Ottawa's Byward Market

[OTSkyline]

Phase 1 should be to remove those parking spots and create a colorful, inviting plaza to sit and gather and take in the market (but keep York open to vehicular traffic).

Phase 2 could be to close York Street to cars between Sussex and Byward Market Square road.

[phil235]

Originally Posted by bartlebooth

If the city removed car access and parking in that location, it would pretty much instantly become one of the most vibrant parts of the city in terms of humans gathering and hanging out. I’ve been hoping for a move like that forever. Can’t remove parking though. It’s sacred in Ottawa.

Isn't the plan to do just that?

Edit: Hadn't looked closely at the final plans. Looks like the idea is to remove the parking to create a square, but keep a roadway on the south side - https://app05.ottawa.ca/sirepub/cache/2/gov1dv5rv2jytxsvbe51dqnz/67587606242022022605561.PDF

[bartlebooth]

Originally Posted by phil235

Isn't the plan to do just that?

Edit: Hadn't looked closely at the final plans. Looks like the idea is to remove the parking to create a square, but keep a roadway on the south side - https://app05.ottawa.ca/sirepub/cache/2/gov1dv5rv2jytxsvbe51dqnz/67587606242022022605561.PDF

I didn’t know! Too bad the roadway is being kept.

[phil235]

Originally Posted by bartlebooth

I didn’t know! Too bad the roadway is being kept.

Agreed, converting that stretch into a full public square would be better. There is at least reference to another square beside the new market building (where the city parking lot is). I wouldn't be opposed to a bunch of smaller public spaces spread throughout.

[rocketphish]

How the City of Ottawa is killing the ByWard Market
Unfortunately, none of the mayoral and ward candidates proposed any effective solutions to the problems of what was once a unique, thriving area.

Sylvie Grenier
Nov 01, 2022 • November 1, 2022 • 3 minute read

The ByWard Market used to be a unique area with a thriving year-long food market, a mix of interesting small shops and a favoured destination to work, live and visit, all within a heritage conservation district.

Regrettably, it has now become a place to avoid given its rowdy nightlife, extremely high crime rate, its over-concentration of services for the homeless and the loss of its farmers’ market and commercial diversity. Unfortunately, none of the mayoral and ward candidates proposed any solutions to the Market’s issues.

The Market building currently hosts a food court the like of which can be found in the basement of any shopping centre. The farmers’ market has vanished along with most year-long food retailers and other small shops. It has been replaced by a flea market selling lemonade and hot dogs. Almost all the businesses that have disappeared have been replaced by restaurants and bars. In effect, the Market has become a night-time destination selling mainly fast food, cheap wear and drink.

In 2008, after two moratoriums on new bars and nightclubs, the city adopted a bylaw imposing distance and size restrictions on new bars and nightclubs in the Market. The industry swiftly got around the bylaw by applying for new restaurants that morphed into bars into the evening. The effect was a large increase in the number of businesses selling alcohol. This led to a proportional increase in the crime rate, negative behaviour, noise and a reduced sense of safety at night.

The city never bothered to implement its bylaw and refused to make any adjustments that would ensure it could be effectively implemented. On the contrary, the city encouraged the proliferation of bars and its nightlife industry. Since 2008, it has actively subsidized the restaurant and bar industry by reducing and eventually eliminating the rental fees for patios located on the public right-of-way, extending the patio season to 12 months and permitting patios on the street in lieu of parking.

For the past two years, the city has adopted a “Patio Innovation Program” that relaxed regulations in support of patios operators. Measures included closing sections of roads for patio expansions, extending the closing time for all patios and lifting the distance restrictions between patios and residential areas.

These measures helped exclusively the restaurant and bar operators. They had a negative effect on retailers, residents and pedestrians. In many instances, the placement of patios on entire sidewalks pushed pedestrians onto the street alongside moving vehicles. The closing of Clarence Street between Dalhousie and Parent created the atmosphere of a private mega bar, exactly what the 2008 zoning bylaw was adopted in order to avoid.

