Ottawa based Rideshark introduces GobyRide
Gobyride is a new app, built by Ottawa based Rideshark, geared to college and university students.
Urban planning
What to do With the Double Bass on the LRT?
City staff last week recommended that no bicycle should be allowed on the new LRT during the peak transit hours. The rush hour has been defined as 6-9 am and 3-6 pm. I find that a pretty broad definition of rush hour. It boils down to 50% of the time people travel to and from work (6-6). Yes the public [Read more…]
First Home Owners Move in at Former Ottawa Rockcliffe Airbase
The first people have moved into their new home at the former Rockcliffe Airbase grounds, now known as “Wateridge Village at Rockcliffe”. Stumbling over superlatives, we read on the website: Celebrating both the legacy of the former Rockcliffe Lands and the brilliance of modern urban design. Visionary and masterful in scope, Wateridge Village will be home to design-forward residences, retail [Read more…]
Photo Essay: A Hike in Gatineau Park
I thought of it too late. I should have brought a camera to add a whole bunch of photos to Mapillary so that you can check out the paths in Gatineau Park from photos. This Thanksgiving weekend, Karen and I walked the Blanchet Trail, better known as the Wolf Trail in Gatineau Park, just north of Ottawa in Quebec Province. [Read more…]
Canadian National Holocaust Monument in Ottawa Open to Public
Last Thursday, September 28, 2017, was the first day that the public had access to the National Holocaust Monument in Ottawa. The monument was opened the day before. I cycled out to check it out and took photos for those who can’t make it to the monument. Special Act of Parliament I learned that the project was started by 18 [Read more…]
Berczy Park Toronto – Public Space Done Right
Take a close look at the picture below, and you probably think it is one of those slide show images of Jan Gehl, to show some place in Køpnhågn in the 1960’s as part of a successful place making “parking-lot-becomes-urban-park-you-Canadians-should-walk-more-enjoy-the-winter-stop-whining-about-the-cold-it-is-cold-in-Denmark-too-and-look-we-cycle-year-round” story. But it is not Copenhagen, it is downtown Toronto. Trip to TO Just two weeks ago, my wife and [Read more…]
Main Street Ottawa opens as (almost) Complete Street
Last Saturday, the renovated Main Street in Ottawa was officially opened. The opening of this brand new complete street was folded into the annual Main Street fest and part of the street was closed off for motorized traffic. There was a brass band playing, there was an artisan farmers market, there was the bouncy castle (no event in Ottawa is [Read more…]
Parks Canada Voyageur Canoe on the Rideau Canal
Since my semi retirement, I have more opportunities to bike around during the day instead of my daily commute to work and back. It allows me to see Ottawa during the week and I am learning there is so much happening in Ottawa I had no idea of. Like the Voyageur canoe, operated by Parks Canada. I am cycling home [Read more…]
So… will anyone actually buy a unit without a parking space?
Over the last year or so Karen and I talked on and off about how we want to live when we are reaching our 70’s. Do we still want to live in the inner suburbs in a house with a garden and be car dependent at times? Do we want to move into a condo closer to LRT and use [Read more…]
Urban Forum Ottawa – Pecha Kucha
Today, April 5, 2017, I am speaking at City Hall at the Urban Forum Ottawa (architects and planners) at a Pecha Kucha night. For their 20th anniversary, Urban Forum decided to team up with ‘Love Ottawa’, a long running project by photographers Daye Brown and Anita Ruivo. The organisation invited a dozen speakers to talk about ‘why we love Ottawa’ (assuming [Read more…]