Paris
Ottawa is a world-class city and deserves a transit system worthy of that status – together we’re getting it right.
For some reason, Mayor Larry likes to keep saying Ottawa is a “world-class” city. Then again, he also liked to say that “zero means zero” (or is that 4.9?).
I suspect it will be a few more generations, a few city-wide fires, and a revolution or two until Ottawa becomes a world-class city to rival Paris. We don’t have the boulevards, landmarks, or public transit system to rival the French capitol.
About the only place we can hope to compete is with our on-street food vendors. We have two advantages: our culture accepts eating while walking and we have a large francophone population. It’s only a matter of time before some bright lad or lass at Algonquin discovers that crepes can be made and sold on the street.
“Oh! But what about beaver tails?” you say. The answer to that is simple: savory crepes. Do beaver tails have ham, tomato, feta? No. What about cheese? No. Beaver tails are a culinary dead-end. Crepes are like prokaryotes. There isn’t a gastronomic niche crepes can’t handle. Bring on a Canadian school of crepes, I say.
Sure, our city is a sprawling mess. Sure, our future transit plans are pretty much what we have now (with a little more tunnel). Sure, our city has few landmarks almost no public art. Sure, we don’t have much in the way of urban parks. But we can at least have some decent street food, dammit!
Ottawa might not have the landmarks, streets, or landmarks to rival Paris, but it also doesn’t have 12 million people or a history of taxing the rest of the country to benefit itself.
When I lived in Ottawa I would often walk my dog through the park across the street, down a few blocks to a larger park, and if it was nice out, I would walk to the park by the river, and sometimes out to Lemieux Island where there’s a specific park for dogs.
I’ve lived in 5 cites, and none of them have better public transportation, landmarks, or urban parks. Maybe Ottawa can’t compare with cities like Paris in those things, but I wonder how New York or Paris compares to Ottawa in terms of crime, traffic, or public schools.