Residents suffered from increased noise and negative behaviours. Retailers including the food retailers, were negatively impacted by street closures and the loss of on-street parking. Unsightly patio structures sprouted with no thought on how they fit with the heritage character of the area.

It is unfortunate that city officials lack the vision and leadership to recognize the potential of the Market to be a distinct, safe and pleasant mixed-use area with a vibrant farmers’ market, unique Canadian boutiques and nighttime activity. The NCC has understood the potential of the Market as an exceptional destination by renting to small and unique Canadian retailers along Sussex Drive.

The Market faces many issues and unless they are addressed as a whole, it would be a waste to spend millions as proposed by the city to improve its public realm. There is no excuse to reduce the ByWard Market to mainly an ordinary night-time destination.

Sylvie Grenier is a resident of Lowertown and a longtime member of the Lowertown Community Association’s planning committee, with a special interest in seeing the ByWard Market flourish.

https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/grenier-how-the-city-of-ottawa-is-killing-the-byward-market

[rocketphish]

ByWard Market plans are bold — but they remain unfunded
Ottawa's historic market will turn 200 in 2027. As residents of the area, we have a responsibility to come together as champions of the ByWard District.

Mathieu Fleury, Zachary Dayler
Nov 16, 2022 • 5 hours ago • 3 minute read

The following is written in response to “How the City of Ottawa is killing the ByWard Market”, published Nov. 1:


One struggles to find a part of Ottawa that generates more passionate debate than the ByWard Market. Nestled beside the noble federal precinct, the Market has always been Ottawa’s public place. A historic incubator for our farming industry, a place to have a drink, and a place to see and to be seen — this is where Ottawa started. It has survived fires, riots and, more recently, the redevelopment of Rideau Street, to name a few events from its history. Now facing modern challenges, amplified by the pandemic, the ByWard area is at the beginning of a significant rebuild.

In 2022, one can go to the Market for fresh produce or annuals, but one can also head to a local grocery store, garden nursery, or big-box store. Food networks and systems have changed in Ottawa and, indeed, within Lowertown. Residents have very high access to many of these amenities within a five-kilometre radius of the ByWard Market.

How we seek out fun and food is also in flux as the economy opens up again and as socialization patterns change.

Meanwhile, as in most mid- to large-sized North American cities, Ottawa’s core is challenged by the epidemic of illicit drugs, chiefly opioids. Coupled with the housing crisis — not simply affordability but also a need to transform shelter models towards housing — the presence of the unhoused on our streets is a more critical challenge than ever.

There are natural and perceived safety concerns for those who work in and visit the district, and a collective view that our most vulnerable are not receiving appropriate housing and support fast enough.

Suppose Ottawa truly desires to become North America’s most livable mid-sized city. In that case, the efforts put in motion in the last two years to support ByWard’s transition must be prioritized by all stakeholders. As residents of the area, we have a responsibility to be champions for it — to be the eyes on the street, the helping hand, and the motivators of the change we want to see.

Advocating for ByWard — for reinvesting traditional municipal revenues within the district, and for overall coordination and curation of the “ByWard experience,” from maintenance through to programming — means the area needs to think and act like a united district. Its current funding and governance tools are rusty, and the new city council should support work to coordinate efforts for the future of the ByWard District. (And let’s focus as a city on elements we control. The AGCO, a provincial agency, is an authority for liquor and cannabis licences. We must stop blaming the city for the concentration of these establishments.)

Finally, ByWard is unique in Ottawa and the National Capital Region. This most popular and historic district must be clean, safe, welcoming and animated. More specifically, the public realm plan for the Market needs significant investments from the city, the private sector, the NCC, and the provincial and federal governments, in order to to unlock the vision we all supported. A new vision for the heritage conservation district plan is underway to protect and enhance its bones. City Council has approved a plan with a new vision for the district’s public spaces.

