Yes, in my backyard; Lansdowne could be great
Jonathan McLeod, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: July 15, 2014, Last Updated: July 15, 2014 3:46 PM EDT
It’s my backyard.
(Well, not literally.)
I moved into the Glebe two years ago. Knowing the Glebe’s NIMBY reputation (“Not In My BackYard”), I took the plunge and moved in two blocks away from Lansdowne. I supported the development, but knew my life would contain living room-shaking piledriving and smoke-spewing trucks up and down Bank Street for a few years. Nonetheless, this is where I wanted to be. I am the anti-NIMBY. I see the concept behind the Lansdowne rejuvenation, and I know that I want that as my backyard.
It has been years since we in Ottawa first discussed, or championed, or protested the Lansdowne re-development project. Now we have highrises and commitments from bland chain stores. It is easy to forget the original vision.
We were to have a “unique urban village”, a world-class mix of work, play and life that complemented the adjacent neighbourhooods of the Glebe and Old Ottawa South. These are closely built communities with mixed-use development, ample sources of leisure and recreation, and infrastructure that is, generally speaking, conducive to walking.
Lansdowne was to be built to these specifications. Open spaces would abound; we would have a year-round farmers market and an expansive urban park that would open Lansdowne to the view of the canal.
The Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group (OSEG) clearly understands the nuts-and-bolts of the urban village concept. Lansdowne is designed to be a walkable, liveable place with spaces for various aspects of life. People will reside there, work there, play there and shop there, but the question is, will people truly live there?
It is easy to express a desire to emulate the community success of the Glebe, but if you view the Glebe merely as a sum of its location, businesses and income, you do not understand why the Glebe is so loved by its residents. It is about community.
This community exists because of the intertwined lives of people. People are out on the streets, running errands, walking dogs and sitting on patios. They are chatting with friends. On the day I moved in, I had to navigate around a circle of neighbours at the end of my street who had their easels and brushes out. They were sitting, painting the neighbourhood.
It was lovely.
There are many drawbacks to the NIMBY attitude, but there is an underlying devotion to community. That impulse should be cherished.
OSEG’s vision to “complement” the neighbourhoods of the Glebe and Old Ottawa South is sound. They have researched the optimum retail component and have designed areas that can host a variety of community events. Unfortunately, it is one thing to have the vision and the tools; it is another to have the skill necessary to implement that vision. OSEG appear to have more of the former rather than the latter.
So what has gone wrong? It’s rather simple. OSEG has turned its back on the Glebe, quite literally.
Holmwood Ave., the northern boundary of Lansdowne, has been irreparably scarred. The towering back of a movie theatre blots out the vista that used to know a quiet park and beloved trees. Even with a row of micro-townhouses to be built, the imagery of Lansdowne mooning this lovely little street is unmistakeable. We can commend OSEG for finally doing something with the ruins of Lansdowne while also acknowledging that they have severely wronged the residents of Holmwood.
But Lansdowne won’t thrive or fail based on its impact on Holmwood. As with a good book or a first love, we will value most what is on the inside. And like many books and many more past loves, Lansdowne is a decided mix of good and bad.
Much of Lansdowne’s design is irrefutably beautiful. The urban park, the skating rink, the pavilion, the children’s area — these are all wonderful transformations of what was a crumbling parking lot. They will give a fuller, livelier existence than just a residential or commercial development. They will give time. Time to linger. Time to just live. And like the most vibrant urban neighbourhoods, Lansdowne should be about living. We may think of urban environments as cold, dead swaths of concrete, but they are our most densely-packed areas. With ample social interaction, they can maximize human living.
Lansdowne was to be this sort of “authentic” urban village, but in their drive for authentic authenticity, they have ignored the need for community. Despite assurances of unique boutique retailers, we are getting Winners. And Jack Astor’s. And PetSmart. We are getting establishments that superficially play into the original vision, but demonstrate a lack of understanding of the connections between urban dwellers and their neighbourhood. The development needs to be coherent to thrive. Right now, it isn’t.
This is the contradiction within OSEG’s apparent plan to turn Lansdowne into a destination shopping experience. Cars require a lot of space, but urban communities must be scaled for people. The retail mix demonstrates a disconnect between the various aspects of Lansdowne.
Lansdowne, as a residence, is being marketed as the newest hip urban experience. It aligns nicely with the compositions of the Glebe and Old Ottawa South, while still maintaining its own character — smaller dwellings, no single-family homes. This is not the Winners/Jack Astor’s crowd. The residential development is a good match for small boutique stores. Unfortunately, if the retail mix does not attract the local crowd, it will need a car-heavy commuter class to survive.
But Lansdowne cannot rely upon people living hermetically sealed lives — from single-family home to their car, from their car to a parking garage, to a store and back again. The suburban mall or big box store approach will fail, likely subverting the very neighbourhoods the site is supposed to complement.
We need people out of their cars — walking, biking or taking the bus. We need them interacting and living in the new community. Living isn’t merely buying something or watching a game. It is seeing people, greeting people and being people.
Sometimes, you only get one shot. Lansdowne is a perfectly placed for a new urban development. If OSEG can achieve the vision of a vibrant urban village, they will have transformed a dilapidated parking lot and crumbling stadium into a wonderful new gathering place for all of Ottawa. They have a vision, and although they are straying from this vision, the blunders are not insurmountable. Lansdowne still possesses the potential to be amazing.
I look forward to having you over to my backyard.
Jonathan McLeod is a general fellow with the Canadian Council for Democracy. He writes about local matters at stepsfromthecanal.wordpress.com.
http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/yes-in-my-backyard
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