By Pablo Fuchs
At a conference later this spring, experts and leaders from all levels of government, experienced city planners, and local businesses will meet to discuss options on how to deal with Ottawa’s unprecedented growth.
During the November election campaign, Mayor Bob Chiarelli promised voters he would find solutions to the problems that have risen out of Ottawa’s growth.
With the high-tech boom still in progress, city council faces the daunting challenges of improving roads and public transit, adding a convention facility in the heart of downtown, constructing two new interprovincial bridges in Kanata and Orleans, and creating a better balance of residents and businesses in the downtown core.
During his inaugural address to city council in late January, Chiarelli promised to tackle these issues through a “smart growth” summit to be held sometime this spring.
The impressive aspect of this is his willingness to work with the community to achieve these goals.
Although concentrating on the high-tech community in Kanata is a priority, the city must also work on maintaining a good, vibrant downtown core. Centretown councillor Elisabeth Arnold agrees: “We have to make sure that we don’t lose focus and run into similar problems of some cities in the United States where the downtowns have been completely abandoned.”
There are several things the city must do to keep the downtown alive.
The first thing that must be taken care of is public transit. If the light rail project succeeds, it could be extended across the city and even cross the Ottawa River into the Outaouais.
If this happens, it could provide residents with easy access to the core, increasing the traffic for businesses and keeping it vibrant for years to come.
But that is not enough.
For the downtown core to survive, there will have to be a larger amount of residents moving into the area.
On Sparks Street, a substantial residential component will be added within the next few years, perhaps with condos built atop current structures.
A development of this magnitude will provide a perfect balance between business and residential presence in that area, reviving struggling businesses in the mall.
Meanwhile, businesses on the Bank Street promenade have begun to take off now that people have moved back to the vicinity.
If this were to happen with Sparks Street, the problems of the mall would be easily solved.
The important thing in this entire process is that true creativity will win out.
When some of the city’s finest brains get together with experts who have experienced growth on this type of major scale, good ideas will begin to flow.
The participants of this summit must find a way to alleviate traffic congestion on the Queensway and raise OC Transpo ridership.
However, above all, they must ensure businesses in the downtown core remain successful, keeping Centretown as the energetic heart of the city.