This picture circa 1960 shows the NRCan complex under construction. That’s Commissioner’s Park in the foreground, Carling Avenue runs through the caption.  Running parallel to Carling across the top of the picture is the old railway tracks, the Queensway being not yet built. What is sorta fun, if you are inclined that way, are the number of bridges over the railway tracks. From left to right, you can see Rochester, then Booth. The next one beyond Booth is LeBreton (running immediately behind the new office towers), and a bit further east, up above the escarpment is Bell Street. If … Continue reading Lost Bridges over the Queensway

At 7am this morning protesters were out in force at the Preston – Albert intersection. They were objecting to the city’s secretly-decided-upon plan to divert 2500 buses a day from the transitway onto Scott-Albert for the duration of LRT construction, about 2 1/2 years. Quite a few people turned up in the minus 7,000 degree cold:   That so many people turned out in the cold and the early hour must clearly convey the degree of concern amongst residents. Paul Dewar showed up; but I didn’t notice any city bureaucrats (other than a few who lived nearby and actually held … Continue reading Frozen in Protest

All pedestrians experience the frustration of puddles at corners (these are in addition to the puddles that form at most driveways). There is a solution, it is simple, and it calms traffic too. Don’t dip the sidewalk when crossing side streets. Simple, eh? Now this is different from Ottawa’s too-gentle experiments with “intersection tables” and other timidities. Here’s some close up pictures of what a pedestrian-first crossing of a sidestreet could look like. And there won’t be slush or puddles designed in from the beginning, like in Ottawa.   Isn’t that simple? And workable? And it will succeed in slowing … Continue reading There is a solution to puddles at corners

Sometime around Christmas I noticed this city sewer was missing it’s lid. This area, near the Bayview Station, has a lot of really huge main storm sewers here. I forgot about it, until I renoticed it yesterday.  Ironically, the little plowed road just off to the left is maintained all winter for daily checks of the main sewers in this field, but they are checked a bit further west, thus missing this one closer to the intersection of Albert and City Centre Avenue. If anyone has fallen down it, they are likely to have been flushed out into the Ottawa … Continue reading Invitation to Death

There is a new structure going up near Percy and Lisgar. The exterior is quite unusual; here is a shot when they were cutting holes in the exterior:   Excitement builds as the windows then appear to fill in that pattern:   That is one house I certainly am curious to get inside. Wonder what the exterior cladding will be? Continue reading Checkered exterior window pattern

  While the Assaly-built building in this photo is about 25 years old, it is built right up to the street lot line, much like the City planner’s insist on today. There are predictable consequences to this design. The loading dock opens up onto the sidewalk. Sometimes truck stop in the curb lane, and unload from the back, carrying goods across the walkway. But mostly they open the side door of the van and drop a ramp down, forcing pedestrians to duck under the ramp, or sorta climb over it, or else walk out onto the street, not that one … Continue reading Tight to the street, with consequences

Back in the early 80’s, a city crew arrived in front of my (new to me)  house to do a “test bore” into the ground. Natch, I asked what they found. In bored voices, they said 35′ of gritty sand and gravel mixed, ie riverbed or glacial till. Very interesting, I thought, this means I should have a fairly stable foundation and good drainage. Sure enough, pour a bucket of water on my driveway or garden, and it disappears straight down. All the rain the runs off my roofs on the west side of my house lands on my deliberately-permeable … Continue reading Surficial Geology and your house

I’ve been waiting quite a while to get my hands on A House in the City, home truths in architecture, by Robert Dalziel and Sheila Cortale. I found it a worthwhile read, but not as wonderful as I had hoped. I will brief you on what is in the book, with some commentary from me using inset paragraphs.  The OPL has copies; feel free to join the waiting list. The central premise of the book is that there is a place for high-density low-rise communities near the centre of cities. And furthermore, buildings in such inner ring neighbourhoods need to … Continue reading Planning Library: A House in the City

  Yonge Street in Toronto has these illuminated decorative banners strung from side to side over the street. They repeat every block. They look nice from the walkways, and from the driving lane. I drove up Yonge after dusk, and the pretty lights didn’t distract me from driving. A few years ago I had a conversation with a local BIA about stringing overhead lights on a traditional mainstreet to help enclose the big overhead empty space along the road. We both felt the unbounded space encouraged faster car movement. Alas, can’t be done. Traffic people won’t allow it. Too unsafe. … Continue reading Christmas Grinch forbids decorations in Ottawa

I caught a glance through a storefront sales office window of this new condo tower in Toronto, and my first thought was leap of excitement that it was another Habitat 67 type building:   True, the building steps up wedding-cake like on each end. The façade is interesting, with units jutting forward and back. But closer examination revealed those “forward” sections are balconies that have been enclosed on three sides with building panels. Reminds me of wimples on nuns in an old Bing Crosby movie. Unlike Habitat, there are no “negative spaces” or indents on the building mass. Essentially, most … Continue reading Exciting facade, at first glance …

  I noticed this car parked outside St Vincent Hospital on Primrose, near Bronson. I wonder if the front plate elicits any action if s(he) crosses the US border. And I also wonder at the type of person who badges him or herself with symbols of one of the most repressive regimes in the world. Maybe there is a market in selling North Korea plates, or Iranian plates? Of course, the main market is limited to jurisdictions that don’t require a front plate, so that means Quebec. We have come a long way from Levesque’s dream of popular revolutionary expression … Continue reading Little Cuba on Primrose Avenue

  Gloucester Street, just west of Lyon, is site of several high rises. The red brick one on the right of the picture is city owned. Notice how some care was taken on the front edges to step the building back from the street, to soften the edges and transition to the next sites. The red brick one also has a front yard, albeit a singularly useless one, except on some garbage days. I guess the City can’t be seen to do something nice in front of public housing, lest it look extravagant. The concrete slab building under construction next … Continue reading Is this good planning?

  Picture: billboard at the intersection of the O-Train bike path and Gladstone. That billboard might cause a few moments anxiety explaining the facts of life to your kid. Presumably the decision to post it predates the appearance of an Elk further north on the path:  after being surrounded by humans, stressed, and then shot as a menace. And presumably the deer in the billboard isn’t a major collision hazard to winter cyclists, all swaddled up in bulky winter costume. As for motorists, I suppose there may be a slight collision hazard along Gladstone with deer. But it’s much more … Continue reading Rudolph on the OTrain bike path

It may only be early winter, but we may have found the most inconsiderate parker of the year. In the picture, notice the bare spot on the road where the vehicle was parked. It was probably a truck or van. Because the person shovelled all the snow off their vehicle, and from around it, uphill and onto the Primrose staircase up Nanny Goat Hill. The densely piled snow on the stairs was chock full of leaves and other ground debris, totally unlike the snow on the rest of the stairs. Possibly the motorist thought it funny.   Motorists have a … Continue reading Selfish Parker of the Winter

While there is a — probably temporary — slowdown in condo sales, the buildings continue to go up. And the exterior membranes continue to get brighter coloured. Here’s a view from the Bayview Station looking towards downtown: Continue reading High rise Christmas parcels