private gardens. A passing … Continue reading Community Gardeners carry on …