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Originally Posted by phil235
I liked the point made by the Vancouver planner in the podcast, basically that a well-planned waterfront will have different types of amenities and a focal point. I think the general complaint here is that we really only have one kind of waterfront. It's a nice kind, but it is kind of limited and doesn't cater to everyone's different interests.
Given that we have 50 or however many km of green waterfront, it seems me that the NCC could come up with a scheme to identify some sections of the parkways to transfer to private entrepreneurs to liven up while keeping the majority green. With the money they make from those projects, they could improve other parts of the waterfront and maybe create that focal point. On a city level it would be a win-win. On an individual political level, probably years of protests and obstruction.
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The NCC is trying this with the proposal for Le Ruisseau de la Brasserie, but it's facing some strong opposition.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lrt's friend
Our best hope is at Zibi. It is going to be difficult to create critical mass elsewhere. Even at Lansdowne, we had no choice but orient it towards Bank Street, where there is already pedestrian traffic and transit.
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Even Zibi seems to follow the old model of buildings turning away from the water, with a street moat separating the built up area from the park like waterfront. I had high hopes, but now those hopes are fading fast.
Quote:
Originally Posted by phil235
Yep, the fact that Lansdowne turns its back on the canal was only because there was huge opposition to doing anything that impacted the row of trees along the fence near the canal. Too bad. I'm still hoping that they improve the links to the canal in 2.0. Between the stadium and the canal near the Bank St. bridge is another option.
There are a few other spots where I see some hope. Particularly around DND on the canal, assuming that they ever move out, and going south to Ottawa U. But there are also spots along the Rideau River that could work well. Hurdman for one, but you could also pick an area (any area) north of the 417 to designate for restaurants.
Also the Carleton side of Dow's Lake and with some major road re-routing and stilts, near Billings Bridge. Easier to get critical mass if you are near an existing corridor like Bank St. and/or a university.
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Unfortunately, Lansdowne 2.0 has no room for anything that could actually improve the park, such as connecting it to the Canal. It especially won't happen as long a we have Mayor "fight the war on cars, the City is broke, but we have half a Billion for a new stadium and arena".
The only way to improve the waterfront is to remove some of the parkways. I think QED would be best used as a Transitway until something is built under Bank in half a century. Rockcliffe has no built up urbanity anywhere around it, so it's not a good candidate. If the Ottawa River Parkway/Wellington was narrowed significantly, and we repurposed the park space around the War Museum and the monuments graveyard, then we could potentially do something interesting that would better connect to Zibi and Hull.
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