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  #61  
Old Posted Feb 10, 2014, 8:45 PM
kevinbottawa kevinbottawa is offline
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Originally Posted by lrt's friend View Post
A monument at Lebreton Flats should celebrate Canada's forestry and lumber industry.
Since the area is important to the First Nations and it's where Ontario meets Quebec, I'd want to see something that acknowledges the nations that make up Canada. A British, First Nations and French person standing shoulder to shoulder in the foreground with people of other ethnicities and ages behind them. Piggybacking on the history of the area, it could celebrate Canada as a meeting place for all nations.
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  #62  
Old Posted Feb 10, 2014, 8:46 PM
Uhuniau Uhuniau is offline
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Originally Posted by Aylmer View Post
Really? I find the Alexandra to be the only bridge of any esthetic value in Ottawa! I would replace the Macdonald-Cartier without a second thought, though.
I would pay good money to press the button on that piece of rancid crap!

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- A sidewalk expansion program: the gradual removal and shrinking of car lanes to make room for wide sidewalks with trees, benches, patios and other amenities along main streets and throughout Downtown. Some important streets to put on diets would be Bronson, Bank (esp. in the Glebe)
I'm not sure you can shrink Bank Street Glebe any smaller than it already is, nor fathom why you'd want to.
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  #63  
Old Posted Feb 10, 2014, 8:48 PM
Uhuniau Uhuniau is offline
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Originally Posted by ars View Post
The LRT extending to all the suburbs would be nice too. Something that gets us suburban folk downtown quickly and efficiently without hassle.
I'd rather an LRT that goes to all the URBS first. There are too many city-central areas without rapid transit, and without any rapid transit planned for this century.
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  #64  
Old Posted Feb 10, 2014, 8:52 PM
Uhuniau Uhuniau is offline
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Originally Posted by defishel View Post
Wellington is still sterile because it's made into a "scenic" (Confederation) boulevard for only important government institutions. Other than people going to work, you have tourists, and that's pretty much all there is. Wellington Street, like Sparks, has no real draw to it, in my opinion. As long as it's only government office buildings where only people with a security pass have access to them, as well as having all the cars coming off the Parkway, it won't be anything more than what it currently is. I don't know if I care for having such an austere street, because to me an austere street is an unfriendly one.
I still remember being stopped on Wellington by some German-speaking tourists, looking for beautiful Confederation Boulevard.

I didn't need my rusty German to interpret the look on their faces when I told them they were standing on it.
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  #65  
Old Posted Feb 10, 2014, 8:55 PM
Uhuniau Uhuniau is offline
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Originally Posted by defishel View Post
That does sound like quite a sad thing to see... And we might be seeing it again with the Ash Borer, right?
Apparently there is a treatment for ash-borer, but multiplied by a zillion trees, would be too expensive.

But I don't understand why the public wasn't given the opportunity to "adopt" a treatable tree, and pay for the treatment. I would have adopted a couple.
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  #66  
Old Posted Feb 10, 2014, 9:58 PM
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1overcosc 1overcosc is online now
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Originally Posted by Uhuniau View Post
That's snow removal.

What about all other municipal costs?
Plus it can mitigated by proper street design.



This street is designed with a double sidewalk: an inner sidewalk made of standard sidewalk concrete, and an outer sidewalk made of limestone. During the spring/summer/fall the outer sidewalk serves as a place for street furniture and the inner sidewalk holds patios, with pedestrian traffic weaving between the outer and inner sidewalks as necessary. (at least one of the sidewalks is kept clear of stuff at any given point along the block). During the winter all furniture & patios are removed and the inner sidewalk is used for pedestrian traffic & the outer sidewalk used for snow storage. I imagine this makes snow removal costs dirt cheap.
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  #67  
Old Posted Feb 10, 2014, 11:51 PM
Buggys Buggys is offline
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Originally Posted by Uhuniau View Post
That's snow removal.

What about all other municipal costs?
Not really sure. I'm a novice on urban planning.
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  #68  
Old Posted Feb 10, 2014, 11:56 PM
Buggys Buggys is offline
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Plus it can mitigated by proper street design.



This street is designed with a double sidewalk: an inner sidewalk made of standard sidewalk concrete, and an outer sidewalk made of limestone. During the spring/summer/fall the outer sidewalk serves as a place for street furniture and the inner sidewalk holds patios, with pedestrian traffic weaving between the outer and inner sidewalks as necessary. (at least one of the sidewalks is kept clear of stuff at any given point along the block). During the winter all furniture & patios are removed and the inner sidewalk is used for pedestrian traffic & the outer sidewalk used for snow storage. I imagine this makes snow removal costs dirt cheap.
That's a beautiful, people friendly street.
I hope limestone or other cobblestone-like material is as low maintenance or lower than a grassy green strip.... On the other hand, green strips don't have to be grass. They can be community gardens, with flowers and vegetables!

