Downtown Ottawa Revitalization Initiatives

[Richard Eade]

They also need to fight the perception that downtown is unsafe. Advertising can go a long way to fighting the 'boring' label, but it will take significant changes to make people want to go downtown to events. I fear that more of the things to do will be away from the core.

Years ago, a fellow I know drove his daughter and her friends down to the By Ward Market for a function. He found getting into the market area was easy, but leaving was not. Every time he thought that he could drive out to a main street, he would be stopped by a One Way street. The labyrinth got him so frustrated that, apparently, he went the wrong way down a street to get out. (For which I shook a finger at him and “Tsk, Tsk”ed.) He actively refuses to go downtown any more. Luckily his daughter doesn’t want to go either. From the sounds of it, the young ladies found the market to be too “Sketchy” for their comfort. They still go and do things, but not in the By Ward Market.

I do understand that family’s feeling. It takes little to turn a person off of something that they were not super keen about. I’m not a person who spends hours shopping at a mall. (I’m more of a ‘Gorilla-Shopper' – Get in; Get the goods; Get out.) Since Bayshore redesigned their parking structure, I very rarely go there – much less than I used to. The ramp in the middle means wasted time and gas going around a big ‘dead zone’ in the middle. It means that I need to make more turns at more intersections, increasing the chances of a collision with other confused drivers. I now will drive much further to similar stores.

Once a place has been tagged as ‘undesirable’, it is very hard to remove that tag.

[Landscape Lenny]

I also avoid the market. I don't feel particularly unsafe but find it incredibly depressing being around so many homeless people and drug addicts. I also try not to drive down King Edward for the same reason.

[rocketphish]

'Downtown champions table' and a 'vibrancy office' cited as next steps in downtown revitalization

Mia Jensen, OBJ
November 26, 2024

It’s been a year of planning around Ottawa’s downtown as local stakeholders and government representatives have floated ideas and drawn up timelines for ways to bring the ailing area of the city back to life.

In January, the Downtown Revitalization Task Force formed by Liberal MP Yasir Naqvi released its long-anticipated report outlining the most pressing issues facing businesses and residents in the core and setting out recommendations. A few months later, in May, the Ottawa Board of Trade (OBOT) came out with its Downtown Ottawa Action Agenda, laying out a five-year plan to raise funds, build housing, and create new jobs.

Now, the main players behind these plans tell OBJ they’re working on getting the ball rolling.

“Since we dropped the plan in May, we’ve been working on an implementation strategy,” said Sueling Ching, president and CEO of OBOT. “We see a lot of the work moving forward and we just last week announced that we are going to move forward with the downtown champions table. We’re raising some seed funding to kickstart the agenda.” The OBOT action plan called for the addition of 40,000 residents and the creation of 50,000 jobs in the core by 2034 to reignite activity and innovation and bring vibrancy back to the area. It also proposed a $500-million fund to kickstart “a series of catalytic projects,” including significant enhancements to the public realms of Sparks Street and ByWard Market and the establishment of a new business incubation district and an arts/culture corridor. Ching said “downtown champions” will be announced in the coming weeks, in addition to what she calls the “downtown vibrancy office.” “The board of directors of the board of trade has committed to shepherding the downtown action plan over the next three years,” she said. “We will launch the vibrancy office in the beginning and it will serve the champions table. It will calibrate action items in the plan and communicate them to the community.” The groups will work on raising seed funding, she added – $350,000 to start, through a combination of public and private funding.

Getting private stakeholders and multiple levels of government to work together is an oft-cited challenge for those working on downtown revitalization, but Ching said she’s feeling optimistic.

“We have some federal champions in the city, like Yasir Naqvi and Mona Fortier, and we’ve been working with partners at PSPC through our Good Neighbours Summit initiative,” she said. “We feel optimistic around the province … we were encouraged when the premier came here in the spring and announced a new deal for Ottawa, which included downtown initiatives. And as far as the city goes, they’ve been really working side by side with us since the inception of our call for downtown Ottawa to be a priority.”

While the Downtown Revitalization Task Force is no longer active, Naqvi told OBJ that its members are still at work on the cause.

“That report was picked up by (OBOT) and they came up with an action plan that the city and the federal and provincial government, along with businesses and community partners, could start implementing,” he said. “That sort of is the second chapter to that important work and since then I believe all of us have been working on various aspects of those recommendations to put them into action.” At the federal level, Naqvi said planning for the disposal of multiple surplus government buildings in the core has taken priority.

“One of the very big recommendations that was made in the report was to facilitate a much faster process of disposal so that buildings in the downtown core can be either refurbished for other purposes or converted for residential purposes,” he said. “The last budget in 2024 has several pieces that came directly from the recommendations that were made in (the report).” He said that included allowing surplus properties to be leased, as well as creating a public lands bank that lists every federally owned property to improve transparency around which buildings are available.

