The August 2022 issue of The Centretown BUZZ, Centretown’s community newspaper, is out.
You can read it online here!
Read the August 2022 Centretown BUZZ
Category: August 2022
Mayoral candidates speak out: on working with City Council and the Strong Mayors bill
A BUZZ poll of the candidates for Ottawa’s mayor shows they’d rather work collaboratively with city councillors, have had experience doing that in other groups, and mostly aren’t enamoured of the Strong Mayors bill.
People’s Commission to investigate convoy occupation
Local community activists have decided to run their own independent examination of last winter’s convoy occupation starting this fall.
The BUZZ asks and Somerset Ward candidates respond: improving LRT reliability
We ask each candidate running in Somerset Ward: “Having heard the testimony from the Ottawa Light Rail Transit Commission hearings in June and July, what do you think the city should have done to improve the chances of the Confederation Line operating well for riders?”
New suburbs are a Ponzi scheme, says planner
In _Strong Towns_, planner and engineer Charles Marohn argues that cities’ continued expansion ensnares them in a never-ending cycle of debt.
Task force to search for ideas to revitalize Ottawa’s downtown
In the wake of the pandemic and the convoy occupation, Ottawa Centre MP Yasir Naqvi has created a task force to look for ways to rejuvenate and revitalize downtown Ottawa.
Comment: latest downtown task force has a daunting task
Robert Smythe explains why the task of the downtown revitalization task force is so daunting.
Repeated plant thefts plague Dundonald Park gardeners
Thieves are stealing donated plants in Dundonald Park, discouraging the volunteer gardeners.
Skyline: A new ‘landmark building’ at Kent and Gilmour. Is beauty in the eye of the beholder?
The heart of Centretown’s largest heritage district is being challenged by yet another development proposal that’s being submitted under the City of Ottawa’s open-ended “Landmark Building” policy. This process involves an architectural beauty pageant with few objective or truly measurable criteria.
The Good, the Bad, and the Bumpy: Who is most affected by the Centretown heat island?
Ryan Lythall looks at the effect of Centretown’s heat island and lack of air conditioning on poor people with disabilities.
665 Albert: does it tick all the boxes?
On July 7, an informative public meeting organized by Somerset Ward Councillor Catherine McKenney provided a detailed look at the development plan for 665 Albert Street. It’s audacious.
Don Kwan brings his family and their memories into his art
Centretown artist Don Kwan – well-known for promoting Chinatown and Ottawa artists – has had a chance to shine for his own work in the last two years, with a major Ottawa award and notable exhibitions.
142 Nepean tenants get a short reprieve
Tenants in the low-rise, affordable apartment building at 142 Nepean Street got a temporary reprieve in July, as city staff look for an alternative to turning that building into a parking lot.
What’s on in Ottawa and beyond this month
Centretown Community Association report
The latest CCA news: What’s tasty at the Elgin St. farmers market; free history walks; kids can fly a kite at the fall festival; don’t steal plants.
Dalhousie Community Association: new park & new developments
The DCA is busy with a new park; traffic calming on Eccles; opposition to a too-high building on Cambridge North; Preston Hardware parking; and the Library Parcel on LeBreton Flats.
Full library hours waiting for more staff
It’s not clear when Ottawa Public Library (OPL) branches will return to regular hours. OPL staff told The BUZZ this month that there’s no firm date to restore the hours, which were chopped by more than one-quarter in January.