Last edited by Buggys; Feb 11, 2014 at 12:04 AM. Reason: fixed results from damn auto-correct
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  #69  
Old Posted Feb 11, 2014, 12:48 AM
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Originally Posted by Uhuniau View Post
Apparently there is a treatment for ash-borer, but multiplied by a zillion trees, would be too expensive.

But I don't understand why the public wasn't given the opportunity to "adopt" a treatable tree, and pay for the treatment. I would have adopted a couple.
You don't understand? Really?

Just read my sig lines and that will pretty much answer your question.
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  #70  
Old Posted Feb 11, 2014, 3:13 AM
lrt's friend lrt's friend is online now
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As mentioned, the ash borer has spread like gang busters. I have a large ash tree in my back yard and the arborist told me last spring that it was already too late to save it. Wow! I did my best now I have a large bill coming to cut it down. Apparently, a lot of the problem is because there are no natural controls. They are supposed to introduce some parasites that will eventually bring the borers under control. The borer was imported from China where it does not cause major problems due to natural controls that exist there. In other words, until natural controls take affect, chemical controls will likely only allow a small number of trees to survive, just as was the case with Dutch Elm Disease and the odd extra special specimen that gets treated every year by the NCC.
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  #71  
Old Posted Feb 11, 2014, 3:18 AM
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Regarding Wellington Street, I don't think it was ever the bustling pedestrian thoroughfare. It was always designed to be ceremonial. That is why Sparks Street one block to the south emerged as one of the city's most important commercial streets, at least until the opening of the Rideau Centre for all intents and purposes, killed it, although was in decline for years before that as well.
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  #72  
Old Posted Feb 11, 2014, 6:09 AM
Uhuniau Uhuniau is offline
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Originally Posted by lrt's friend View Post
Regarding Wellington Street, I don't think it was ever the bustling pedestrian thoroughfare. It was always designed to be ceremonial.
It can be ceremonial without being Stalinesque. Sadly, that god-awful monument Harper is putting up next to the Supreme Court will add to the Stalinesque factor of West Wellington quite greatly.
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  #73  
Old Posted Feb 11, 2014, 3:09 PM
Fatty McButterpants Fatty McButterpants is offline
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This thread give people an opportunity to dream out loud about their big ideas for the capital. A chance to forget about money and politics for a second and tell us what you think would be great additions to the city.

And what dominates this wish list thread? Ash trees and sidewalks. Way to go Ottawans (aka fuddy duddies)
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  #74  
Old Posted Feb 11, 2014, 3:26 PM
spotlight spotlight is offline
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Frost/Thaw cycles = cracks. Fountains must retain water and cracks makes them leak. Statues don't leak.
Ok i'm sorry i don't post often here because i find it frustrating so see many people's attitude or views towards certain things.. either that or it's frustratng to see great ideas in this city just vanish away because of Ottawa's red tape/lack of cahonas, lack of forward thinking or whatever..

but this reply to fountains and the other one above i forget by who about maintenance because of winter etc.. you've got to be kidding me.

I've often been amazed at the lack of fountains in this city, fountains have a way to attract people (obviously especially during very warm summer days) but just in general they bring an environment and atmosphere that is pleasant, fun and urban.

to read these two comments as to opinions or reasons that Ottawa doesn't have more fountains??

Should i bring up the fact that NYC has hundreds if not thousands of fountains? Chicago? Montreal? toronto? Washington? Boston? countless other North American cities in cold winter climates .. and not to mention the many many many cities in Europe including the colder eastern european and scandanavian countries.. and what do you know they all have many many many many fountains!

do they fear the supposed maintenance issues? ummm NO .. do they fear the dreaded potential cracks that lets face it any well desgined/well engineered fountian shouldn't face at all and even then the older simpler ones don't really seem to have any issues... ummm NO.

i'm sorry i'm not attacking you or the other person that mentioned the maintenance issue personally.. it just drives me nuts to read comments like that because they reek of typical Ottawa behaviour.

