Serving the Glebe community since 1973 June 9, 2023 www.glebereport.ca TFI@glebereport ISSN 0702-7796 Vol. 51 No. 5 Issue no. 555 FREE
Woonerf on Woodlawn: the community’s shared living room By Barbara Leckie and Joel Westheimer Imagine a street’s speed limit set at the pace of the average pedestrian. Imagine walking, cycling and playing as a priority over motorized traffic. Imagine urban green spaces multiplied rather than reduced. Since the 1960s, this vision of street design has been a reality in Europe. It could be a reality in Ottawa, too. Indeed, a few innovative streets – Murray Street in the Market and Cambridge Street in Centretown – have already realized similar visions. And now the word is out on Woodlawn Avenue in the Glebe. On a sunny, cool morning in mid-May, about 20 residents of Woodlawn gathered with Councillor Shawn Menard, his assistant Jonathan McLeod and the city’s lead engineer Josée Vallée to discuss street construction. The staffers wore fluorescent vests, and Menard still had bike clips on his pants from his ride over. The catalyst for this conversation was the proposed Woodlawn Avenue reconstruction to modernize the road, sewers and water mains. We stood in the shade of two oaks and a maple tree as we discussed the impact of the construction on the street’s majestic trees. Our overall goal, however, was broader. We wanted to create a Woonerf street. Most of us, when we first heard the phrase “Woonerf streets,” were mystified. What-streets? we asked. But as we researched the principle behind the Woonerf street and the support it had in Europe, we were convinced that it could be a model for Ottawa too. Woonerf streets originated in Delft, a canal-ringed city in the western Netherlands, and the word is variously translated as “living street” and “shared street.” It privileges the life of the street
Index
ABBOTSFORD................................ 12 ART............................................33-35 BIRDS........................................18,19 BOOKS......................................22-25 COMMUNITY............................17, 20 EDITORIAL....................................... 4 ENVIRONMENT........................ 14, 15 GLEBOUS & COMICUS ����������������� 37 GLEBE REPORT 50TH ��������������������� 6 LANSDOWNE...............................8, 9 LETTERS.......................................... 5 MUSIC............................................ 32 NATURE............................................ 3 OPINION.......................................8, 9 POETRY.................................... 26, 27 REMEMBERING............................. 31 REPS & ORGS..........7, 10, 11, 29, 30 THEATRE........................................ 36 TRAFFIC..........................................13
of emphasizing the ways in which the street could be a community: children coming from their private backyards to play together on a street where traffic has been calmed through effective and aesthetically pleasing design.
A Woonerf street [has been] variously defined as “living street” and “shared street.” It privileges the life of the street in all its facets – children, adults, seniors, animals, birds, foliage and, of course, the trees – and has been called “the community’s shared living room.”
Woodlawn Avenue’s proximity to the Lansdowne stadium and two seniors’ centres makes it an ideal candidate to become a Woonerf street, an intergenerational “community’s shared living room.” PHOTO: JEANETTE RIVE
in all its facets – children, adults, seniors, animals, birds, foliage and, of course, the trees – and has been called “the community’s shared living room.” Our street’s proximity to Lansdowne Park and two seniors’ centres makes it an ideal candidate for such a vision. Like many living rooms, it is intergenerational and often filled with visitors. With a lively street life, it is already our
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community’s shared living room, but its decorations are scant and its invitation to slow down or sit down are minimal. We liked the idea of seniors taking their walks down a street explicitly designed for pedestrians, with bumpouts large enough for native gardens they could tend and benches on which they could sit. We also liked the idea
For almost a century, our cities have been planned for cars. The history of the shift from an emphasis on pedestrian life to prioritizing the automobile is difficult to trace but the Joni Mitchell lyrics “they paved paradise to put up a parking lot” nicely captures a phenomenon that many recognize. We often forget that the plans we make now impact not only our lives in the next several years but the lives of those to follow for another half century or more. It makes sense to ask what sort of public spaces we want to create for Ottawa’s future. Do we want parking lots and maximized parking? Or do we want green spaces, pedestrian walkways, bike lanes, benches, flowers and places where children can play? Our vision for a new Woodlawn Avenue is still developing. But it’s already been a community-building Continued on page 2
What’s Inside
NEW ART FESTIVAL....................... JUNE 10–11, 10 A.M–5 P.M., CENTRAL PARK GCA AGM.............................................. JUNE 13, 7 P.M. GCC ONE WORLD GRANNIES STORY-TELLING FUNDRAISER JUNE 21, 6:15 P.M., FIRST UNITARIAN CONGREGATION ART LENDING SHOW ........................ JUNE 24, 10 A.M–4 P.M., RA CENTRE GCA BOARD MEETING.......................JUNE 27, 7 P.M., ONLINE ART IN OUR GARDENS......................JULY 8–9, 10 A.M–4 P.M., VARIOUS LOCATIONS HOUSE OF PAINT URBAN ARTS FEST......... AUG 11-13, UNDER DUNBAR BRIDGE
A deer odyssey............................................................. Page 3
Lansdowne's financial problems..............................Page 9
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