September 2018 – historynerd.ca

Charlotte Whitton’s Special Plea To William Griesinger, 1952

Charlotte Whitton in 1954. Image: City of Ottawa Archives, Item CA033254.

One of my favourite letters written by Ottawa Mayor Charlotte Whitton was sent by her to Ontario Minister of Planning and Development William Griesinger in 1952.

Second City, Second Metro: Harold E. Denman Finds Inspiration in Metropolitan Toronto

Harold Denman was scheduled to offer his input on March 30, 1965 at 4:45pm. Source: Ottawa Citizen, March 23, 1965, 33.

On March 30, 1965, Bell’s Corners resident Harold E. Denman appeared before Murray Jones to offer his thoughts on regional government.

The City of Ottawa’s Views of Elgin, 1991

In 1991, City of Ottawa planners travelled the streets of Centretown, cameras in hand, documenting the neighbourhood’s built heritage. Since I will be speaking for five minutes tonight at Heritage Ignite! about how Elgin street has inspired my love for Ottawa’s history, I figured that it would be nice to share some of those images. They were sourced from Accession 2009.0453.1 at the City of Ottawa Archives.

Restaurants and Lunch Counters in Ottawa, 1930

Above is a map of restaurants and lunch counters, as listed in the 1930 Ottawa City Directory.

Blog: “For Best Service”: John Lissee’s Appliances on Ossington

Once the dispensary was removed, the sign for John Lissee’s appliance shop was revealed. Image: C.Ryan, September 2018.

Kathleen and I recently took a quick vacation to Toronto (as well as Hamilton and locations across Manitoulin Island) and while walking around, noticed this well-preserved and recently-revealed sign on one of the empty commercial properties along Ossington Avenue.

Watson Balharrie Critiques (part of) the National Capital Plan

Ottawa architect Watson Balharrie had opinions about the National Capital Plan’s vision for architecture in Ottawa. Images: (left) Ottawa Citizen, February 19, 1946, 12; (right) *Community Planning Review*, 2, no. 2 (May 1952).

Although it was indisputably popular among many of Ottawa’s citizens, the National Capital Plan was not without its detractors. Both the concept and implementation of the Green Belt, for example, were a problem for many and the plan was sometimes used by locals to oppose necessary infrastructure projects. Criticisms of the Plan were not limited to their urban planning aspects. As it would turn out, even the fairly basic prescriptions for architecture raised a few hackles.

Second City, Second Metro: John H. McDonald Calls For a Separate National Capital Region

McDonald called for a National Capital Region to be pried from the hands of those in Quebec City and in Toronto. Image: By DPenner1 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=58019866.

I’m sure that, if you’ve been following along with these entries from the Jones Commission that I’ve been transcribing, you’ve likely found that they’ve been, in the main, stunningly repetitive in what they have stated. If so, you’re hardly the only one. Reporters charged with following the testimonies offered up at the Commission noticed too, and were perhaps a little bored with the assignment.

Second City, Second Metro: North Gower Sees Greater Role for Carleton County

Although the rural Township of North Gower had a list of things that needed improvement, an expanded role for the County government was envisioned. Image: Hellmut W. Schade / National Capital Commission / Library and Archives Canada RG 34 R1181 Acc. 1986-004 NPC Box 302 Item 5066298.

The Township of North Gower, which in 1965 remained chiefly rural in nature, knew that growth was inevitable and had already implemented some planning functions.

Apartment Vacancy Rate in Ottawa-Hull (1964-1977)

The above graph, adapted from Statistics Canada S232-245, applies to apartment of six units or more. I’ve noted before that the early 1960s saw unprecedented build-out in apartments in Ottawa and competition was fierce. We’re by-and-large used to rates nowadays being somewhere between 0.5 and 2.5%, but at its peak in the Ottawa-Hull CMA, it had reached 9.1%. I will be doing more with this sort of information later but figured it would be nice to share.

Second City, Second Metro: City View Aims for Change

City View is also known as St. Clair Gardens. Source: detail from Elliott (1991).

Although there were few in Nepean Township looking for change, at least one – City View – was dissatisfied with the status quo in 1965.