map of urban ottawa

Dundas · #1 Posted **Jan 24, 2015, 3:42 PM**

I was just looking up Ottawa on Wikipedia and noticed it says
Ottawa's urban area is 501km2 and it has a urban population of 933, 596
I'm just wondering what is urban ottawa? What does that map look like?
I did google a bit and found thia map on the city's website not sure if this is the urban area Wikipedia s talking about.

1overcosc · #2 Posted **Jan 24, 2015, 6:17 PM**

They're talking about the Statscan-defined urban area, which excludes Kanata but includes Barrhaven, Orleans, and urban Gatineau.

DEWLine · #3 Posted **Jan 24, 2015, 10:59 PM**

Interesting that that map counts Blackburn Hamlet as part of Alta Vista. Some people actually living in the Hamlet - and possibly others in Orléans as well - may have their respective sets of ideas on that.

lrt's friend · #4 Posted **Jan 25, 2015, 12:01 AM**

Yes, the Alta Vista area including Blackburn Hamlet is kind of bizarre. I would have extended Beacon Hill southward to include all areas to the east of the Highway 417, which are all traditional Gloucester neighbourhoods.

Some of the names are strange. Nepean South should be Barrhaven. Cedarview (only the name of a street) should be Nepean and Ottawa East should be Vanier. But in the last case, Vanier still has a bit of stigma. Rockcliffe people would be offended.

Uhuniau · #5 Posted **Jan 25, 2015, 12:27 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

Yes, the Alta Vista area including Blackburn Hamlet is kind of bizarre. I would have extended Beacon Hill southward to include all areas to the east of the Highway 417, which are all traditional Gloucester neighbourhoods.

Some of the names are strange. Nepean South should be Barrhaven. Cedarview (only the name of a street) should be Nepean and Ottawa East should be Vanier. But in the last case, Vanier still has a bit of stigma. Rockcliffe people would be offended.

Maybe a third of Ottawa East is actually Vanier.

eltodesukane · #6 Posted **Jan 25, 2015, 1:56 PM**

A friend went to Canada Post to change to an Ottawa address in Vanier, but Canada Post would not allow this as a Ottawa city address, but would allow it as a Vanier city address.
Yet the Wikipedia entry for Vanier does not consider Vanier as a city.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanier,_Ontario
Who is right?
I guess Canada Post would be the ultimate reference as far as addresses are concerned (?).

1overcosc · #7 Posted **Jan 25, 2015, 6:52 PM**

Postal addresses, as far as I know, continue to reflect pre-amalgamation municipal addresses. Though I know from experience that if you send a letter to somewhere in Kanata with "Ottawa, Ontario" as the address it still gets delivered.

Catenary · #8 Posted **Jan 25, 2015, 8:55 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

Postal addresses, as far as I know, continue to reflect pre-amalgamation municipal addresses. Though I know from experience that if you send a letter to somewhere in Kanata with "Ottawa, Ontario" as the address it still gets delivered.

I imagine this has to do with vestigial duplicate street names. Though the computer really doesn't care, mail can usually be delivered with only the numerical address and the postal code written on the envelope.

Uhuniau · #9 Posted **Jan 25, 2015, 8:59 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by eltodesukane

A friend went to Canada Post to change to an Ottawa address in Vanier, but Canada Post would not allow this as a Ottawa city address, but would allow it as a Vanier city address.
Yet the Wikipedia entry for Vanier does not consider Vanier as a city.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanier,_Ontario
Who is right?
I guess Canada Post would be the ultimate reference as far as addresses are concerned (?).

Yeah, it hasn't recoded a lot of postal addresses, but either (Ottawa/Vanier-Nepean-Gloucester-Rockcliffe-Kanata) will get delivered.

Uhuniau · #10 Posted **Jan 25, 2015, 9:11 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Catenary

I imagine this has to do with vestigial duplicate street names. Though the computer really doesn't care, mail can usually be delivered with only the numerical address and the postal code written on the envelope.

It's even the case where the street name is unique, which is most cases.

Harley613 · #11 Posted **Jan 26, 2015, 5:26 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

They're talking about the Statscan-defined urban area, which excludes Kanata but includes Barrhaven, Orleans, and urban Gatineau.

Wait..the population on our signs entering the city doesn't include Kanata? I thought it included the entire city of Ottawa...

1overcosc · #12 Posted **Jan 26, 2015, 12:53 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harley613

Wait..the population on our signs entering the city doesn't include Kanata? I thought it included the entire city of Ottawa...

They do.

To clarify, there's three competing definitions of how far a city goes:

1) Municipal boundaries. By this definition Ottawa had 883,391 people in 2011 census

2) Metropolitan area (CMA), based on economic ties, includes any adjacent municipalities where more than 50% of the local workforce commutes to the core municipality. By this definition Ottawa had 1,236,324 people in 2011 census, including Gatineau, Clarence-Rockland, Russell, and a chunk of the Outaouais stretching up to Wakefield

3) Urban area, the geographically continuous urban area stretching out from the core of the city. This is what the OP was talking about. Green space gaps of up to 2km are allowed before its considered discontinuous. Gatineau is included because the Ottawa River is less than 2km wide. Orleans & Barrhaven are included because the Greenbelt is less than 2km wide at its narrowest points going to those places, but Kanata is excluded because the Greenbelt is wider there. By this definition, Ottawa has 933,596 people in the 2011 census. The seperate urban area formed by Kanata & Stittsville had 101,760 people in 2011.