A great deal of experimentation was undertaken during the pandemic. The approved plans are bold. They include revitalizing the Market building, greening ByWard’s streets, redeveloping the Parking Garage at 70 Clarence as a “destination experience,” creating large event and gathering places on York Street, and creating spaces that become true examples of how a city can address climate change adaptation and social inequality through the great unifier of public space. Yet the plan remains unfunded.

The ByWard Market will turn 200 in 2027. With that as a marker, we call on all civic leaders to amplify our efforts to think — and act — boldly and optimistically for its future.

Mathieu Fleury is the former city councillor for Ward 12, Rideau-Vanier. Zachary Dayler is the executive director for the Municipal Service Corporation Marchés d’Ottawa Markets.

https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/fleury...-plans-are-bold-but-they-remain-unfunded

[Harley613]

Blaming nightlife for a huge proportion of the problems in the market is hilariously biased. I feel far more endangered in the Market in the middle of the day than I do during the few hours on the weekend when University students take it over for libations. During those few hours, there are fights, there are some crimes, but that's normal in a nightlife district, and Ottawa MUST have a nightlife district. The homelessness is what's killing the market, plain and simple.

[ars]

Originally Posted by Harley613

Blaming nightlife for a huge proportion of the problems in the market is hilariously biased. I feel far more endangered in the Market in the middle of the day than I do during the few hours on the weekend when University students take it over for libations. During those few hours, there are fights, there are some crimes, but that's normal in a nightlife district, and Ottawa MUST have a nightlife district. The homelessness is what's killing the market, plain and simple.

Agreed, blaming the nightlife for problems with the market is very predictably Ottawa

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by Harley613

Blaming nightlife for a huge proportion of the problems in the market is hilariously biased. I feel far more endangered in the Market in the middle of the day than I do during the few hours on the weekend when University students take it over for libations. During those few hours, there are fights, there are some crimes, but that's normal in a nightlife district, and Ottawa MUST have a nightlife district. The homelessness is what's killing the market, plain and simple.

The idea that current problems are because of nightlife are really quite laughable. I know it's an Op Ed but it borders on misinformation and would be labelled as such if it was a marginalized group being blamed and not the young who have borne the brunt of covid restrictions and been criticized harshly for any transgression.

There was a time 10 years ago when nightclubs were bringing rival gangs together and causing problems in the market. This was probably inevitable as you say we need a nightlife district. But even this is not true now.

[OTSkyline]

Another opportunity to diversify and bring more people, tourists, business to the Byward Market is to lean more on holidays like Christmas.

Toronto's Distillery district goes all out with a huge tree, a lighting ceremory, etc... Could have weekly activation (like carolers, artists, outdoor beer garden, etc). Make it a "must see" for the holidays. The Eaton Centre also has this "artificial snow" inside the mall this year which has driven quite the attention (I keep seeing videos and TikToks online about it).

Does the Byward Market do any of this today?

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by OTSkyline

Another opportunity to diversify and bring more people, tourists, business to the Byward Market is to lean more on holidays like Christmas.

Toronto's Distillery district goes all out with a huge tree, a lighting ceremory, etc... Could have weekly activation (like carolers, artists, outdoor beer garden, etc). Make it a "must see" for the holidays. The Eaton Centre also has this "artificial snow" inside the mall this year which has driven quite the attention (I keep seeing videos and TikToks online about it).

Does the Byward Market do any of this today?

I went last year to Distillery district and it was absolutely packed on a weekday.

Landsdowne has a slightly sterile market but the Market could really be a tourist attraction More authentic than either of the above. Selling alcohol would be key which would be controversial I'm sure.

[UrbOttawa]

Can we put Dream in charge of the byward market too? lol

[acottawa]

When Sparks street was decorated for a film shoot (I assume a Hallmark movie) it actually looked quite festive and nice. (Way better than it looks now with the official decorations).

[J.OT13]

Seeing the Distillery District, it bodes well for Zibi.

Originally Posted by acottawa

When Sparks street was decorated for a film shoot (I assume a Hallmark movie) it actually looked quite festive and nice. (Way better than it looks now with the official decorations).

