Three Community Wins Worth Celebrating
Three Community Wins Worth Celebrating
Local victories led by everyday people.
In Ottawa, it seems like we have a City Hall that has stopped working for the people. Sometimes we need everyday heroes to step up and fill the void.
And sometimes the community wins. Here are three recent successes that happened because of ordinary people stepping up.
1. Sarah Billings Place saved
Back in April, I wrote about how The Ottawa Hospital was planning to turn the last undeveloped parcel of the Billings Estate into a parking lot.
The Hospital has reversed its decision and the City is now restoring the lot to parkland.
This is a historic site, and I was pleased to see the local community, with the help of Councillor Marty Carr, save this greenspace.
The Billings Estate was gifted long ago to the people of Ottawa. I hope the local community will plan some events there, starting with asking the City to put in a plaque recognizing Sarah Billings’ historic gift.
2. Ottawa Community Land Trust outperforms
In May, I wrote about the Ottawa Community Land Trust and their launch of Housing Forever Bonds. They had a goal of raising $1.7 million from community members investing (not donating) cash, to purchase affordable rental housing units that were up for sale, before those properties got bought by a for-profit developer, renovated and turned into no longer affordable housing.
The OCLT achieved their goal of raising $1.7 million! This has allowed them to purchase a second rental property, in Vanier, using community investments along with a $150,000 grant from the office of Councillor Stéphanie Plante. Councillor Jeff Lieper has also made two big donations through his office.
Given the exceptional response, OCLT is upping their goal to raise $3 million from community investments. The returns are comparable to what we can get on a government bond.
3. Summer Zone on the Queen Elizabeth Driveway
The National Capital Commission did something with QED that bureaucracies rarely do: they took a chance and tried something new with little lead time or preparation.
I’m referring to Summer Zone — the section of QED that was pedestrianized from Catherine St to Somerset St in July and August.
Below is a short video from the final day of Summer Zone. This is a small taste of what we could have with a QED reprioritized for people.
Parkways for People, of which I am a part, pushed the NCC to open the Summer Zone to allow for community-led initiatives. The old-fashioned games, like archery, were a surprising hit. And the community-led events, such as the free concerts on the stage, made the parkway shine.
Thanks to the generosity of a number of you, we were able to hand out free ice cream at three events on QED. And we have just enough money left over to supply ice cream for the Kidical Mass ride coming up on September 28.
If you have thoughts on the national capital parkways, the NCC is currently consulting on its parkways planning and design guidelines. They have a public survey open until September 30, which all are encouraged to fill out.
Community leadership
People of Ottawa, keeping standing up for your community.
Let’s have more wins like these ones. And let’s stop every now and then and celebrate those wins.
It is amazing how much success you and the community have achieved. These are excellent examples of how communities can help themselves when working together, how we can push back against the developers and corporation who control our city council. It is also noted that there are excellent councillors who do great work with community support and who do not rely on developer monies.