It’s been a while since an opinion piece has made me laugh out loud and seethe with frustration at the same time, but Tia Goldenberg’s delusion that condos are “stripping Ottawa of its charm” is simply over the top.
Her assertions are both short-sighted and misleading because she fails to recognize how short-term construction inconveniences lead to long-term benefits for local businesses and our broader community.
These developments are bringing people back into Centretown and breathing new life into what has become a struggling neighbourhood.
Ms. Goldenberg suggests these new condo developments “tower over the city” and ara “blemish on the city scape.”
She should take a closer look at these new buildings because she would see that her suggestions are not based in reality. The vast majority of new condo developments downtown are, in fact, lower rise buildings that are shorter than the older, neighbouring apartment complexes.
When contrasted with the enormous condo complexes that are sprouting up just outside the core and in suburban communities, downtown developments are a shining example of how to integrate newer buildings into established neighborhoods.
It should also be noted that condominiums are creating large amounts of new tax revenue for the City of Ottawa, while not costing the city a lot of money to deliver services; something that cannot be said of the dreadful urban sprawl that is plaguing our suburbs.
Intensification is producing more vibrant downtown neighborhoods where people can live, work, shop and go to school, while creating a need for new small businesses to support these communities...all within walking distance.
Finally, if Ms. Goldenberg thinks “18 months” of condo construction is a nuisance, I wonder what she thinks about the inconveniences that will be created by the upcoming redevelopment of Bank Street or Somerset Street between Kent and Metcalfe?
As the president of a condo corporation in the middle of all this upcoming construction I know it’s going to be a dusty and sometimes noisy affair, but I also know that our neighborhood and the neighbourhoods to the south of Centretown will reap the benefits and and Ottawa will be that much closer to becoming a true world-class city.

Shawn Dearn,
Somerset Street W.

The decision to place the Ottawa District Parole Office in the middle of a Centretown residential community and continued reticence by Corrections Canada to move the office back to its previous location in the downtown business district is simply mind boggling.
The latest twist in this saga of political insensitivity, arrogance and incompetence is over who has the authority of moving the parole office.
At an October 2004 information session, the district parole director, Ana Paquete, told residents that only Anne McLellan, minister for public safety and emergency preparedness, could move the office.
However, McLellan’s office (Lia Quikert, spokesperson for McLellan in the Feb. 11 of Centretown News) says it is up to Corrections Canada to move the office not the minister.
Just who is in charge of Corrections Canada parole offices?
When will McLellan accept her responsibility for Corrections Canada and move the Ottawa District Parole Office back to the downtown business core?

Albert Galpin,
Frank Street