By Clare Demerse
Ottawa planners hoped to consult Centretown youth last week about the future of the city — but ended up talking to each other instead.
Exactly two young people showed up at a City Hall youth forum for Centretown residents. They spoke to an eager audience of seven planners and a politician assembled to note their concerns.
Somerset Ward Coun. Elisabeth Arnold, the event’s sponsor, called the low turnout “disappointing.”
The meeting was one of 32 scheduled to gather public opinion on a draft version of an official plan for Ottawa. Consultations will continue to the end of the month.
Every Ontario city must have an official plan that spells out its policies for land use and guides development of things such as roadsandtransportation.
This draft plan — Ottawa 2020 — is the first since last year’s municipal merger, and should be completed by early next year.
Ottawa’s planners must accommodate a growing city, according to Arnold.
“Projections show another 400,000 people and 200,000 cars will come to Ottawa in the next 20 years. We need to figure out how to manage that growth.”
The draft version of Ottawa’s plan does it by filling in unused city land, improving bus service and encouraging innovative building design.
“Rather than growing out, we want to grow in,” says Arnold. “No more urban sprawl.”
The city hosted a “smart growth summit” last year that asked Ottawans to think about the city’s future. The summit’s conclusions form the backbone of the draft plan now up for public consultation.
With only two youth to consult, the group abandoned the microphone and the rows of chairs to gather around a table.
Nathan Hauch, youth councillor for Somerset ward, spoke about the need for late-night bus service. Cecilia Chan, a student at Lisgar Collegiate, said in-line skaters need wider paths than bikers.
Both youth agreed that if the city is serious about putting pedestrians first, its sidewalks should be cleared of snow as often as its streets.
The event was publicized in Ottawa newspapers and city Web sites, but Hauch said that’s not the way to reach young people. When he plans events for Ottawa youth,“we can advertise on lampposts and places like that. The city can’t do that, so it doesn’t get to the places where the youth are.”