You'd think that Sparks and the Market would take inspiration from those movie shoots to spruce-up the place during the Christmas Season.

[rocketphish]

To save Lowertown, Ottawa council must change its approach
Vanier and the ByWard Market shouldn't be the only areas of town offering major shelters and social services for mental illness, addiction and homelessness.

Mohammed Adam, Ottawa Citizen
Published Feb 16, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 3 minute read

Sylvie Bigras has lived in Lowertown for decades, and seen it gradually turn into ground zero for the social services no other city neighbourhood wants. The problem is getting worse, and she believes services must be decentralized, or Ottawa’s oldest neighbourhood will turn into a ghetto.

Bigras says the city has packed Lowertown with shelters and services for people who suffer everything from mental illness to addiction and homelessness — as if they all live downtown. In fact, such vulnerable people come from all over the city, and Lowertown should not be made to carry the burden alone.

“I have lived here for 40 years and we’ve become a dumping ground for social services,” says Bigras, the local community association president. “We are on our way to becoming Vancouver Downtown Eastside. We don’t want to create a ghetto downtown.” Bigras says the social service system is broken because the way services are delivered is not helping anyone, she says. People with a variety of problems — drug addiction, alcoholism, mental illness, poverty — are lumped together in shelters, and the cycle keeps repeating itself.

What the city needs, she believes, is a new policy that requires a small shelter in every ward to serve people where they live. “You have to take people out of mega-shelters and put them in small centres that cater to their needs,” Bigras says. She is right.

Over the years, vulnerable people have become trapped in a never-ending cycle of poverty, drug addiction, alcoholism and mental illness, with no hope of escape. Shelters perform a great service, giving people temporary relief and a place to lay their heads. And no doubt the people who work in shelters are a selfless and dedicated bunch. But the heavy concentration of shelters and their attendant problems in one spot, combined with the proliferation of bars and easy access to alcohol, has turned Lowertown/ByWard Market into a high crime area.

It is a problem Rideau-Vanier Coun. Stephanie Plante wants addressed. Plante says her ward, which stretches from the Market into Vanier, is overrun with shelters, with 12 of them and two hotels that serve a similar function. She doesn’t understand why Rideau-Vanier is bearing the heavy load while other wards contribute nothing. She says Ottawa Public Health data shows that many opioid overdoses occur on construction sites in the suburbs, “so why are we concentrating overdose prevention in the downtown core?” A report by the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network did find that among people who died of opioid toxicity, one-third of them worked in the construction industry.

Plante says big cities are decentralizing their shelter services and Ottawa should do the same. Shelters must not only be spread around, the city should, as a matter of policy, move away from shelters and offer supportive housing. That’s why she wants the Salvation Army to rethink its mega-shelter planned for Vanier. Plante says she has spoken to Mayor Mark Sutcliffe who supports the idea of decentralizing shelters, and she’s hoping council will take up the issue.

Bigras and Plante are right to question why Lowertown is saturated with shelters, and why the city continues to approve new projects such as the Vanier mega-shelter.

Shelters do a good job, but they are essentially a Band-Aid. What street people who are struggling with assorted problems need is the dignity of a home, from which they can access the right help. That’s why affordable housing is so critical. The problem is that, over the years, non-urban councillors have been reluctant to acknowledge that homelessness, addiction and mental illness are citywide issues they must confront. They see this as a downtown issue. But residents of Kanata, Barrhaven, Orléans, or Riverside South are just as vulnerable to addiction or mental illness as anyone downtown.

Sutcliffe promised a new police station in the ByWard Market, but so far hasn’t provided funding. Perhaps the better approach is to examine why the area is such a magnet for crime. The long-term solution may well lie in rethinking the city’s entire Lowertown policy.

Mohammed Adam is an Ottawa journalist and commentator. Reach him at [email protected]

https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/adam-to-save-lowertown-ottawa-council-must-change-its-approach

[rocketphish]

‘It just needs a bit of love’: ByWard Market businesses back proposed new governance structure

Sarah MacFarlane, OBJ
March 2, 2023 | 3:54 PM ET

Business owners are applauding a proposal to dissolve the ByWard Market BIA in favour of a new municipal services corporation structure.

