[canadave]

I realized today I've never actually posted a photothread since registering here on SSP. So I figured I'd go through some of my photos from the past few months, and pick out some of my favourites. A large chunk of these I took today, as well, for the record.

I'll start with some shots of Lowertown, a neighborhood just east of the downtown core, which contains the famous ByWard Market.

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Lowertown on Canada Day:

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Now some shots of Centretown, which is Ottawa's downtown core and home to the Parliament Buildings. No shots of Parliament, though... I'm sure everyone has seen enough of those. :p

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Hope you enjoyed!

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[edmontonenthusiast]

Great shots. So much urban vibrancy.

[canadave]

Thanks!

[dugdogmaster]

Nice:cheers:

[citizen j]

Excellent! Two Ottawa threads in one weekend.
Thanks for the photos.

[canadave]

^ No problem, and thanks for the comment! :)

Incidentally, you said in the other thread you're at the U of O... majoring in what? I'm a student there, too.

[citizen j]

^ Graduated from English with a minor from the Dept. of Modern Languages, then came to Toronto to do grad studies. Would have gone into architecture if I'd inherited the math genes.

Anyway, lived for a while on Goulburn, then moved up to St. Andrew.
Keep the pictures coming.

[xzmattzx]

Nice pictures. Why is Ottawa's Downtown called "Centretown"?

[flar]

Centretown covers a large area including the residential areas south of downtown. Many neighbourhood names in old Ottawa seem to be geography related, for example, Centretown is in the centre of Ottawa and bounded by geographic features like the Rideau canal, Ottawa River and a small escarpment on the west. On the east side of the Canal, Lower Town is lower than Sandy Hill, which is actually on a sandy hill.


Good pics canadave, there are actually 4 Ottawa threads floating around here right now.

[canadave]

Nice pictures. Why is Ottawa's Downtown called "Centretown"?

Like flar said, I think it's definitely partly from all the geographical designations that Ottawa neighborhoods tend to have. I also think it may come from a corruption and Anglicization of the French word for downtown, "Centre-ville". That's pure speculation on my part, but it would make sense, given how bilingual this city is.

[citizen j]

Also, Centretown is an earlier 19th-century label and predates the use of "downtown" to describe the CBD, which didn't begin to predominate in North American usage until later in the 1800s. "Up-" and "downtown" initially referred to geographic locations on the island of Manhattan and were gradually adopted by other cities to refer to their own geographies.

At one point, early in the city's history, that part of Ottawa (Bytown) was referred to as Upper Town -- largely English, Protestant and Conservative (Tories), in contrast to Lower Town (Basse-ville) across the canal, which was more French-Canadian, Irish, Catholic, and Reformist politically. The "Upper Town" moniker is quickly supplanted by "Centretown" -- perhaps due to the fact that westward settlement into the industrial Lebreton Flats area places it at the centre of Bytown. Also, the east-west demographic divide also seems to change over the course of the 19th century. Sandy Hill, east of the canal adjacent to Lower Town, was Centretown's demographic twin in many ways. And the Anglophone Catholic community builds St. Patrick's Basilica in Centretown rather than Lower Town. Regardless of neighbourhood demographics, the continued use of Centretown rather than Downtown seems linked to the original labels for that east-west division, since Downtown and Lower Town or Basse-ville would seem semantically identical.

One thing I noticed growing up in Ottawa was that East- and West-enders tended to refer to the centre of the city as "Downtown," whereas South-siders called this "Uptown" since to travel downtown from the south requires an upward journey on a map and, in some cases an uphill journey as well (i.e, along Bank Street from Old Ottawa South, Billings Bridge, etc.).

[harls]

Very nice collection, Canadave. I heard that Samuel de Champlain is holding his sextant-thingy upside down. :D

[yamezfairos]

Did you get a new cameraÉ These look crisp.

[lrt's friend]

Also, Centretown is an earlier 19th-century label and predates the use of "downtown" to describe the CBD, which didn't begin to predominate in North American usage until later in the 1800s. "Up-" and "downtown" initially referred to geographic locations on the island of Manhattan and were gradually adopted by other cities to refer to their own geographies.

At one point, early in the city's history, that part of Ottawa (Bytown) was referred to as Upper Town -- largely English, Protestant and Conservative (Tories), in contrast to Lower Town (Basse-ville) across the canal, which was more French-Canadian, Irish, Catholic, and Reformist politically. The "Upper Town" moniker is quickly supplanted by "Centretown" -- perhaps due to the fact that westward settlement into the industrial Lebreton Flats area places it at the centre of Bytown. Also, the east-west demographic divide also seems to change over the course of the 19th century. Sandy Hill, east of the canal adjacent to Lower Town, was Centretown's demographic twin in many ways. And the Anglophone Catholic community builds St. Patrick's Basilica in Centretown rather than Lower Town. Regardless of neighbourhood demographics, the continued use of Centretown rather than Downtown seems linked to the original labels for that east-west division, since Downtown and Lower Town or Basse-ville would seem semantically identical.

One thing I noticed growing up in Ottawa was that East- and West-enders tended to refer to the centre of the city as "Downtown," whereas South-siders called this "Uptown" since to travel downtown from the south requires an upward journey on a map and, in some cases an uphill journey as well (i.e, along Bank Street from Old Ottawa South, Billings Bridge, etc.).

A very thorough historical analysis of community names! Being from a south-end family, in the past (up to the 1960s) we did refer to 'Uptown' and 'Downtown' being the business district surrounding Sparks Street and Rideau Street respectively. Clearly these names relate to the elevation differences between the two areas but also because the two areas are separated by Confederation Square and the Rideau Canal. It is a bit of a walk between the two. In the old days, a normal trip would be to Uptown or Downtown but usually not both. Upper Town and Lower Town included the residential areas that surrounded the business districts mentioned with the exception of Sandy Hill. While Lower Town is still wildly used, Upper Town is now mostly referred to as Centretown, and Uptown and Downtown are both now called Downtown as is in common use in other cities.

[canadave]

Did you get a new cameraÉ These look crisp.

Nope, still doing my best to wrangle out quality shots from my trusty old point and shoot. I'm hoping to get a DSLR sometime soon, though.

[Wheelingman04]

I have not done a Montreal, Quebec City, and Ottawa tour trip since 2002. Next year me and a friend are going up. He has never traveled anywhere so it will be more interesting to him than me. But thanks for the pictures. Canadians should be so proud to live in such a great country!!