Downtown Ottawa Revitalization Task Force

[rocketphish]

Nightlife commish Mathieu Grondin shares nine things he’s learned about building a nightlife economy

Mia Jensen, OBJ
July 16, 2024 3:59 PM ET

It’s been a little over a month since Mathieu Grondin was announced as Ottawa’s first nightlife commissioner and he says he’s already feeling optimistic about the future.

In addition to “figuring out where the toilets are” at City Hall, Grondin has spent his first few weeks on the job connecting with local stakeholders, talking to business owners, and hitting up local festivals to get a sense of what the city has on offer when it comes to nightlife.

“It’s summer of course, so it’s the busiest season of the year for nightlife,” he said. “Restaurants are full and there’s a great festival scene now wrapping up. It brings a lot of tourism, but there’s also a lot of smaller, independent venues. I’m amazed at the vibrancy of the ByWard Market. On one side of the street you have a folk singer at an Irish pub, then on the other, a heavy metal punk band playing in a tavern. You might have a hip hop band from Senegal then a drag queen cabaret next door at a techno club.

“This is only the main hub. There’s a lot of vibrancy to this city and it’s a really good base to work with.”

Prior to his move to Ottawa, Grondin was the founder and director general of MTL 24/24, a non-profit organization that has advocated for improved nightlife in Montreal since 2017. During that time, Grondin helped establish a night council and launched the global nighttime governance forum MTL au Sommet de la nuit.

In his new role in Ottawa, he’ll be bringing that knowledge and experience to the capital to execute the city’s Nightlife Economy Action Plan, which was approved by city council in May 2023. The plan seeks to address economic opportunities and challenges to nightlife through a series of 10 recommendations and actions that support the development and delivery of nightlife infrastructure, amenities and experiences.

He said in his initial conversations with local stakeholders, the city’s enthusiasm for a nightlife revival has been evident.

“I think we’re in a really good position now to create and build momentum,” he said. “What strikes me is the level of engagement from all different partners, from the board of trade down to the smaller grassroots organizations doing great innovative cultural programs. I think everybody wants change and the doors of all the different internal services of the city have been open to me.”

OBJ spoke with Grondin on Tuesday to understand what he learned while working in Montreal, as well the challenges Ottawa might face, and what makes a successful nightlife community.

This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

Three things learned in Montreal about bolstering nightlife:

1. Consultation with community stakeholders: “You need to consult with the community, the people who make the heart of nightlife beat in the city. Consultation is very important and this was something we did in Montreal. A good part of this has already been done in Ottawa in the last two years by the economic development and cultural services. There’s a lot of work that’s already gone on.”
2. Political engagement from local officials: “Something we may have lacked in Montreal, which is not the case here in Ottawa, is the level of political engagement. We have an action plan that’s been voted on by city council and a mayor who is dedicated to promoting and developing nightlife. I attended Escapade Festival with Mayor Sutcliffe and it was the first time in 14 years that the festival welcomed the mayor at their event. I think it just shows the level of commitment he has to this issue.”
3. Interdepartmental cooperation: “I like the metaphor of the city being an engine. You need to be able to put your hands in the engine and fix the different parts of it that might not be working well. And for that you’re going to need a lot of cooperation from the different departments and services inside the city. Interdepartmental cooperation, I think, is essential to make sure that we can develop nightlife.”

Three obstacles to improving nightlife:

