When the exhibition grounds and stadium were located where they were a century ago, the Glebe was the edge of town. It made sense to have them there then, but not now.
I am not certain where the stadium might better have gone. There were other locations that the City's own study thought would have been better. Perhaps it should have remained at Lansdowne, but with far less ancillary commercial development, so that the new development could have been more in keeping with the surrounding neighbourhood, rather than a wall of steel on the south side of Holmwood, looking inwards on the site.
Although I would not want to just shift the problem on to residents of another neighbourhood without consideration of their concerns, it always seemed that Bayview Yards and adjacent parts of Lebreton Flats would have been more appropriate:
* right on the Transitway (someday to be LRT)
* right on the O-Train
* right next to the Western Parkway
* right next to 2 bridges to Quebec
It would have been quite in keeping with the City's stated aim of making new developments more transit-friendly.
Glebe residents are excoriated when they express nostalgia for a time when their neighbourhood was not in developers' bullseye. But football-fanciers always evoke their nostalgia for times past when they walked to Riders games at Lansdowne.
As nice as that memory may be, Ottawa is a much more sprawling city than it was 40 or 50 years ago -- as Glebe residents are also always reminded -- and so the reality is that most sports fans will be coming from all reaches of the Ottawa-Gatineau area, and so will likely drive, or very grudgingly use transit. Below is a typical scene of traffic on Bank Street when more than one thing was happening at Lansdowne at once.
Very generous of OSMUG to leave the baseball diamonds intact. In fact, it was only through yet more whining and agitating by residents that City Council agreed to keep them and the wading pool park out of the redevelopment. Original plans included them as part of the redevelopment area. And at least one of the plans for the urban park proposed a "tabula rasa" approach that would have wiped them off the map.
Of the 3 schools in the Glebe, 2 have not a blade of grass, and few trees in their yards, and only one is actually left unlocked after school hours. There are several parks, which are all very well used. But since it seems that you feel kids shouldn't have space at the new Lansdowne or along the Canal, there is actually comparatively little green playspace in the Glebe for kids.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JackBauer24
"I still question the wisdom of keeping the stadium at Lansdowne" - Why? It was a Stadium before and seemed to have worked quite well. Centrally located, so you don't get the traffic problems that (former) SBP has to deal with. Since you have fans/visitors coming from all directions, you don't need ONE major public transit route like SBP needs.
Dare I ask what you would have preferred to be built there instead? And what other location would you have picked for the stadium?
"The reality is that the majority of the population of Greater Ottawa lives in the suburbs, and so will be unable to walk out their front doors and down the street to the stadium."
I wasn't aware the Glebe/Old Ottawa South was that difficult to get to from Orleans and Kanata. I haven't been a public transit user for over a decade now, but I don't recall getting to central Ottawa to be that much of an issue. But if you place the stadium in Orleans, Kanata folk would be upset over the distance they have to travel, and vice versa. The reality is a centrally located is the most logical approach - for proof, please see any other major city in North America with an arena/stadium.
"As for the excitement of your niece or nephews, I suppose it will be convenient for you to have pro soccer nearby that you can take them to on the odd occasion that they come visit. However, I can't afford to take my kids to pro soccer games every week. And frankly, I'd rather have them PLAYING soccer with their friends in the park, than just sitting on their asses watching somebody else play it."
I guess I should have clarified, if I lived in Kanata, Orleans, Vanier or Navan, I would still be excited to take my niece and nephews to the games, I just wouldn't be able to walk there. I guess I'm just having a bit of nostalgia since I used to walk to the Riders games with my dad. But since you insinuated that I'm more or less a dead-beat uncle who would let his niece/nephew fatten up watching events instead of participating, I should also clarify that I coach them in soccer. And I don't think it's too hard to believe that they might like to watch some of their potential sports idols in-person playing the same sport they do with their coach/uncle.
"Early iterations of the OSMUG plan showed community soccer pitches outside of the stadium. But somehow these were eased out over the course of the refinements of the plan. Guess they took up valuable condo or mall space."
Why did OSEG have to add anything more for the kids that the Glebe already provides? OSEG is keeping the two baseball diamonds in tact - keeping the only space designed for kids, untouched. Off the top of my head I can count 3 schools in the Glebe alone that have yards for kids to play plus countless parks in much less busier and safer areas to play than Lansdowne.
I'd feel much safer knowing my kids were playing at Capital Park than at Lansdowne - beside the canal, busy Bank St. and an area with cars going in and out, but that's just me.
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