Because for some reason despite the fact that most forward thinking cities in the world with comparable climates to Ottawa have obviously realized that the very difficut task of erecting fountains (sarcasm) is worth undertaking.. you take the same prospect here in Ottawa and all of the sudden it becomes this huge undertaking that requires studies and feasibility investigations and years of red tape only to be told actually no fountains have too many maintenance issues and because of our climate are prone to cracks that make fountains very difficult to have so we can't have them (sarcasm)

before anyone says it yes I am aware that ottawa does have SOME fountains and actually a few are very nice (i'm thinking of the one in the park in front of lord elgin for example or even a modern twist with the metal one in front of the archives building)

but other than those two i think i can count on one hand maybe 2 if we're lucky the amount of fountains Ottawa has and many of those are ridiculous to count af fountains (i'm looking at you william street and york street)

and to reittarate what someone else mentioned... (and not to say that gatineau is any better or any more forward thinking) but the Casino at Lac Leamy has many many fountains (from the gyser in the lake) to the long line of continuous fountains as you drive in .... i guess they magically found the secret maintenance and cracks formula that alludes us all.
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  #75  
Old Posted Feb 11, 2014, 3:50 PM
spotlight spotlight is offline
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On the Kruger plant site in Gatineau, I would put something like the Jay Pritzker Pavilion at Chicago's Millennium Park for a kickass outdoor concert venue with a view of Parliament Hill. Beside it, I would put another large museum, like Science and Tech.



Probably off-scale, but most of you know the site to imagine that it could look like this:

Since i've already responded in this thread i might as well respond with other thigns (i might even post my own ideas if i have time) but i wanted to point out this post as a great post with great imagination obviously i know that we wouldn't be copying exactly this design ... but somethign very similar to this would be amazing and i'm more talking about the amphiteatre ... it would be breathtaking and would have so many uses from the obvious festivals to canada day to random one off outdoor concerts .. i'm not sure what the capacity is but there's actual seating and the grass hill i would think it would be at least 10 000 if not 20 000 or more it's hard to judge from that vantage point... but i'm sure if you give the space to SOM architects who designed that one in Chicago they could come up with something impressive.

Actually here's a first thing on my list of ideas/vision for Ottawa ... How about hiring reknowned architect firms like SOM or Foster or Peli or Calavattra or Ghery or whoever with an international pedigree to design something.

i'll post my second element right now to get it out of the way .... get rid of the supposed height limit this instant and give more freedom to developpers and encourage quality desing above all. I'm not saying that the vantage point of the center block/ parliament hill isn't important but there are ways to protect the views in certain areas while having proper development/density areas. downtown are supposed to have an organic structure to it like a crescendo of buildings with different areas surrounding it that have urban plaza's and heritage feel and diversity .... not this mundane dense field of 20 something stories buildings that give absolutely no personality to our city, no life.

Ottawa has a reputation as a city that has no fun etc... it might surprise many that it actually has a lot of fun elements and things to do and places to go ... it has tremendous potential .... but as someone who works in marketing and Branding.. Otatwa will never be able to convince anyone of this because the image it portrays with it's visual impression (the skyline for starters) screams boring and unimaginative ... therefore anyone looking at pictures of ottawa and as many tourists do now they google ottawa and click on images and they look at what comes up.. and if you did that now.. all you see is parliament and the canal and trees that's pretty much it oh and the new convention centre that i must applaud it's fantastic finally! but other than that nothing else because there's nothing else interesting to show .. no dramatic skyline, no interesting architecture and becasue of that Ottawa's interesting points like the byward market (that needs a lot of work and overhaul but that's another thread or post) don't get to shine because they're lost in the nothingness...
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  #76  
Old Posted Feb 11, 2014, 7:31 PM
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Glad you liked that one. I was going to Photoshop some street side concessions in front of that oval — cafes and casse-croutes to buy food and drink from for a concert or picnic, but it was a quick exercise to get my mind of other boring work

In order for the NCC's concept of "Confederation Boulevard" to succeed, there needs to be a denser concentration of attractions that encourage people to move around the core, get them walking across the bridges to discover more of the capital.

A Hall of Honour would be nice, a place where recipients of the Order of Canada are celebrated. The medals could be given out in such a place, somewhere large enough so that the public can witness the ceremony instead of being private and exclusive at Rideau Hall. A health sciences/medical museum would be interesting, too.

Here's a bit more fantasy photoshopping, a sculptural building like Singapore's Art Science Centre on one end of the Portage Bridge, and another that straddles the road at Victoria Island like a giant cracked geode rising from the ground

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  #77  
Old Posted Feb 11, 2014, 8:07 PM
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Originally Posted by Kitchissippi View Post
Glad you liked that one. I was going to Photoshop some street side concessions in front of that oval — cafes and casse-croutes to buy food and drink from for a concert or picnic, but it was a quick exercise to get my mind of other boring work

In order for the NCC's concept of "Confederation Boulevard" to succeed, there needs to be a denser concentration of attractions that encourage people to move around the core, get them walking across the bridges to discover more of the capital.

A Hall of Honour would be nice, a place where recipients of the Order of Canada are celebrated. The medals could be given out in such a place, somewhere large enough so that the public can witness the ceremony instead of being private and exclusive at Rideau Hall. A health sciences/medical museum would be interesting, too.

