Heritage Essay
Reflecting on Old Ottawa South’s Built Environment, Past and Present (cont.)
A major issue of contention regarding Old Ottawa South’s future relates to the issue of density. As the area is becoming increasingly popular for people to live in, demand on residences in it continues to go up, and, consequently, any increase in the supply of residences would be easily absorbed by the market. Most residents seem to be very comfortable with current levels of building density, and do not wish the area to undergo any process of additional densification. This is understandable. Achieving increased densification through means such as allowing the construction of multistory structures would be detrimental to the character of the area. In fact, considering Old Ottawa South’s mature urban fabric, it generally will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to bring about any significant increases in density in many of its areas without imposing harsh and destructive interventions on the preexisting urban fabric, which would be an example of “killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.” Of course, there remain a few pockets in Old Ottawa South where higher-density residential structures of a maximum of three stories may be inserted without negatively impacting the character of the area or the quality of life in it, while at the same time increasing its housing stock.
One part of Old Ottawa South where increased densification not only may be accommodated with relative ease, but also would be welcome is along Bank Street. The street has a pleasant feel to it; its buildings have a modest scale; and it brings together a healthy diversity of functions. Along it are located a number of public buildings including two churches, a public library, and a public school. It also includes the Mayfair movie theatre building. And it features a wide variety of commercial establishments. The street is well known for its antiques and crafts shops, but it also has a supermarket, cafés, pubs, and restaurants catering to different budgets, hair stylists and barbers, a video store, a music store, two bank branches, and even a few establishments for automotive repairs and sales. Many of these serve local residents, but a number of them, as with the antiques and crafts shops or the music store, also have made this stretch of Bank Street a destination for people from outside the neighborhood.[7]
Bank Street can accommodate considerably higher densities primarily through constructing four-story structures with shops on the street level and residential units (and possibly offices) above. Such an arrangement would allow a larger number and a wider range of shops to open along the street, and also would increase the residential building stock in Old Ottawa South. This increase in residential units admittedly will consist of apartments, rather than single-family or semi-attached structures, which currently make up most of the neighborhood’s residences. Still, these apartment units will be very much sought after by various demographic segments who would want to live in Old Ottawa South, but may not have the need or wish to live in single-family or semi-detached units. These include senior citizens, young professionals, and university students, particularly at nearby Carleton University. A feasibility study clearly would need to be carried out regarding how much retail, office, and residential space the stretch of Bank Street in Old Ottawa South can accommodate, but the results of the study most probably will be very encouraging.
Of course, the issue of increased density along Bank Street will raise a few challenges. One of them is providing additional parking spaces, for which there is only limited area. It should be kept in mind, however, that most of those who patronize the shops of Bank Street are residents of Old Ottawa South and nearby areas, and therefore usually access it by foot. The street also is very adequately served by public transportation as three bus lines linking the inner and outer parts of Ottawa pass through it. Recent zoning changes in fact have acknowledged these realities and have brought down the number of required parking spaces for new development along Bank Street.[8]
Another challenge that would result from such densification is that of scale. These new buildings ideally will be about four stories high, which will provide the street with a much needed well-defined urban edge. However, the houses located behind them, along the residential streets that branch out of Bank Street, primarily consist of two stories with a third-story loft. While not excessively large, the difference between the two heights needs to be addressed from a visual point of view. Such a transition seems to work well with the new four-storey building constructed at the corner of Bank and Grove streets, where the back façade is designed with the same level of care as the street façades.
This issue of increased density also brings up another main challenge that Old Ottawa South is beginning to face. As demand on housing in the community is increasing, so is the cost of real-estate in it. This rise in prices prevents many of the people who wish to live in the area from moving into it. Such a tendency very well may eventually result in a situation where the area becomes an exclusive upper-income enclave. This would be most unfortunate. Historically, a main strength of this area has been in the diversity of income groups it has housed (see the references to Echo Bank House and Hunt House above). Today, it continues to house people of different income levels and professional backgrounds, but what brings them together is a strong appreciation of the quality of urban life that such a neighborhood provides and a sense of pride in being a part of it. If the area is to become an enclave for a narrowly-defined upper-income group, it will loose much of what has contributed to its uniqueness and strength.
[7] Interestingly enough, initial research being carried out by John Calvert, a resident of Old Ottawa South who also is leading the Old Ottawa South History project, indicates that during the first half of the twentieth-century and into its middle part, Bank Street contained a relatively high number of automobile sales and repair establishments, as well as gas stations. This would explain the ubiquity of small box-shaped buildings surrounded by sizable parking areas along the street as this arrangement is standard for such establishments.
It should be added that since the initial writing of this essay, a number of transformations have been affecting Bank Street and primarily are connected to the rise of property values there. A new building is planned at the northeastern corner of the intersection of Bank and Sunnyside streets, on the mostly empty plot located to the south of the Mayfair Theatre. The two-storey building will include a drugstore on the ground floor and offices on the upper one. Moreover, the local supermarket closed down in July 2008 and the Mayfair Theatre is scheduled to close down by the end of the year. The closing down of these two establishments is very unfortunate as they both provide important services to the community and contribute to enhancing the quality of life in it. It is very possible that a new supermarket will replace the old one and that new investors will revive the Mayfair. Still, there is a valid concern that the stretch of Bank Street that goes through Old Ottawa South will change for the worst. One possibility is that it will be increasingly taken over by expensive shops that primarily cater to customers from outside the neighborhood. This will increase vehicular traffic and parking requirements for the Old Ottawa South part of Bank Street and will negatively affect its role as a commercial Main Street serving the residents of the neighborhood.
[8] A detailed discussion regarding the redevelopment of Bank Street is provided in the following report: Planning and Development Committee, Development Services Department, City of Ottawa, Urban Design and Zoning Study: Bank Street, Old Ottawa South, 2003. The report promotes developing Bank Street to present a clear “Main Street” environment, and consequently discusses issues such as densification, reducing parking requirements, and mixed-use zoning that incorporates retail space along the street level and office and residential space above.