1. Red tape: “I’ve never heard a business owner say the opposite. There’s red tape, especially when it comes to nightlife and culture and entertainment and everything related to alcohol in every city in North America. It’s painful. I think the action plan that was voted on by city council last year identified red tape as an obstacle and right now the bylaw services are undertaking a review of bylaws. I’m sitting down with them next month to see what that means for nightlife. Red tape is a big obstacle everyone can agree on.”
2. Lack of protective measures: “For a long time, nightlife was seen by cities as either not really interesting or, at worst, as a nuisance. Cities are changing rapidly and we need protective measures to be able to protect the uses that are already in place. Since the pandemic, cities all over the world want more livable downtowns and they are going to bring in a lot of residents and it’s going to be great and create more foot traffic for businesses. But you might also create cohabitation problems with the existing uses for nightlife. If you have a framework to protect existing uses, if you have people moving in, they don’t expect the neighbourhood to change just to fit their own needs. One good thing that we’ve seen from the City of Ottawa is the implementation of a change principle in the ByWard Market, for instance. That’s a very interesting measure to try and protect it. It’s not a perfect measure, but it’s a good first step to protect those uses.”
3. Funding: “It’s always the same for everyone. You need to be able to provide funding. There are different partners; could be the tourism association, could be the BIAs, could be the city. But, as you know, there’s no funding dedicated to nightlife. It’s very tough to find here in North America. You will see that in Europe, but it hasn’t made its way here yet. So trying to devise a program that fits the needs of the night, I think, is something that can be an obstacle to the development of nightlife.”

Three hallmarks of a thriving nightlife community:

1. A vibrant local scene: “A key indicator for me is vibrancy. How busy is a street at night? When I look at strong nightlife cities like Berlin or Amsterdam or Paris or London, they usually have a strong local city. This is what makes them stand apart. We need to empower these smaller local initiatives and make them grow so people outside of your city will come. It’s something unique that they can only experience in your city. It’s nice to have Taylor Swift coming over every four years, but when she’s gone, she’s gone. That doesn’t make your city stand apart from the others. What makes your city stand apart is your local scene.”
2. Empowered small businesses: “Small businesses with strong identities that have a strong profile and are offering something that is very local that you cannot find anywhere else. People love to find these local mom-and-pop shops or young entrepreneurs coming up with new ideas and products. That’s something that’s more interesting than seeing, for instance, big chains that you will see everywhere else.”
3. Dialogue and understanding: “I think you need good framework conditions. You need a good dialogue and understanding between the different partners involved in this plan to bolster nightlife: political, administration, and civil society. That’s why cities, especially in Europe, are appointing positions like mine right now, to try and make this happen, to create this dialogue and make sure everybody is on the same page.”

https://obj.ca/nightlife-commish-mat...ing-nightlife/

[Landscape Lenny]

Nice to see an effort being made to improve downtown. I wish police force would start enforcing the law rather than enabling an open air drug market. It's not unique to Ottawa as the fentanyl crisis has ravaged most cities but I find it depressing and uneasy seeing all the drug use and people doing the "fenanyl slouch" everywhere downtown. It is out of control.

[phil235]

One think I've never understood is the dichotomy between the narrative that downtown is a scary, empty place that is spiraling downward, and the huge levels of investment that are being poured into downtown across the board. Clearly the people with real money are betting on the downtown long term. Given the importance of that investment to the city as a whole, you would think that the City would be investing in infrastructure and services to support the private investment.

I get the municipal politics doesn't necessarily lend itself to long-term strategic thinking, but Ottawa seems particularly bad in pandering to this ward-based thinking when compared with other cities. I'm not sure that there is a solution to this ingrained myopia, but there should be some effort to change the mindset. As of right now, the developers are doing far more for the core of our city than our elected representatives.

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by Landscape Lenny

Nice to see an effort being made to improve downtown. I wish police force would start enforcing the law rather than enabling an open air drug market. It's not unique to Ottawa as the fentanyl crisis has ravaged most cities but I find it depressing and uneasy seeing all the drug use and people doing the "fenanyl slouch" everywhere downtown. It is out of control.

Honestly it's hard to undersand. There seems to be a move afoot to start to change this.

Originally Posted by phil235

One think I've never understood is the dichotomy between the narrative that downtown is a scary, empty place that is spiraling downward, and the huge levels of investment that are being poured into downtown across the board. Clearly the people with real money are betting on the downtown long term. Given the importance of that investment to the city as a whole, you would think that the City would be investing in infrastructure and services to support the private investment.

I get the municipal politics doesn't necessarily lend itself to long-term strategic thinking, but Ottawa seems particularly bad in pandering to this ward-based thinking when compared with other cities. I'm not sure that there is a solution to this ingrained myopia, but there should be some effort to change the mindset. As of right now, the developers are doing far more for the core of our city than our elected representatives.

