Sorry about the delay, folks…
- First up is more shit about the Peterborough-Toronto Train. We have the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail, and the Ottawa Citizen all lambasting this decision this weekend and today. All essentially say the same thing, and mirror what I’ve been saying since day one. This isn’t a transit priority for anyone except Mr. Flaherty and Mr. del Fatso, neither of which even have a plan for the project… My prediction is this train will never be built. It would just be too damning… plus they don’t have a plan, so…
- Now, on to the Portrait Gallery … I saw today that Paul Dewar has been collecting signatures to keep the Portrait Gallery in Ottawa, where it should be for every conceivable reason. If the concern is that the rest of the country needs access to the collections, that’s a separate issue, and a sharing program can be installed to loan the works across the country. We might even consider forming a national museum company like the Smithsonian in the US and have satellite campuses across the country with rotating works. But I wouldn’t leave that to this government to get done.
- Meanwhile, in Ottawa, the city is bending over backwards to get a proposal together as soon as possible to make the deadline and get our “bid” in.
- Looks like we’ll have to endure another awful Claridge Homes condo abortion of a building to get the gallery.
- But on to bigger and better things, shall we? Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing has followed through with $27 million for immediate short term improvements at OC Transpo. Thank goodness. Jim Watson is another of my homeboys.
- Then there is the issue of the Concert Hall. Funding didn’t come through, surprise, surprise. I’m not sure I buy the theories that the Tories designed their involvement to fail the project, but they sure didn’t help. This editorial stole all my thoughts on the issue. To make a long story short, Ottawa deserves more federal dollars for projects because it is the region’s main employer and the region has no major corporate presence to bank roll these important institutions. The fact that they didn’t save the project in a surplus situation says a lot about their priorities.
- The BIG news over the weekend was the new transit master plan introduced by the city. Ken Gray has critiqued the time it has taken to get this plan going, and the fact that we would have solved the problems of the last plan by now had we not canned the previous plan. (and my commute would be measurably better very soooooon!)
- Randall Denley has said this is the best plan yet, which it likely is, though I’m troubled by his idea to go east-west on the Transitway first, since they already have rapid transit, while the south doesn’t in the areas this would go in. Plus, the things that make this plan “better” were in the previous plan, just with a later than desirable start date, which will probably be the same due to these delays and political maneuvering.
- Local MP John Baird and Jim Watson have both called the plan “encouraging.” I believe Jim, but John has some explaining to do, since IMO he destroyed the last plan single handily, and illegally!
- We had better get this plan off the ground ASAP though, as the airport is YEARS ahead in its expansion plans. Their station is built… time we hooked up a train to it, me thinks.
- BUT, just in case anyone thought this council was at all sensible, they’ve proven their inability to either plan properly or listen to their expert staff when they approved homes to be built on dangerously salty land. Which has proven very dangerous in a community not far from me. In fact, an MPP I normally despise has made one good point on this issue.
- Across the river, the Mayor decides athletics don’t merit any funding. Enjoy your growing obesity epidemic and chronic doctor shortage. Let us know how that goes.
- The NIMBY snoots in New Ed fight back! The trouble is, their argument makes no sense! They oppose it because they like density and have already embraced it, huh? They reject it because it’s in a heritage zone, even though it would remove what can only be considered an eyesore of mid century crapitecture from the neighbourhood. I just don’t get it. I think it’s just selfishness in that they want to say they live in a trendy dense neighbourhood, but don’t want what that will continue to take. Increasing density is what SHOULD happen with EVERY redevelopment. That’s natural, folks. Welcome to smart planning.
- Further, a nice feature on the gorgeous new Rideau Valley Conservation Authority headquarters. LEEDing by example, I like it. We need to amend our building codes to make buildings adopt the many simple improvements that have been designed to help the environment and reduce energy consumption. We don’t need bigger houses, we need better houses.
- And finally, a letter expressing some good sentiments on what Lansdowne Park should be like.
That’s how I saw the planning news in Ottawa this weekend. Stay tuned for more insightful commentary dished as daily as possible.