The structure, announced Wednesday at the BIA board meeting, would replace the current BIA and Ottawa Markets, which is responsible for operations in the Market. The goal behind the proposed new structure is to align area operations, marketing, programming and advocacy under a single entity.

“We want to see change because what’s happening now is not good,” said John Borsten, the owner or co-owner of Zak’s Diner, The Grand Pizzeria & Bar, Starling and the Metropolitain Brasserie, all cornerstone eateries in the Market, and a BIA board member. “It isn’t a hostile takeover.

“The problem right now is the Market is treated as just another part of the city, with the same service level as Bank Street or Nepean,” he said.

“We get 40,000 people here on a July Saturday and the garbage is all over the place and you have to go to some department to get it cleared,” he said. “It’s in need of care and this will hopefully help facilitate that.”

The ByWard Market BIA has been doing “an amazing job” with branding the area as a tourist destination “for decades,” said Michelle Groulx, president of the Ottawa Coalition of Business Improvement Areas (OCOBIA).

“But then what surfaced and what the city was talking about was there was a corporation of Ottawa Markets, so two entities within this area, and sometimes you need to combine them in order to make a big voice and impact,” she said.

While the move is still in its strategic review and assessment phase, Groulx hopes that the new entity will have more authority than a BIA when it comes to boosting the area. BIAs have limited power when it comes to certain issues like infrastructure, which fall to city authorities, she said. Shutting down a street for an event, coordinating waste collection and other priorities for the community will be easier to address with this new authority, she added.

Jacquie LaRocque is a public affairs counsellor and founder and principal of Compass Rose, a government relations firm based in the Market. She’s focused on the growth and “rejuvenation” of the Market, whether it comes from this new entity or the city itself.

Along with other community leaders and advocates, LaRocque presented ideas and priorities to Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe at the Mayor’s Economic Summit last month. Among the priorities she proposed were long-term investments, designated foot patrol, realignment of social services, and creating an “authentic experience” for visitors and locals.

“We’re really looking at what the plan is for rejuvenating the district, moving from a lighter version of action to something longer and deeper that will affect the fabric of the area,” she told OBJ. Urgent priorities for her include safety and security, whereas more long-term ideas involve “transformational” investment opportunities. All in all, she said, transforming the ByWard Market is a “deeper conversation.”

The new structure would mean that the mayor or a mayor’s designate will sit on the governing board. While the BIA board had a non-voting representative from the city, the new governance structure would include a seat for the mayor’s office “to communicate the stature of what this authority will be,” said Groulx.

“If anything, it states the attention and care that this area needs,” Groulx said. “It will have at its disposal people on board who can get results and change and make this a shining star in the city … It’s an understanding that this is being heard from the very top and has the ability to be acted on, so I think it’s really huge.”

Board members of the existing BIA will be involved in the transition and in making sure businesses are well-represented, Groulx added.

“Being able to push things ahead and get change done takes a bit more involvement and the Market is looking for that mandate and all of Ottawa should be behind and support this district,” said Groulx. “It just needs a bit of love.”

https://obj.ca/it-just-needs-a-bit-of-lo...-back-proposed-new-governance-structure/

[acottawa]

It doesn’t need love, it needs law enforcement and street cleaners.

[Harley613]

The shelters need to be moved. Period. The old library Downtown should be converted into a large shelter. These people need services, not converting the historical heart of a G7 capital into a toilet.

[mykl]

Originally Posted by Harley613

The shelters need to be moved. Period. The old library Downtown should be converted into a large shelter. These people need services, not converting the historical heart of a G7 capital into a toilet.

I really like this idea!

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by Harley613

The shelters need to be moved. Period. The old library Downtown should be converted into a large shelter. These people need services, not converting the historical heart of a G7 capital into a toilet.

How about the downtown Y?