Going Out With a Bang…or Rather, a Strike!

Well folks, I’ve come to the end of my multimedia journalism course. That means the West Wellington Word may be going on hiatus for a while because I’ve got my other journalistic blog, averiemac.wordpress.com, to maintain.

A big thanks goes out to all my amazing sources especially the wonderful people at the Wellington Village Community Association. Katie and Jason consistently gave me info for stories and were always shooting tips my way, and I am super grateful.

Keep in mind everyone, I’m still a reporter in Ottawa, and things that interest one community tend to interest others as well. So I’m still fair game for any West Wellington story ideas or tips you might have! You can email me at amacdon7@connect.carleton.ca.

I’ll leave you all with a little something to look at. Here’s my final project: a multimedia slideshow complete with audio and visuals. Thanks to Ricky Balestra and the folks at West Park Bowling Centre for allowing me to document this community hub.

In sum of my community blogging experience, here are my famous last words.

West Wellington RULES!

West Wellington BSP plan moving forward

Here’s an update to the story below about the proposed bike sharing program (BSP) along Wellington West.

Causeway Work Centre is now in the first steps of its feasibility study to determine whether a BSP would work in Ottawa West.

They have released an online survey for residents of the area to fill out giving their feedback on the idea.

You can find this survey at:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/OttawaWestBikeShareSurvey

 

SLOWest and Causeway kick bike sharing plan into high gear

This lonely bike may soon get some company through the SLOWest/Causeway Bike Sharing Project.

Two local organizations are pushing ahead with plans to make West Wellington Ottawa’s first cycling-centred community.

Causeway, a Hintonburg social enterprise hub, and SLOWest, a local advocacy group for sustainable living, are studying the feasibility of a bike sharing project. It would be placed along the Wellington/Richmond corridor from Bayswater to just past Churchill Avenue.

Causeway community projects leader Shane Norris says the bike share would produce a wide variety of positive outcomes.

Norris describes the project as a natural extension of an already existing community start-up, Cycle Salvation. This social enterprise, run by Causeway  refurbishes old bicycles and sells them at affordable prices. Cycle Salvation would provide the Ottawa West’s bike share with mechanic support and may also provide some or all of its bicycle fleet.

According to SLOWest volunteer Brock Carlton, the idea for the community bike share has been percolating for about six months, but really gained momentum in October 2010.

THE PLAN

The bike sharing project would provide access to 30 or 40 bicycles for short trips along West Wellington. The bikes would be available through 3 to 4 hubs stationed along Wellington Street West toward Westboro, says a project proposal written in November 2010.

The proposal outlines several social and economic benefits from the program. It also notes the bike share would help the City of Ottawa reach its goal of a 20 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2012, by encouraging west-end shoppers to get out of their cars and on to the bikes.

“We think the residential-business mix (and) the presence of the small businesses along (Wellington Street West) make it an ideal location for the kind of street-level activity that we anticipate this program will stimulate,” says Carlton.

WILL THE CITY DO IT FIRST?

The National Capital Commission (NCC) has been working to set up its own larger-scale bike share in partnership with the cities of Ottawa and Gatineau. NCC spokesperson Jasmine Leduc says the groups have now settled on a private service provider to operate the program, but they are still working out agreements on cost sharing and responsibilities.

After a promising pilot project in the summer of 2009, this municipal bike sharing initiative was forced to shift into a lower gear due to problems attracting a private program operator. The group hopes to roll out their project sometime this spring, but Leduc says the launch date has not yet been confirmed.

OLD MINDSETS NEED A FRESH ‘SPIN’

Norris and Carlton describe Ottawa West’s community bike sharing project as very different from the one the City has in mind, but Carlton says their smaller-scale initiative will also face some challenges getting off the ground.

“(One) set of challenges,” he says, “will be helping the business community understand the value of this as opposed to the more traditional perspective that cars are the best way to bring (business) into a community.”

The area’s ward councillor Katherine Hobbs (Kitchisippi) echoes Carlton’s statement. As a cyclist and member of Citizens for Safe Cycling, Hobbs says Ottawa needs an attitude adjustment when it comes to transportation.

“Today, cars seem to have the first priority,” says Hobbs, “I think there has to be a big cultural shift in how we feel about cyclists in the city…we have to consider the rights of people that want to use a bicycle as a form of transportation.”

Hobbs, along with the West Wellington BIA, Hintonburg Cycling Champions group and the local Mountain Equipment Co-op have expressed their full support for the bike sharing project.

Hobbs Excuses Absence

Just before being sworn in as Kitchisippi’s new ward councillor, Katherine Hobbs was scrambling to tie up some loose ends.

One of them was an email from the westwellingtonword asking why she missed last week’s Infill Intensification Forum hosted by the Wellington Village Community Association.

Hobbs had said she would be at the meeting, but a week later, organizer Katie Paris still had not heard from the councillor-elect.

Well Katie, consider this your answer!

Take a Stroll, Stop a crime!

Good news for all you West Wellington window-shoppers! You may be  deterring criminals, just by walking around!

Wellington Community Police Officer Const. Andrew Milton recently wrote an article in the Newswest section of the Kitchisippi Times describing how the new look on Wellington West creates an area that’s more friendly to pedestrians, and much less friendly to criminals.

Hobbs Misses Community Discussion

photo by Katie Anderson

Intensification. Infill.  Housing density.  These issues are dominating community concerns in West Wellington, so much so that the Wellington Village Community Association recently held a public forum to discuss their impact on the neighbourhood.

Unfortunately, the community’s city councilor-elect didn’t make it.

Spreading the Holiday Cheer

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in West Wellington. Shops are breaking out the decorations, and frenzied shoppers are on their way. But simply slapping up some tinsel in the storefront window doesn’t cut it in this end of town. From the priciest to the thriftiest, stores on Wellington West have clearly put in extra effort to attract Ottawa’s gift-hunters.

At the West-end location of Victoire, a Canadian-designer-focussed fashion boutique, an understated yuletide garland (pictured above) sweeps delicately from mannequin to mannequin in the front window.

Convent Issue Update 3

Well folks, I know I’m a little tardy, but here it is.

City planners have approved the re-zoning of Les Souers de la Visitation convent to allow for Ashcroft’s development, but the city will try to buy back some land on the convent site to preserve park space. They now have  until March 31 to figure out how, they’ll pay for the land.

According to the CBC’s coverage of the issue, Kitchisippi can access a fund of $1.3 million to purchase the land, but as referenced in my previous post, it will likely cost the city much more than that.

Apparently, the community has not received the approval to re-zone the land lightly.

The Ottawa Citizen reported that Peter Hume said the convent issue was the most controversial put before the planning committee that he could remember.

It’s now up to city council to decide how to proceed in dealing with the development.

 

Checking out The Parkdale Market — a teeny bit too late!

My first photo assignment! I was all ready to shoot the fruits and vegetables at The Parkdale Market! But when I got there, I found only a charming group of guys who were transforming the place for winter. Hey! That works too!

-Averie

Convent Issue Update 2

Well Folks,

Looks like there’s a bit of commotion to update you on over at City Hall!

Council gave a speedy go-ahead to residents on friday meaning that they now have permission to purchase some of the convent site back from Ashcroft in order to preserve the area’s greenspace and decrease the density on site.