Here’s the news from my desk…
- Chrysler is reporting a 45% drop in sales of its minivans. Awesome, I flipping hate minivans. But here’s the clincher: last year, Chrysler said it was betting the house – about $4bn in retrofits – on their new Town & Country and its underpinning (throwing out the one inherited from Mercedes Benz… brilliant!), so it looks like we might be seeing a total Chapter 11 in the coming months from Chrysler as their status is downgraded by all the banks.
- On to the beleaguered Portrait gallery fiasco. We have Ottawa Centre MP Paul Dewar (NDP) with his petition to cancel the competition and place the institution in Ottawa for cultural and economic reasons. Looks like the dipper is gettin’ it done. Meanwhile, the Ottawa Citizen’s editorial board is calling for unity behind the proposal from Claridge Homes to make the proposal strong. I think a two pronged approach here is appropriate, with a protest and a plan. Kudos to both.
- Manotick continues to kick up trouble:
- This gentleman seems to think box stores would be good for Manotick. He seems to have little connection to reality.
- My response, sent to the Citizen:
- While I agree that villages such as Manotick suffer from limited retail outlets, Jerry Belanger is misguided in his presumption that this development is the only way forward for retail in the village. Should a box store development be built on the edge of the town, it will attract chain stores built around a large parking lot. Such a design would reduce the quality of life for Manotick residents as it would diminish the character of the village by turning the focus of retail away from the village’s charming traditional town centre and main street. There are many better ways to encourage more retail in the village. Codes could and should be changed to allow greater town-centre development, which would allowe the village to grow organically from the centre, rather than attach a box store mall to its side. Manotick is lucky to have maintained its identity while many other villages have been lost to development across the region, now isn’t the time to sell that heritage down the river.
- In related news, Minto -aka the worst developer ever- is going to appeal the city’s decision to the Ontario Municipal Board to get the right to ruin Manotick. Jack Sterling: have you no shame?
- Lots of comment on transit announcement. Four options being presented: all include tunnels. One is retarded that would only carry buses. Let’s immediately ignore that one. Another would have busses and trains. Also dumb. Let’s stick to options 3 and 4 that would make a rail subway exclusively and serious extensions east, south, and west. These are the only plans worth talking about. Tomorrow I’m going to the consultation at City Hall on these plans, and will report… ooo, maybe I’ll live blog it on the BlackBerry!
- My theory is that O’Brien will choose 3 or 4 along with council and cut a deal immediately with Siemens and the construction company to avoid their lawsuit and get the shovels in the ground. These will be good plans. Randall Denley is causing shit again, but maybe it’s time he shuts up and stops changing his mind. Transit is good, ok? Good for business, good for people, and good for the environment. Who loses? NOBODY. He has waged war on this issue and veiled his contempt through occasion positive articles only to be torn apart the very next day. Shame.
- On smaller issues, there’s $27mn for immediate upgrades to transit from Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Jim Watson (ma’boy). My recommendations: 1) upgrade fare collection everywhere to smart cards, 2) add realtime arrival information detailed through GPS, accessible via the info line and select display screens, 3) add announcement systems to all buses of progress and stops, and 4) upgrades to shelters in dowtown core and at local stops where routes cross to encourage transfers off the transitway as well.
- In related news, City Councillor Steve DesRoches reminds everyone of the unquestioned importance of the Earl Armstrong-Strandherd bridge between Riverside South and Barrhaven. This is certain, and needs to come with a rail plan for the area with double track dedicated lanes, bike lanes, and wide tree shaded pedestrian areas with lookouts and benches. This has the potential of being a landmark, and it should be. If we’re going to add a bridge over a UNESCO designated canal system, let’s make it worthwhile, shall we?
- Also, in the near West End, we have a lovely review of the progress of Hintonburg, which has been featured in the Financial Times of London(!) as an important up and coming neighbourhood. It’s so charming and quirky, near the river, close to downtown, and has a slightly haphazard street grid which I think makes it so much more charming than many a trendy hood. I wish it all the best, and maybe one day it will be home.
- Bank Street, meanwhile, is screwed.
- And, OC Transpo comes up with a pretty neat way to increase security without totally violating privacy on buses.
Finally, in case you were concerned the Tories don’t hate culture, don’t worry, they axed a low cost, highly efficient cultural program today. Earlier this week we were joking that the war on books would be left to majority territory. Enjoy your decision, knee jerk Conservative voters.
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March 6, 2008 at 10:22 pm
[...] of all, my letter to the editor I posted here Tuesday was published under the title “Don’t sell out heritage” in today’ City [...]
March 13, 2008 at 1:04 am
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