Downtown Ottawa Revitalization Initiatives

[ars]

As an introvert who loves the current WFH trend because I don’t have to waste hours and money commuting every week and have the flexibility to make my own schedule, a big no thanks to being forced back into the office. I actually switched companies because my old Kanata-based company was going to force people to come back into the office(which is not helping the downtown core at all if I may add). My current company has an optional hybrid policy where you can come into the office if you want but you will never be forced to, and a lot of people who don’t have a good working space at home choose to come in regularly. It’s a win-win for all sides because the employer can save costs by reducing their real estate as well.

Revitalizing downtown by forcing people back into offices is a crutch and a band-aid solution that doesn’t actually solve the real problem that there isn’t much to do downtown outside of 9-5 on weekdays. The Sens coming to Lebreton might help, but even Lebreton isn’t super-accessible to and from the downtown core. If you look at some of the most vibrant downtowns in the world, a lot of them revolve around amenities and communities that are difficult to recreate in suburbs(open air markets, world class restaurants and entertainment, tourists, high end hotels, architecture and nature).

FWIW, I think Shopify becoming digital only hurt downtown more than suburban dwelling government workers working from home. Even if you force people back into the office, the type of companies you need downtown are the trendy companies and startups that will have a younger crowd of employees living downtown within walking distance of the office.