With a federal election looming, Naqvi said one of the things he’ll be working on is facilitating collaboration with other levels of government and ensuring the city has whatever resources the federal government is able to provide.

Several months after the release of the plans, local realtor Darren Fleming said it’s hard to see how they will turn into action. “I would broadly categorize all the efforts to date as a lot of talk,” said Fleming, CEO of commercial real estate consulting firm Real Strategy Advisors. “When you read the plan, some of their short-term things include prioritizing housing. How do you prioritize something at the beginning that’s going to take years?” It’s not to say that there hasn’t been any movement in the downtown core, said Fleming, who points to increased traffic from employees returning to the office. But he said that type of action has been driven primarily by decisions from employers.

“It’s pretty consistent from what I expected,” Fleming said. “A lot of the problem child areas like Sparks Street are under (the federal government’s) purview. If not them, then the NCC. If they’re not part of the committee, if they’re not part of the task force, what else can we expect? They set their own agendas and timelines for what they’re going to do and, quite frankly, it takes them a long time to do anything. And in the midst of a minority government that is poised to look at an election, they’re not going to do anything.”

While it will likely take years to address some of the downtown core’s biggest challenges, community groups such as the Centretown BIA have been able to implement small but impactful actions that align with parts of the action agenda.

“It was really enlightening just to be surrounded by key players around the table, to hear different thoughts and ideas,” said BIA executive director SabriNa Lemay, who was part of the downtown revitalization task force. “It’s also enlightening for me, specifically being part of the Centretown BIA, with seeing the way we were in alignment with the plan itself, prior to even being part of the task force. It really did make me feel like we are on the right track.” The BIA has implemented initiatives focused on beautification, cleanliness, sustainability and safety, all of which have much shorter timelines than many other grander goals, according to Lemay. The BIA has also received a grant from the city’s public realm division to create a park, which would play host to community events.

For the BIA, “placemaking” – ensuring Centretown is a desirable destination with its own unique characteristics – has been a major priority in planning, particularly as the BIA expands its borders, a process that will begin in 2025.

While these efforts will help bring Centretown back to life, Lemay said other problems will persist without larger, collaborative efforts happening at a higher level. “Our members have not seen a full return of business,” she said. “There’s been some uptick, but the biggest concern is, and still remains, the social issues on the street, mental health, the challenges we’re seeing every day. They have been working so hard, so tirelessly, and our councillor has been wonderful, but we’re still not seeing any changes on the streets.” While Lemay said the BIA is working to keep up with concerns, there’s only so much it can do.

“I think the biggest thing I really want to push is that our members do need to be heard,” she said. “Them just sending emails (to the city) isn’t enough. They need that in-person visit. They need those conversations. A lot of them are feeling unseen and unheard.” Still, Lemay said seeing the revitalization work being done over the past year has instilled her with energy.

“I’m super excited,” she said. “I think that we have so many options. There are very key players sitting around the table that are ready and willing to make change. I think we are motivated by the challenges we see and that we’re not going to stop until we see this change, working together. It’s really beautiful.”

https://obj.ca/downtown-ottawa-next-steps-downtown-revitalization/

[acottawa]

This is a very Ottawa approach. Revitalize the downtown by hiring a bunch of bureaucrats.

I would rather they would focus on making downtown more hospitable: cleaning, bylaw enforcement, lighting, holiday decorations, policing, etc.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by acottawa

This is a very Ottawa approach. Revitalize the downtown by hiring a bunch of bureaucrats.

I would rather they would focus on making downtown more hospitable: cleaning, bylaw enforcement, lighting, holiday decorations, policing, etc.

I had the same reaction.

[rocketphish]

Big words do not always lead to big results. "We will launch the vibrancy office in the beginning and it will serve the champions table. It will calibrate action items in the plan and communicate them to the community."

[phil235]

Originally Posted by acottawa

This is a very Ottawa approach. Revitalize the downtown by hiring a bunch of bureaucrats.

I would rather they would focus on making downtown more hospitable: cleaning, bylaw enforcement, lighting, holiday decorations, policing, etc.

Really? You don't think that all of the most vibrant cities in the world are the result of good work by vibrancy offices?

[OTSkyline]

Agree. I'd rather see small but consistent improvements instead all of these committees and plans and strategic visions that never come to fruition.

[kwoldtimer]

How about a Sunday flea market (Ok, maybe 7 months of the year). How about unrestricted busking? Maybe support pop-up shops? How about dance classes in public spaces (works well in other cities). A Speaker's Corner? More music venues (folk, jazz?) How about a few used/antiquarian book shops in a "book district", with regular public readings? How about an international street food hall?

Seems like there's quite a few things that work in other cities that Ottawa could try. We don't need to reinvent the wheel.

[Kitchissippi]

This calls for another round of SOPA!

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by Kitchissippi

This calls for another round of SOPA!

What is that?

