Yule Heibel's Library tagged ottawa → View Popular

Filter:
All
Annotated

09 Aug 08

The end of suburban sprawl

Well, well ...an opinion piece in the Ottawa Citizen (republished across the CanWest newspaper empire, therefore also in Victoria's Times-Colonist), unsigned, that lays out the tenets of anti-sprawl and pro-urbanist thinking succinctly and favorably. (Except that while the title calls it "suburban sprawl," the author calls it "urban sprawl" in the first paragraph. Odd.)

Of interest for a Canadian perspective is that the article hints at the realities of infrastructure funding in Canada.

www.canada.com/...story.html - Preview

sprawl ottawa urbanism cities commentary

Some years ago it started to become clear the post-Second World War race to suburbia was damaging North American cities. The result was long anti-social commutes (anti-social because we live in our cars) and outrageously expensive infrastructure -- funded by taxpayers -- to extend services to these outlying neighbourhoods.
Ottawa residents know well the negative effects of sprawl. It's hard to create a sense of civic identity when a city is made up of disparate communities separated by vast tracts of land. And yes, the economic inefficiencies of this kind of arrangement are legendary.
4 more annotations...
- City of Ottawa planners, like planners across North America, have come to recognize the cost of uncontrollable sprawl, which is why they would like most new development in Ottawa to occur inside what is called the urban boundary.
- Some developers, however, are outraged. The efforts of city planners to increase density inside the boundary is being dismissed as "naive."
- In fact, it's the naive ones who somehow believe sprawl is sustainable. Right now, for example, Ottawa is trying to build a light-rail system, but sprawl -- as expressed in low-density living -- makes that project more difficult and expensive.
  - - exactly right! - on 2008-08-09
  Add Sticky Note
- As the price of fuel increases, and people become more sensitive generally to their carbon footprints, anyone who's going to argue against the benefits of intensification could find himself in a very lonely position indeed.

01 Mar 08

City, developer race to approve Portrait Gallery project

This is an example of what should have happened in Victoria in regard to the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria's plans to move into a purpose-built gallery (designed by James Cheng), which would have been part of a single-tower residential redevelopment called Crystal Court, planned by Westbank Corp. The project was supposed to get built on Belleville Street in the heart of the Tourist District, in downtown Victoria. But it was essentially nixed from the start by the James Bay Neighbourhood Association (JBNA), which claims that block as part of its precinct. Consequently, city planners declined to support the developer's application for rezoning, and the project was still-born.

In Ottawa, meanwhile, forward-thinking city politicians are supporting a two 26-story residential tower development that will include a free-standing 2-story national portrait gallery.

Too bad the Federal government can't put any pressure to bear on the JBNA -- their idea to auction off the national portrait gallery certainly put the fires under Ottawa's seats, but hey-ho, here in Victoria we can resist all change. Boy oh boy, the city of Victoria really dropped the ball on the Crystal Court Development.

www.canada.com/...story.html - Preview

art_museum arts_funding development ottawa portrait_gallery

Claridge Homes has filed an application with the city for two 26-storey residential towers and a gallery designed by a leading architect to be built in a current parking lot between Lisgar, Nepean and Metcalfe streets in the heart of the downtown core.
The application and rezoning process usually take up to a year, but with the federal government's April 16 deadline for bids to host the gallery looming, the process is being crunched into to a matter of weeks.
4 more annotations...
- "We have to be ready by that deadline, so things are moving quickly," said Somerset Councillor Diane Holmes, whose ward the project is in. "I think it's a great location for the portrait gallery, and it would be in its own building, not in the bottom floors of some office building or something like that.
  "I think the towers are a little tall, but I think it's a good plan for the gallery, and it would be a great asset for that area and the city."
  - That's the key: it's in its own building (stand-alone, not attached). The height is slightly more than was proposed for Crystal Court (which came in at 19 or 20), but it's interesting that the comparison holds with already existing neighbouring buildings: in Ottawa the 27-story Pace Bell Canada, and in Victoria the 20-story buildings just a block away on Humboldt. - on 2008-03-01
  Add Sticky Note
- Neil Malhotra, of Claridge, said company officials are excited about the opportunity to host the gallery and contribute to the city and country.
  He said when the government announced a competition between private developers in nine cities to bid for the right to host the gallery, company officials realized they had an opportunity to do something of importance to the city and its citizens.
  "We realized having the gallery in Ottawa is something people in this community care about, that it should happen, and that we had a piece of land that is in a perfect location for it," he said. "It's a rare opportunity to do something like this, and I think we will have a very good chance of winning the competition if we can get everything done on time."
- Council committed to give developers bidding on the gallery a $431,000 break on development charges, have the city help to prepare the bids, lobby for the bids, and look at helping with advertising and drumming up public support.
  - - even the DCCs were waived...! - on 2008-03-01
  Add Sticky Note
- The gallery was originally supposed to go into the former United States embassy building on Wellington Street across from the hill, but the Harper government cancelled that project last year, citing escalating costs, then announced the competition.
  Ottawa is competing with Vancouver, Halifax, Quebec City, Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Calgary for the right to have the gallery, which is part of Library and Archives Canada.
  The move to have a bidding war amongst cities and developers to host the gallery sparked outrage from people who feel it should be in Ottawa along with the rest of the Canada's national institutions. Others feel having a national collection housed in a privately owned building is distasteful and makes the country look bad on the international scene.

13 Nov 07

TheStar.com | Business | Digitization strategy stuck in a time warp

www.thestar.com/...275536 - Preview

access business canada digitization internet media michael_geist ottawa

In today's technological world, most content is "born digital," yet there remains a rich history of books, music, film, photos and other works in analog form. Since people increasingly have access solely to digital content, policy makers must confront the challenge of how to bring all of our culture and historical knowledge into the digital realm.
Digitization of books and historical records is important, but groups like the CBC and the National Film Board, who should be working to digitize thousands of hours of Canadian film, television shows and radio programs, are largely absent. By comparison, the Dutch government launched the Images for the Future digitization project in July, which plans to preserve, digitize and provide access to 137,200 hours of video, 22,510 hours of film, 123,900 hours of audio and 2.9 million photos.
Digitization is not rooted solely in history. The Man Booker Prize, one of the world's most prestigious literary awards, recently announced that it is working with publishers to offer free, digital versions of all six nominated books next year. Organizers hope that the initiative will capture new audiences – particularly in Asia and Africa – who may be unable to access the actual books.
The major Canadian literary prizes, including the Governor-General Award and the Giller Prize, could do the same thing. Rather than racing to print a few thousand additional copies, the publishers could work with the award organizers to increase the size of the prize in return for free, global access to digital versions of Canada's best writing.
1 more annotations...
- The LAC strategy opens by arguing that "digital information and networked technologies are key drivers of economic growth and social well-being in the 21st century. It is clear that the nations that nurture their digital information assets and infrastructure will prosper; those that do not will fall behind."
  Without vision and leadership on this issue, it is increasingly clear that Canada will slot into the latter group of countries that have fallen behind.