Canada's Most Walkable City 2010: Ottawa (w/ Video)
Find out why up! magazine ranked Ottawa as the seventh Most Walkable City in Canada in 2010.
No other city can touch Canada's capital when it comes to urban parkland—95 square kilometres spanning 850 parks.
Combine all that green space with plenty of permanent pedestrian-only zones and "it is clear that the city of Ottawa takes pride in its outdoor accessibility with great connectivity between its 234 km of urban trails, transit and canal use," says judge Gil Penalosa.
The result is a healthy percentage of the workforce walking and biking to work year-round. The network of park paths funnels pedestrians to the Rideau Canal Skateway, yet another non-motorized mobility option during winter in a city overflowing with them.
Cold weather aside, the city does occasionally falter under its pedestrian riches. "Sparks Street is probably the least-successful pedestrian mall in the country," says judge Chris Turner. "It leads from nowhere to nowhere and is a destination for no one but bureaucrats and lost tourists."
Neighbourhood Walk: ByWard market
Enter from Rideau Street and follow William Street to the rows of outdoor stalls selling windowsill herbs and fresh produce. Browse artists' shops housed in 19th-century greystone buildings at the southwest end and look for nooks between buildings leading to serene cobblestone courtyards and an art installation or two. Return to the market at dusk for patio after patio overflowing onto the streets and savour a specialty scotch at The Highland Pub.
This story was originally published in the May 2010 issue of up! magazine as part of the Canada's Most Walkable Cities 2010 feature, profiling 10 of Canada’s most pedestrian-friendly urban centres. Take a look at more of Canada's Most Walkable Cities.
VIDEO
More Articles
Contributors
Based in Toronto, Tom Gierasimczuk's work has appeared in a variety of publications, including the Globe and Mail, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer and OutPost magazine.
What's Hot
- Veer off the beach for a spin along Cuba’s northern coast
- A walking tour of Montreal's Park Extension
- Get to know your food with farm to table dining
- Palacio de los Jugos
- San Diego’s secret cocktail bar
- The hunt for the perfect souvenir
- Badwater Ultramarathon
Born and Bred
Judge Chris Turner has it ALL wrong about the Sparks Street Mall leading from nowhere to nowhere At it's westernmost end you are 1-2 blocks away from Lebreton Flats, the Museum of War and the Western Parkway. At it's easternmost end, you arrive at the War Monument, the National Arts Centre, a hop-skip-jump from the Rideau Canal and 5 minutes from the ByWard market. Additionally, depending on where you are, one block north of the "mall" are the National Archives, Supreme Court and Parliament Buildings... as well as the Ottawa River. Maybe Mr. Turner should have visited the city before making his remarks.
Rndmacts
The author doesn't take into account the fantastic walking opportunities, instead he focuses on the oldest pedestrian mall in Canada, which is slowly evolving in a rebirth as the whole of Sparks Street is utilized. The area is now starting to be developed for residential use so the makeup of the mall will be changing again. The Byward Market is also one of the oldest continuous farmers markets in Canada, and a popular tourist attraction. The market area is also changing its face due to new residences being built in the area. But the autor totally missed the biking potential of the city, most major streets have bike lanes, the bus system where every route has buses that have bike carriers on them, making it attractive to bike from home to a hub, get on the bus and then disbark wherever you want with your bike. A great number of people take advantage of this, leaving their cars at home. He mentions the cities 95 square kilometers of green space but fails to mention the more than 200 kilometers of bike paths and trails within the city. He fails to mention that Ottawa's two rivers and canal are all lined with parkways and walkways. And he does not even give credit to the fact that the same infrastructure extends across the Ottawa River and into Gatineau, Quebec. You can't look at one side of the Ottawa
River without acknowledging the Quebec side. Ottawa may be the capital of Canada but the workforce comes from both sides of the river as well as the workspaces being spread out on both sides as well. So once again, a report made by an amateur with no concept of the Capital region and its love of the outdoors, as he noted the canal in winter but made no mention of the cross country skiing available within the city. Ottawa's ranking as 7th is totally wrong, Ottawa is way more foot friendly than Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal, even Halifax. But when you send amateurs to do a professionals work, what can you expect. Vancouver foot friendly, been there and would disagree totally.
Post new comment