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

How about a Sunday flea market (Ok, maybe 7 months of the year). How about unrestricted busking? Maybe support pop-up shops? How about dance classes in public spaces (works well in other cities). A Speaker's Corner? More music venues (folk, jazz?) How about a few used/antiquarian book shops in a "book district", with regular public readings? How about an international street food hall?

Seems like there's quite a few things that work in other cities that Ottawa could try. We don't need to reinvent the wheel.

This time of year it is especially noticeable. While most of the world (including many non-Christian countries) have their downtowns all decked out for the holidays, downtown Ottawa and the market have a sad little smattering of Canadian tire decorations, possibly from the 1980s (although I guess there are some non downtown locations like Lansdowne and Wesley Clover that are better). Central Tashkent, Uzbekistan is more festive than Ottawa in the holidays.

[eltodesukane]

And the building that burned down on William St. near York St.,
how long ago already and still nothing there?

[OTSkyline]

I was at the Distillery district on Tuesday in Toronto and it was crazy busy even during the middle of the day.

The large statement Christmas tree, Christmas music blasting everywhere, little shops, sweet treats, pop-up activation, etc.. it was pretty remarkable. We could do so much better with downtown, sparks & the Byward.

Something as little as speakers around the Byward playing music, is that not a thing?

[Ottawacurious]

I seem to remember more Christmas lights downtown as well. Someone once told me they had to share the Christmas budget across Ottawa instead of focusing most of it downtown. No idea if there is truth in it but, from when I moved to Ottawa vs now - the quantity of lights downtown / city hall park/ war memorial/ parliament / etc definitely feels greatly reduced.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by OTSkyline

I was at the Distillery district on Tuesday in Toronto and it was crazy busy even during the middle of the day.

The large statement Christmas tree, Christmas music blasting everywhere, little shops, sweet treats, pop-up activation, etc.. it was pretty remarkable. We could do so much better with downtown, sparks & the Byward.

Something as little as speakers around the Byward playing music, is that not a thing?

I was in the Byward Market last Sunday afternoon.

There was definitely music playing but it was some kind of non-descript hiphop from a DJ. Not sure if it was organized and official or informally busker-ish.

Anyway, it wasn't very Christmassy.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by Kitchissippi

This calls for another round of SOPA!

Harvest vegetable, please!

[rocketphish]

Here's what Ottawa's nightlife revival council discussed at its 1st meeting
Volunteer council part of Ottawa's plan to reverse sleepy nightlife image

CBC News
Posted: Dec 23, 2024 3:47 PM EST | Last Updated: December 23

An online promotion campaign and nighttime safety plan topped the agenda at the first meeting of Ottawa's new nightlife council, members say.

The meeting earlier this month gave newly-appointed nightlife councillors an opportunity to meet and discuss the city's first nightlife action plan, member Eric Vance told CBC's Ottawa Morning on Monday.

Vance, who is also a drag performer and co-owner of Glittershaker Events, said it's important for Ottawa to have a central online resource for event promotion.

"We hear a lot of the time, that event sounded so great but we really didn't know it was happening," Vance said. "I think the online resource for promotion … that's a really great way for people to find out about events."

Vance is part of the new team of volunteer nightlife councillors assembled by the City of Ottawa and nightlife commissioner Mathieu Grondin in an effort to reverse Ottawa's image as the "city that fun forgot."

The nightlife council was greenlit last year as part of a nightlife action plan to develop and promote a "more vibrant, diverse, inclusive, viable, safe, and well-managed nightlife."

Vance said in addition to larger organizations such as Ottawa Tourism, members representing "the little guys who make some really great stuff happen" also appeared.

Rachel Weldon, director of Ottawa arts non-profit Debaser, attended the meeting.

Although Weldon acknowledged that some people might be fatigued by family commitments during the holidays, she said nightlife can still thrive.

"Everybody's budget is a little bit stretched tighter this time of year, and they have other social events," said she said. "But there is also a spirit of celebration in the air."

Like Vance, Weldon often works on smaller scale events that range up to 1,000 people.

She hopes by bringing a voice for those events to the nightlife council, she can help artists and cultural workers carve out a better career in nightlife.

"We're looking for a better industry for the people who participate in it, who make it run," she said.

With files from CBC's Ottawa Morning

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-nightlife-council-meeting-1.7417915

[Kitchissippi]

If promotion and safety are at the top of the agenda instead of actual ideas on how to make nightlife more interesting and vibrant, I don’t have high expectations on what they’ll achieve. You can promote the heck out of it but if what’s on offer is boring, it’s not going anywhere.

[Requin]

Originally Posted by Kitchissippi

If promotion and safety are at the top of the agenda instead of actual ideas on how to make nightlife more interesting and vibrant, I don’t have high expectations on what they’ll achieve. You can promote the heck out of it but if what’s on offer is boring, it’s not going anywhere.

I had the exact same impression...