Deachman: Ottawa, a ghost town? Then why are all those people enjoying themselves so much?

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Dear Michael Bociurkiw,

It was with great interest that I read your opinion piece, “Visiting Ottawa, it was sad to see what has become of my hometown,” in the Globe And Mail.

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Like you, I grew up in Ottawa and, today, similarly look out on a city that’s hardly recognizable as the place it was half a century ago, when you and I were paperboys. I suspect I lament that change less than you, because, despite its problems, Ottawa boasts far better bars and restaurants, sports events, galleries, shopping and live music than when you and I were youngsters.

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But yes, I share your concern about Ottawa’s homelessness and housing crises, and the state of the urban core that you describe as a “ghost town,” an image that has long been used to describe downtown Ottawa at night and on weekends, only recently slipping into the weekday lexicon. We disagree on whether public servants bear the responsibility for clearing out the tumbleweeds, but let’s put a pin in that for the moment.

I feel bad for those foreign delegates at the recent UN plastics summit who, you wrote, were surprised at the homeless and others “causing disruption” in and around Ottawa’s conference centre. I’m likewise sorry that your former walking routes have “morphed into a distressing obstacle course of homeless people.” These are obviously serious and complicated issues. Is enough being done? Probably not.

And you’re absolutely right about the eternally dreadful stretch of Rideau Street off Sussex Drive, and that the future of 24 Sussex needs to be resolved — although, apart from being kind of embarrassing, the latter doesn’t really put the city in crisis.

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I don’t want to come across as a blind cheerleader for Ottawa, nor do I wish to sound petty or hurt, for I am neither. You are perfectly entitled to your opinion, and to express it. I do wish, though, that your recent visit wasn’t as tied to the plastics summit and convention centre as it seems it was. I wish you had come at a slightly different time, or perhaps ventured just a little farther afield. Your assessment of Ottawa was confined to to an extremely small, though admittedly blighted, patch of the city — the very core of the core.

Had you taken a walk south and west along the canal, you might have stumbled upon one of the two Professional Women’s Hockey League games that took place at Lansdowne Park during the plastics conference. I suspect your heart would have been warmed by the joy and civic pride thousands of fans brought to those games. The hockey itself was top-notch, too, and all at a newer Lansdowne that, in spite of the controversy that dogs its development — a sign of how much people here care about it — attracts people from all over to its restaurants, movie theatres, farmers’ markets, basketball courts, skating rink, sporting events, concerts and loads more.

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A little farther west and you might rediscover Preston Street and a bustling Little Italy.

Or, had you walked the other way, past the dilapidated 24 Sussex, you’d have come across the recently restored NCC boathouse, so gorgeous that you almost have to toss a sweater around your shoulders and pretend you’re a Kennedy.

And if your schedule had permitted you to be here 10 days or so ago, you’d have seen the throngs of Ottawans and visitors at the Canadian Tulip Festival. It was, as usual, great to see so many families out, about as representative a swath of Ottawa’s demographics as I’ve witnessed anywhere.

This past weekend, meanwhile, saw Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend and the Great Glebe Garage Sale enliven the city so much, and draw so many people, that I understand bylaw officers were worried about overall downtown weight restrictions being violated.

It’s not too late to see this ghost town in action. Come back this weekend for Doors Open Ottawa. True, the prime minister’s official residence still won’t be open, but plenty of other amazing venues, including Rideau Hall and the Supreme Court of Canada, will.

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Yes, there are significant issues in Ottawa, as you’ll find in cities everywhere, but please don’t give up on us. It’s a low-crime city with a wonderfully diverse ethnic and religious mix of people. There’s lots of green space and public parks, and the NCC has done a good job of bringing amenities, such as food and drink, to public waterfronts, conveniences I’m sure we would have welcomed in our younger days. Did I mention water taxis? And there’s nowhere near the traffic congestion of, say, the Don Valley Parkway; if you need to get away, it doesn’t take very long.

Ottawa is hardly a ghost town — at least not yet. Come back when you can. I’ll buy you a drink at one of my favourite restaurants, and we can discuss ways to make it even better.

Cheers!

Born in Fort William, Ont., a city that no longer appears on maps, Bruce Deachman has called Ottawa home for most of his life. As a columnist with the Citizen, he works at keeping Ottawa on the map. You can reach him at bdeachman@postmedia.com. You can also support his work and our mission to share information that keeps you plugged into life in Ottawa by purchasing a digital subscription at https://www.ottawacitizen.com/subscribe

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