Noise, poster problems ‘ignored’
The recent issues of Centretown News have covered a wide-range of very interesting articles however, I do hope that in future issues there will be coverage on other concerns that are also affecting the Centretown community.
Noise problems on Elgin Street: This is an ongoing problem which has had a very profound effect on residents in Centretown who live on streets adjacent to the Elgin Street bars for quite some time. It is an issue which the media in this city have only provided token coverage to, but it is a problem which residents in this area of Ottawa have had to endure, without much relief or support for many years.
While major strides have been made in reducing this ongoing situation, revelers’ presence are still being felt and heard every weekend by residents living near Elgin Street long after the bars have closed for the night. The long-term effects this specific issue has had on Centretown cannot be ignored, and I am at odds to understand why Centretown News has been very reluctant to cover this ongoing problem!
Postering: This is another issue which Centretown News seems to give a wide berth to. While there has been much printed in your newspaper on the graffiti issue and how it is being handled in the Centretown area, there have been very few articles printed in your newspaper on the postering problem that has existed in our city for the past six to eight years and the negative effect that it has had on the environment/historical beauty of Centretown and the heart of Canada’s capital.
Again for reasons I do not understand, the media as a whole in this city have been very reluctant to provide any ongoing coverage on this issue except for the publishing of token “Letters to the Editors.”
For my knowledge and involvement in this issue, I can only conclude that the reason for this “ostrich head in the sand” being taken on this ongoing problem by the media is due in part to the fact that the major contributors to this issue, and who have turned many areas of Canada’s capital into a paper eyesore, arethe various levels of the arts and entertainment industry, with the worst offenders being the downtown bars and their guest performers, government-sponsored arts groups and several dance studios.
As a means to correct its own leniency towards postering offenders, early this year, the city installed close to 450 poster collars throughout the downtown core, and in spite of this, there are still many segments within the above groups who are still not using this vehicle for their postering purposes.
If I might also point out, very few postering groups have ever removed their flyers after their advertised events are over which they are required to do under the postering bylaws and so in the end it is the Ottawa taxpayers who are footing the clean-up – repair/repaint bill for damages caused to public property as a result of all the overkill postering that has been going on in Ottawa over the past six to eight years.
David A. Blackman
Metcalfe Street