I don't know. Most of the private investment is housing and most was made before it got this bad. It will be really interesting to see how the Marriot Moxy and AC Marriott both direclty across/adjacent do to the lower part of George Stree which has become a full drug den do once a few reviews point this out. The hotel operators will likely get their calls answere faster than the mostly wealthy residents of 160 George St seem to. That looks like a fortress when you walk by it now with all the retail at ground level looking like it is closed.

[phil235]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

I don't know. Most of the private investment is housing and most was made before it got this bad. It will be really interesting to see how the Marriot Moxy and AC Marriott both direclty across/adjacent do to the lower part of George Stree which has become a full drug den do once a few reviews point this out. The hotel operators will likely get their calls answere faster than the mostly wealthy residents of 160 George St seem to. That looks like a fortress when you walk by it now with all the retail at ground level looking like it is closed.

Not sure what you mean when you say “before it got this bad”. The low point was the pandemic, and I don’t think that anyone can argue that there has been a marked deterioration since then. Both of the Marriott hotels and definitely the Andaz started since then, as did the CF tower. That’s a lot of dollars. But I was more talking downtown as a whole, where there are multiple new projects post low-point in the downtown as a whole.

In terms of getting calls answered, not sure. But the city should be responding to residents and business owners with increased resources.

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by phil235

Not sure what you mean when you say “before it got this bad”. The low point was the pandemic, and I don’t think that anyone can argue that there has been a marked deterioration since then. Both of the Marriott hotels and definitely the Andaz started since then, as did the CF tower. That’s a lot of dollars. But I was more talking downtown as a whole, where there are multiple new projects post low-point in the downtown as a whole.

In terms of getting calls answered, not sure. But the city should be responding to residents and business owners with increased resources.

There was a few months when the total lockdown meant nobody but the homeless was in the market but aside from that it is worse than it has every been and has gotten worse each year since 2021. There was also a lot of 2020 optimisim that this is temporary. Andaz has seen what's what though their entrance is on a nicer corner. But you are right there is investment but it's been happening for 20 years without improvement so I'm not optimistic.

[phil235]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

There was a few months when the total lockdown meant nobody but the homeless was in the market but aside from that it is worse than it has every been and has gotten worse each year since 2021. There was also a lot of 2020 optimisim that this is temporary. Andaz has seen what's what though their entrance is on a nicer corner. But you are right there is investment but it's been happening for 20 years without improvement so I'm not optimistic.

That’s kind of what I mean. Private investment is not going to be enough. We should be supporting it with public investment.

As for the Market, my sense is that it is busier now than it was last year. Rideau and King Edward seemed worse a year ago as well, though the safe injection site east of King Edward has been closed for a while.

[ponyboycurtis]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

There was a few months when the total lockdown meant nobody but the homeless was in the market but aside from that it is worse than it has every been and has gotten worse each year since 2021. There was also a lot of 2020 optimisim that this is temporary. Andaz has seen what's what though their entrance is on a nicer corner. But you are right there is investment but it's been happening for 20 years without improvement so I'm not optimistic.

I spend a lot of time roaming around the central parts of Ottawa. I agree with this statement. In addition to all costs going haywire, I think another big consideration is all the support groups getting shut down. People that were hanging on by a thread had all their S.M.A.R.T, AA and NA meetings shut down for the most part. At least, a group I was attending ceased meetings.

These aren't the type of folks who are going to go home to their MacBook Pro and logon onto their high speed internet and pop their earbuds in while they prepare dinner with the fully charged laptop on the kitchen island and attend a ZOOM meeting.

So I personally, have struggles with alcoholism. I was in an inpatient facility to start 2020. In a strange turn of events, the week my 'class' graduated from our 3 month stay, was the week Ontario went into lockdown. We went from having all the support we could need and a mandatory 3 nights a week of meetings of your choice to absolutely nothing. I didn't see my parents for something like 6 months. I'm not even a massive fiend either. I only dabble with drugs occasionally. I don't really drink spirits. I just like pounding beers and exploring things and meeting people etc. Half the people in my house weren't even from Ottawa. I at least had some resources and the knowledge that my family was around if it were dire straights. I still went from 5 months of sobriety and working out everyday to eventually backsliding. Partially out of old habits and also... BOREDOM. You know what makes staring at the walls or wandering around an empty city more interesting? Drugs and alcohol.

