Pellerin: What this city needs is more imaginative thinking

A year-round public market attracts street entertainers to the Saturday marketplace downtown near the Willamette River at the Tom McCall Waterfront Park. Photo by Kim PembertonArticle content

The City of Ottawa informed us all on Wednesday that council had approved the new community-led gardens and green initiatives program, and my eyes rolled so far up their sockets I nearly fell over backwards. Not that I’m against community-led gardens and green initiatives. But gah. What will it take for Ottawa to accept that it’s allowed to discuss imaginative ideas?

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I get that people don’t move to Ottawa for the drama — outside the parliamentary precinct, I mean. And on that note, I’m glad we have a quietly competent, even slightly boring, person as prime minister to face off against the King of Pointless Tantrums. But now that we have sorted that one out, can we please allow ourselves to think big about how awesome Ottawa could be as a showcase capital instead of settling for gaping sidewalk cracks, broken windows, smelly car sewers and oh so much concrete?

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On Tuesday, I was sitting in a small room near the magnificent Canadian Museum of Nature to hear architect Martin Tite and a panel of experts talk about one very brave idea: turning the urban part of the Queensway into a lush, human-friendly, urban boulevard. Think Queen Elizabeth Driveway but bigger.

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A few dozen people engaged in a stimulating and thought-provoking discussion. We asked questions, some challenging, such as: Why limit ourselves to the downtown part? How come trains aren’t more present in the design? How could we encourage smart and business-friendly development near the boulevard but make sure it’s the right kind of development?

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My question to the panel was, given that the current design of the Queensway benefits commuting suburbanites the most and that a boulevard would benefit downtown-dwellers the most: How do you convince suburbanites to agree it’s worth making their commute a little slower for the benefit of people who don’t need to drive downtown because they’re already there?

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In these situations, my default is to recommend de-amalgamation of local governments, but apparently that’s too bold. So, while we wait for everyone to catch up with what is obviously the right idea, those of us who seek to improve our city need to work within existing structures and sharpen our storytelling and marketing skills to sell the benefits of our ideas to people who aren’t already in favour of them.

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Detail of a concept plan for a linear park through downtown Ottawa, instead of a highway. Photo by Courtesy of Provencher_RoyArticle content

Our pitch could start with “Once upon a time there was a city with an ugly highway right in the middle of it and one day, they decided to do the right thing and remove the highway to build a linear park that people from all over the region visit and enjoy.”