Here's a bit more fantasy photoshopping, a sculptural building like Singapore's Art Science Centre on one end of the Portage Bridge, and another that straddles the road at Victoria Island like a giant cracked geode rising from the ground


I like the cracked geode of victoria island.. although the building currently on victoria island is important to preserve (one of the ones that is evident that needs to be preserved due to the tie ins with Ottawa lumber history etc..) i could see the current victoria island building envelopped or graphed by something similar to what you proposed that maybe is a bit more transparent that let's you see inside to see the current heritage buidling but that also allows for more space for events/ceremonies etc... the other side of the island is obviously fair game and the idea of a building that connects underground is very interesting.

as for the signapore art science centre at the other end... i don't personally like that building and i also think that buildings of that nature (if in our imaginary world, we had the vistoria island new structure and the amphetheatre where the current krugger is) you don't want to over saturate everything with modern structures...

i'm also not opposed to open green spaces as long as they are done in an effective manner and are designed for public use as opposed to having just a green lawn .. so where you have the signapore art centre i would see more of a public plaza of sorts with perhaps a nice focal fountain (given of course that we solve the mysterious maintenance and crack issues plaguing the worlds fountains)
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  #78  
Old Posted Feb 11, 2014, 8:45 PM
OTSkyline OTSkyline is offline
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Originally Posted by Fatty McButterpants View Post
This thread give people an opportunity to dream out loud about their big ideas for the capital. A chance to forget about money and politics for a second and tell us what you think would be great additions to the city.

And what dominates this wish list thread? Ash trees and sidewalks. Way to go Ottawans (aka fuddy duddies)
THANK YOU LORD. Ive written 2 posts with 10 different ideas/visions to add things to Ottawa with (practically) no answer/comment yet I spent 10 minutes reading through Ash tree comments in the last 3 pages...



Also, I do like the modern/funky design of the two buildings in your Chaudieres Island render... I love the buildings but my only "complaint" or criticism is that putting only 1 (or 2) building(s) on the island will not make it vibrant or exciting like we want it to become.. especially if it just becomes a sleepy convention centre or museum. That's why I would love to see cool architectural designs but more things like actual condos and shops included so that it becomes more of a vibrant destination...
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  #79  
Old Posted Feb 11, 2014, 9:02 PM
Urbanarchit Urbanarchit is offline
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Originally Posted by OTSkyline View Post
THANK YOU LORD. Ive written 2 posts with 10 different ideas/visions to add things to Ottawa with (practically) no answer/comment yet I spent 10 minutes reading through Ash tree comments in the last 3 pages...



Also, I do like the modern/funky design of the two buildings in your Chaudieres Island render... I love the buildings but my only "complaint" or criticism is that putting only 1 (or 2) building(s) on the island will not make it vibrant or exciting like we want it to become.. especially if it just becomes a sleepy convention centre or museum. That's why I would love to see cool architectural designs but more things like actual condos and shops included so that it becomes more of a vibrant destination...
Those renderings were Kitchissippi's, not Fatty McButterpants'.

But you have gotten responses for your ideas from various people, especially some long ones about fountains or Pimisi Native Village. Trees and sidewalks are important for cities, so I think it's worth talking about what we used to have and could have, and what's affecting our trees.

Last edited by Urbanarchit; Feb 11, 2014 at 9:29 PM.
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  #80  
Old Posted Feb 11, 2014, 9:10 PM
Urbanarchit Urbanarchit is offline
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Originally Posted by Fatty McButterpants View Post
This thread give people an opportunity to dream out loud about their big ideas for the capital. A chance to forget about money and politics for a second and tell us what you think would be great additions to the city.

And what dominates this wish list thread? Ash trees and sidewalks. Way to go Ottawans (aka fuddy duddies)
And people have been doing just that, but you don't seem to understand it. Trees and sidewalks are quite important for cities and people, and are worth talking about. Everything that we see in cities is planned, including sidewalk and road width, trees being used and where to places them, etc. I believe I've mentioned why trees are important to cities, but perhaps I should reiterate.

Trees are important to cities as they enhance the urban experience in many more ways. On hot and sunny days, they provide shade to people passing pay; they help cool down the atmosphere and combatting Urban Heat Island effect; they absorb carbon dioxide and improve our air quality; they act as barriers between pedestrians/ cyclists and motorists, especially if there is a crash; they beautify the area by adding some much need nature (think of what Bronson looks like) and adding some colour to the area, making it much more pleasant and walkable. Trees are important to us, and I think the fact that they're being discussed points to just how important and relevant they are in discussing how we design our city.

If you don't find what's being discussed of personal interest to you, then I recommend you just ignore it and post your own thoughts about other things you'd like to see in the city, without passing judgement on others because what they're discussing doesn't seem "important" to you.

Last edited by Urbanarchit; Feb 11, 2014 at 9:28 PM.
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