So that is just my personal story on how pandemic shifted my own goals and personal position at the time. I'm not alone. It doesn't take much to backslide.

All that being said. There are some spots of Ottawa looking pretty greasy right now. I've spent a bunch of time in Toronto and pound for pound... I haven't found a place quite like Ottawa's Rideau, Cumberland, George st. area. Maybe I just didn't wander into the right places in Toronto. Toronto seems like like.. you could see these things but they were more lightly spread out across the central areas from what I saw. I made a point to wander around Carlton, Sherbourne, Parliament and while it was a bit of a seedy area I wasn't seeing the types of things I regularly see on the aforementioned streets in Ottawa. No shortage of people sleeping in tents/sleeping bags on subway vents but shooting needles and crack/meth pipes? I didn't really see that.

If I may prattle on...

In the last year I've been to Riga, Prague, Lisbon, Porto and the 5 biggest towns in Lithuania. I was genuinely curious as to what I was going to see in regards to this topic. I don't do tour groups. I just get a spot in central area and then wake up and figure out which museum I want to see and have a goal of 30k steps. So in essence.. I will be wandering random neighborhoods and side streets all hours of the day and night.

Lithuania had to be the most sterile, clean place there was. Through Vilnius and Kaunus... I really didn't see any instance of homeless/beggars, open drug use, or even open alcohol consumption(I guess that was left to me?)

It wasn't until the 3rd town that I found a guy flat on his ass drunk in the middle of the street in the middle of the day(a pedestrian street permanently closed to traffic mind you) That was like.. day 10! Interesting change from back home.

I thought Prague for sure would be filled with some wild shit. Not really. Some public drinking. I didn't see much in the way of people leaning from opiates. Prague was more of a... watch for pick pockets and scammers vibe than worrying about some crazy asshole threatening to poke you with a needle.

Porto and Lisbon were pretty clean as well. Lots and I mean LOTS of people trying to sell you drugs though, pot and cocaine mostly. Especially me, my GF was left unmolested lol. But once again.. I was more worried about getting pick pocketed than anything in the busy areas and did not see a whole lot of anti-social behavior. In Portugal it seemed like if you were drinking alcohol or smoking pot in central areas, you would be in a park. Some of the parks were quite busy in regards to that. They didn't really have a sketchy vibe though in my opinion. It was more of a Hipster/Skater/Young crowd kind of thing rather than people lurking in shadows shooting drugs. Lisbon did have a heavy police presence in the old town(pedestrian only!) portion of town which had a VERY busy night life. They were also all on foot. Usually in groups of 2/3 on every second block or so. My open container was of no concern to them.

Maybe all the drug lifestyle is contained to slums on the edges of town in all the aforementioned cities. Only Lisbon had the heavy police presence and that was in a select area. I definitely feel like I see more police in Ottawa. Albiet.. driving around in their cars and sitting in parking lots. I guess you could argue these European cities valued their tourism so much in old town/central area they ran these types of people out? Well.. what the heck are we worth over here then?

So.. IN CONCLUSION.

Ottawa in it's current state is closer to Philadelphias Kensington market than Prague and Lisbon based on my sights. Drugs are decriminalized in Portugal for whatever that's worth. I was a little surprised.

In Ottawa these days.. just about any major arterial intersection has somebody begging at it. There are mini little homeless enclaves and encampments all over town now. It's not just a portion of the Market and maybe a little bit of Bank st. anymore. The area outside of Blair station for example, when did that become a thing? Our social and housing policies are falling behind and I don't see any catching up in the immediate future.

