Downtown Ottawa Revitalization Initiatives

[phil235]

Originally Posted by Mille Sabords

Hah, I knew that this would touch a nerve - I was deliberate in my choice of words to provoke exactly this kind of discussion.

Lots of layers to this so let me start with the good / potential: maybe the empty office spaces that the feds no longer need can be used by high-tech firms who employ younger work forces, who are likelier to live and go out downtown. That would be a big improvement over the bureaucratic fight-to-suburbia-at 5 pm of past years. Check on that.

BUT! Increased productivity... yeah, for some. There are hard workers who respect their paycheque and their employer. But there are also many (more than we care to acknowledge) who game the system, have two jobs without telling the other employers, and hide behind their WFH arrangement to their advantage. In the case of federal bureaucrats, I am astonished at how blind they can be at the real prospect of a tory government royally kicking their asses. But even without that happening, it really strains the morale of everyone who works hard to see that so many can get away with so much. It bakes in some pretty huge unfairness.

AND - to the argument that "we shouldn't get people to go back just so a few fast food places can fill up at lunch anymore"... I am speechless. Can this be any more insulting and patronizing to the downtown core? How many more poundings is downtown expected to keep taking, decade after decade... seemingly taking modest steps forward just to be knocked back again, and still be expected to be the city's cash cow? The attitude seems to be "up to downtown to reinvest itself, I am not gonna change" - "It's my convenience above all and too bad for downtown, that'll be their problem"... or, more glibly: "come on downtown, you can do it! you can reinvent yourself (yet again)! tell us when you do (and when you clean up your street problems, too, hehe) - we may go check out a restaurant or two then!"

As a city we want a lively downtown, and that means people living and working there, going to restaurants of all kinds and entertainment venues of all kinds. Keeping downtown vibrant should be a point of civic pride.

Best comment I've read in a while. Thanks!

I think the idea that WFH is broadly better for productivity and mental health will prove to be illusory - there are lots of work-based reasons to get people together in person, starting with onboarding new hires and creating an environment ripe for collaboration.