Views from the core

Tom Evans and Heather Wilcox

After renting in Centretown for more than 20 years, this couple has a sharp sense on what the area needs now

Where do you live downtown? Heather: We’re renting in the Golden Triangle. We were renting for 20 years, until 2021, in West Centretown.

Tom: We live on Delaware now, between Cartier and the canal.

Why did you first move downtown? Heather: Well, it was a deal. It was a semi-detached house, and it was really central so I could walk to work.

Tom: I previously owned a house in Carleton Place. When we moved to Ottawa, we both worked downtown and found that we really couldn’t afford to buy a place. So we decided to rent. We’ve lived in a few places that were not central, but Heather knew somebody who lived downtown and told us about a half-duplex on James where the rent was pretty reasonable. The longer we stayed there, the more reasonable it became. So yeah, it was great for us — we didn’t need a car.

It’s kind of interesting how we ended up here on Delaware. We had lived quite a while on James Street and the landlord kept the rent low for a long time. I think it was kind of a tax write-off for him, but as a consequence he didn’t do any of the work on the place — we did that. Heather built a nice garden and it’s quite a nice home, but ultimately the house needed a lot of repairs that he wasn’t prepared to do. We did what we could, but it sort of became unlivable.

Heather: And then this opportunity came up and I said, “Let’s go for it.”

Tom: I do some work for Tippet-Richardson; I’m a moving consultant for them. So the landlady here wanted to move downstairs; this was her family home, and she was quite elderly. So she called on me to come and do the survey of her place and give her an estimate on moving.

She was actually one of the founding DJs of Chez 106 — Shelley Hartman. Sadly, she died less than a year ago. In any event, when she was still living here, I moved her down to the main floor of the house. As I was chatting with her, I looked around and thought the space she was in would suit Heather and I really well. We moved in after I moved her downstairs, and it’s been about three years now. We kind of lucked out. I mean, it’s very expensive, but we didn’t have to do a lot of searching.

What do you like about the area? Tom: I like the character of the neighbourhood. In Carleton Place, I lived in an old farmhouse that had become absorbed into the town. I prefer to live in a place that has character, and Centretown certainly provides that. It’s frankly more interesting. We became a part of the community on James Street when we were there for so long.

What would you like to see improved? Heather: Sidewalks! But on a larger scale, I do notice homelessness more on this side of Bank Street than I did on the other. And also the affordability of the neighbourhood: I really don’t think we can continue to live here for the long term, and there are a lot of people in this same position.

Tom: I’ll say that they do take slightly better care of the streets here in the winter time than they did on James Street. That area was abysmal and still is. I’ve got some friends on that street and it’s ridiculous trying to get there sometimes.

When we were on James we were quite concerned about the development in the area and the standards that the city was setting for it as a residential neighbourhood. They were really neglecting the character of the neighborhood, allowing a lot of development. A lot of exemptions to standards that have been set in place. We saw a lot of requests for cash in lieu of parking and attempts to build structures that really didn’t suit the neighborhood.

Also, there seemed to be a lot of backscratching going on between members of the planning committee and the developers. We are disconnected from it now, but we joined a group of people called the Friends of James and Bay, who stood up in opposition to one particular young guy from a family that has a lot of money. We got to know everybody on the street and became pretty aware of all those issues. Now it’s a brand new council, and I don’t know whether or not they’re going to clean house and change things.

If you could change one thing about your neighbourhood what would it be? Heather: I have mobility issues and I have problems with the sidewalks in winter and in summer. They’re not cleaned in winter very well and, particularly along the NCC property, there are sinkholes in the pathway. That’s a concern. And I don’t like the new design of the sidewalk the city has for driveways, with a 45-degree angle so that cars can have easier access to the road from their driveway. But if you’re walking along that sidewalk, you have to work at a 45-degree angle. That really bothers me; the city did consult residents about this. But It didn’t work. They didn’t listen.

“A lot of people are really struggling now and I notice more people living in tents. But where are people supposed to live?”

What project(s) or issues are you paying attention to?

Heather: Homelessness. It’s going to get worse before it gets better. A lot of people are really struggling now and I notice more people living in tents. But where are people supposed to live? Downtown used to be an affordable option for young people and students when they’re first leaving home. Now that everybody wants to retire and move downtown, where are we supposed to live?

Tom: Rental units are almost nonexistent thanks to Airbnb. There’s just not much rental inventory and certainly none that’s affordable.

I’m also concerned, in the macro sense, about what’s happening with city politics. I mean, it’s very obvious that the rural councillors are basically getting what they need on council. Mark Sutcliffe is a great guy, but it remains to be seen whether or not he’ll be a mayor who’s good for the city. It really depends upon what you want from the city — and where you live. That’s a little bit distressing living down here because everybody loves to come downtown.

Heather: When you have someone over to visit from out of the city and you live in, say, Barrhaven, where do you take them? You bring them downtown. You bring them to the ByWard Market. You bring them to the Glebe. You walk along the Rideau Canal. There’s a division between those voters and the real social needs downtown.

Tom: That dynamic is visible on the street here; you don’t see it in Barrhaven. But when you live with it day-to-day, you wonder about the priorities of our city council. It doesn’t affect us directly, but we see it and it really doesn’t seem fair at this point. The downtown core is required to handle the burden too, of things like the trucker protest. My point is that living here in Centretown you see these things, and it’s just incredibly frustrating that there’s not more being done. Maybe this is a more collegial council, but I’m not too optimistic.