Personally. I'm not intimidated by these people. Vast majority of them aren't a threat in the slightest and the ones that are, are pretty easy to get a read on if you understand people. Don't make eye contact and keeping moving forward. Earbuds help! Aside from that.. there a plenty of street people that have an interesting tale. I met a guy a while back while having a beer with him on a bench. He used to work for Bellai Ottawa. He helped pour the concrete for the Rideau Center and was on the same crew as the father of the best man at my wedding.

Either way.. nothing that I currently see in the market or central area would deter me from heading down there for any reason at any time of day. Reddit is a bunch of wackos. Are people racing down Carling right now:??? what is that noise???. At the end of the day, citizens and families outnumber the junkies 100s to 1.

It is trending in the wrong direction though. I will say that. I'd really like to see more beat police. Get out of your car and get to know the people you are dealing with. It's not like the police should be completely incapable of dealing with mentally ill people. That's an entirely different argument though.

Cheers.

[urbanforest]

I commend you for sharing your experience.

To the second part, about foreign cities: I had a similar experience when I visited NYC over the Easter weekend this past spring. I walked 50km, zigzagging from the lower half of Central Park to the tip of Battery Park. I could count on one hand the number of people I encountered who appeared to be living on the street and/or using drugs.

It was totally confounding. How could such an expensive city, with an enormous population and huge swathes of tourists, have virtually no panhandlers or junkies? Does the NYPD beat them and ship them off to Brooklyn? Or do these vulnerable people receive the support they need before their situation can get so dire?

[rocketphish]

Downtown businesses doubt workers in office 3 days a week is enough
Required office presence increases Monday from 2 days a week

Natalia Goodwin · CBC News
Posted: Sep 09, 2024 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: September 9

Some in Ottawa's business community say they are cautiously optimistic about the federal public service now coming to the office more days of the week, but doubt it will be enough to revitalize downtown.

As of Monday, all federal employees must work from the office at least three days a week, which some had already been doing. Executives now must be there at least four days.

Since March 31, 2023, employees have been working under a twice-a-week hybrid model, a move that helped push some 155,000 Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) members to strike last year.

COVID-19 and subsequent work-from-home order for public service employees turned Ottawa's downtown core into a ghost town in the first months of the pandemic, causing many businesses to close or face financial difficulty.

Brad Fougere, the executive director of the Ottawa Coalition of Business Improvement Areas, said it hasn't gotten any easier for many and he's unsure if the mandate will bring about the real change needed.

"During the last return-to-office mandate … we didn't necessarily see the meaningful impact that small businesses were hoping to see downtown," Fougere said.

The revitalization of downtown Ottawa requires moving away from the idea that the civil service is the only thing needed to save downtown, he said, and he would like to see more empty buildings converted to housing.

"For places to be animated on a regular basis, you need residents to be going into those spaces," Fougere said.

"The idea that somebody is going to drive in on a regular basis from Orléans to enjoy a street festival that's happening in Centretown isn't necessarily the most realistic expectation," he added.

Henry Assad, the president and CEO of Happy Goat Coffee Company, said he lost up to 40 per cent of his business when public servants went home, especially at his cafés in OC Transpo stations.

He thinks this week's change is a good thing but is waiting to see how it pans out. He too, only saw a small bump in sales with the first back-to-office mandate.

"Even three days a week is very difficult," he said. "I don't think it's good enough, but it's encouraging, and I think it will be welcomed by small businesses that have been able to maintain their existence."

The unions representing the federal workforce have opposed the mandate and continue to do so, culminating with a federal court judge ordering a full hearing on the challenge from the Public Service Alliance of Canada.

Unions have loudly argued the move to three days a week is more disruptive to worker life than it is useful to their work.

The uncertainty of that hearing makes it hard to know how many staff to hire or schedule, let alone plan for the bottom line, Assad said.

What was needed was a firm plan on work-from-home arrangements from the beginning of the pandemic, one that would stick so businesses could pivot, he said.

"Had we started planning five years ago when when COVID hit and say, OK, this is the new norm… then we all could have planned differently."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...work-1.7317166

[Lakeofthewood]

I'm a big fan of Happy Goat, but honestly if you're a business ALREADY complaining about 3 days not being enough, maybe it's time to reflect on how you run things? The Happy Goat at World Exchange Plaza and on Elgin don't even open until 7:30 AM - how does a coffee shop not open earlier than that? I do think the locations at LRT stations was really tough luck with the pandemic, since it directly relied on ridership, so I can sympathize there.

Any of the downtown businesses that didn't pivot in the last THREE YEARS to serving downtown residents rather than government workers don't really have a leg to stand on anymore. Looking at you every sandwich shop that is open 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by Lakeofthewood

I'm a big fan of Happy Goat, but honestly if you're a business ALREADY complaining about 3 days not being enough, maybe it's time to reflect on how you run things? The Happy Goat at World Exchange Plaza and on Elgin don't even open until 7:30 AM - how does a coffee shop not open earlier than that? I do think the locations at LRT stations was really tough luck with the pandemic, since it directly relied on ridership, so I can sympathize there.

Any of the downtown businesses that didn't pivot in the last THREE YEARS to serving downtown residents rather than government workers don't really have a leg to stand on anymore. Looking at you every sandwich shop that is open 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM.

The "Central Area" (downtown, market, lebretton) has a population of 14,350, which is about the size of Napanee. How many sandwich shops and happy goats do you think this area can support with local residents?

[rocketphish]

What’s the new Night Mayor’s plan to revitalize Ottawa’s social scene from sundown to sunrise?

CBC Ottawa - This is Ottawa
Published: Sep. 9, 2024

Mathieu Grondin says he’s been in “listening mode” all summer since being appointed Ottawa’s new nightlife commissioner. So what did he hear? Robyn Bresnahan meets him for an evening stroll – ending up at an Ottawa speakeasy – where he gets a grilling from three night owls.

https://www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-podcas...isode/16093009 https://www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-podcas...isode/16093009

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by acottawa

The "Central Area" (downtown, market, lebretton) has a population of 14,350, which is about the size of Napanee. How many sandwich shops and happy goats do you think this area can support with local residents?

Even worse most of this is Centreown west and the Market. If you are on Metcalfe or Sparks there are only a few buildings in your cachement area.

That said the idea the federal government is going to send people back to work to support Happy Goat is bordeline insanse. This is a $60 Billion payroll.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

That said the idea the federal government is going to send people back to work to support Happy Goat is bordeline insanse. This is a $60 Billion payroll.

So is the idea that you can replace the economic impact of 100k office workers with a few thousand residents.

[lrt's friend]

And as more downtown businesses die, there is less attraction to go downtown or use transit to get there. So, WFH is just part of the downtown spiral downward. So, it is not just the loss of workers but also the loss visitors from elsewhere in the city. This secondary loss is real but gradual and it accelerated in the pandemic, convoy and post pandemic periods.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by acottawa

The "Central Area" (downtown, market, lebretton) has a population of 14,350, which is about the size of Napanee. How many sandwich shops and happy goats do you think this area can support with local residents?

LeBreton is kind of disconnected from the rest, so maybe not worth including. Centretown however has 25,687 as of 2021. Probably closer to 27k today.

[Acajack]

As the Australians say, it's all over bar the shouting!

Federal public servants aren't going to go back to working from home full time or even 3-4 days a week. If anything the requirement to come into the office isn't going anywhere but up.

I am expecting that a few years into a Conservative government the requirement will be increased to 4-5 days a week.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

LeBreton is kind of disconnected from the rest, so maybe not worth including. Centretown however has 25,687 as of 2021. Probably closer to 27k today.

But Centretown isn’t where these businesses are. Centretown has its own businesses targeting the local community.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by acottawa

But Centretown isn’t where these businesses are. Centretown has its own businesses targeting the local community.

Downtown and Centretown are pretty well weaved together. There's no reason why someone in Tribeca couldn't chose Sparks over Bank for a morning coffee or an Indian restaurant in L'Esplanade over Somerset.

That said, the office worker market and resident market are very different. The office worker will be more likely to go for coffee, lunch and maybe a beer after work than the resident, but the resident is maybe more likely to go to Canada Computers, groceries or a furniture store in the area.