Ottawa

Excerpt from the Ottawa mayor's State of the City Address on Feb 11:

___________________________________________________

Lansdowne Park
Another priority is the renewal of Lansdowne Park.

Lansdowne Park is the largest and most significant City owned property. I know all of us agree it has the potential to be the most important meeting place in our City. It should be the jewel of Ottawa.

It is time to bring Council together on this city building project and work out a process to establish the principles for this property development, reach a conclusion and move forward.

During this debate we will also look at two competing proposals to bring new important sporting assets to Ottawa.

High quality contributors are presenting MLS Soccer and CFL Football to Ottawa and we owe it to our citizens to make a thoughtful choice of which proposal to support and what is in the best interest of the taxpayer.

 

Yup, red is Bay Yards. (but it's blue on the image below)

Here is a closer view.



Blue is the Bay Yards (the war museum is also in that circle
Red is the parliament buildings
Black is the bar district

It's a great central location which I think would showcase the city much better than either of the other locations. Keep in mind I live minutes from the Kanata location so I'm not biased towards a more central location because of where I live. I really think it would be best for the city.

Ottawa really is a beautiful city.

 

Although they probably are both "pick one" stances just that Melnyk is being more honest/upfront about it.

Melnyk is the only proposed owner of an MLS team, he has stated a SSS is necessary for his bid to progress, if the stadium support/funding goes to a proposal that is more CFL oriented (and less soccer) then Melnyk and MLS would have to rethink and, ultimately, another city gets the MLS team.

So saying the CFL proposal is open to MLS is just pandering to public support....both proposals are "one or the other" proposals.

 

yeah the Sunshine girls look nice; how do they compare to Vancouver girls?

heck our papers here don't even have Sunshine girls. Edmonton Sun does

 

I keep looking at the plans for the CFL at Landsdowne Park and I don't see how it could work.



Where is the parking for 20-30,000 fans? Surely the idea isn't that everybody has to take the bus? I read somewhere that there are 300 spaces, not sure if that is true. By comparison, ScotiaBank Place has 8,000 spaces!

 

My perspective is from living in Nepean (near Merivale Road). Timewise the trek to Kanata is fine during off-peak hours. Maybe 25 minutes. But the 417 is packed during a Sens game or a concert. And getting out of the parking lot is no picnic either. The Scotiabank Place is a concrete jungle which is just recently getting some development around it. A bit of a mood killer.

Bank Street IS congested and narrow. Lansdowne Park really needs some major transportation running to it. At the same time, it is central, good atmosphere to the location. Cars quickly disburse in all directions instead of all hitting the Queensway. If I park smartly (which involves a 5-10 minute walk) near the Civic Centre I can get home in the same amount of time it would take me to leave the Scotiabank Place parking lot.

The Kanata vs. Bank Street argument is very similar to the suburb vs densification argument. I still think Lebreton Flats is a perfect location.

 

I could be wrong, but I think that "Bay Yards" refers to the purple part in the map below, which if I'm not mistaken is actually another city snow dump (on the eastern part of Lebreton Flats). This would put it right by Bayview station (near Bayview Rd), the junction of the O-Train and the Transitway. A little further from downtown, but one of the most accessible places in the city by public transit, and in Hintonburg which is a neighbourhood that's really starting to revitalize. I like the location almost as much as the blue part, and definitely more than Kanata.

They could build it next to the Carp dump for all I care though, as long as we get a team.

 

That's the most sensible comment I've read here, thanks!!

 

The news Lansdowne live would have underground parking. This would provide more parking than at present, and football did have 20 000+ at games with little parking and everyone got home.

There are plenty of places to park just a bus ride away...

 

You should attribute it to the proper person, then, I never said it!

 

I second that!

 

I had season tickets to the Sens the first few years when they were at the civic centre, but gave them up when they move to the Paladium (ooops! Sorry! Scotia Bank place).

Lansdowne is easy to get in or out of. You park your car a few streets away and you take the bus. Getting out I take a 10 minute bus ride (there is a bus every five minutes) and then to get home (Gatineau) it is a 20 minute drive. At scotia bank place it takes more than 30 mins just to get out of the parking lot, then I got a long drive to go...

Given the choice, I would take MLS at Lansdowne.

 

If we want our own subforum for expansion...

Read here:

https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=618128

And post here:

https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=815125

 

I definately am probably wrong!!! I just assumed it would be the huge empty field across from lebreton flats but I it was more an educated guess.

 

so you are one of the people who pissed off the glebites by parking in front of their house!!! hahaha.

On a more serious note. I think Ottawa is a bad sports town because there are too many people that think like you do. We want everything to be so easy here in Ottawa. We don't want to wait in traffic or be inconvenienced in anyway when the reality of going to a major sporting event includes traffic and travel time. Suck it up.

I live in Kanata but if we get a team in the downtown core I'm not going to complain about it hell even if it was in the east end I admit I may not go as much but I wouldn't complain that it was too far. If I cared enough I'd make the time or find an alternate route or mass transit solution.

 

Lansdowne is easy to get in or out of. You park your car a few streets away and you take the bus. Getting out I take a 10 minute bus ride (there is a bus every five minutes) and then to get home (Gatineau) it is a 20 minute drive. At scotia bank place it takes more than 30 mins just to get out of the parking lot, then I got a long drive to go...
===========================================

I've never been strong at math but don't both add up to 30 travel time???

Parking will be better in Kanata, Lansdowne when everything is said and done will only have spots for 2000 cars. That's a lot of parking else where to travel to the game.

Also think of it this way, No one want to sit in traffic when it's -20c. Soccer is a different season. What's the rush to get home?

 

OK, let's work on your math ;-)

One takes me 30 minutes to get home, the other 30 minutes to get out of the parking lot.

 

Here are some dates from the city meeting yesterday.

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2009/02/14/8389381-sun.html

In a memo sent to councillors yesterday, Kirkpatrick outlines a two-stage evaluation process.

In stage one, staff will present council a report on March 11 about the needs and possible locations of a stadium. The city commissioned the report in August and it was completed in December.
In stage two, a staff report analysis of the two competing proposals from a land use and business plan perspective will be tabled at a council meeting on March 25. It will come with staff recommendations.

 

If you notice in my message I said I can park and take a 10 minute bus ride, which takes me out of the Glebe completely. I guess the glebites could be upset because I take the bus in their area.

As for your accusation of people like me making Ottawa a bad sportstown because I want it easy... wow, what a reversal. I keep reading on this thread that people want Kanata (which is clearly a minority of people according to a comprehensive survey made in the Ottawa Citizen) because it is easier to park there. Should I blame them and say that they make Ottawa a bad sports town? It is while the projects are being made that you can argue which one has the most merits. And I do not believe Ottawa is a bad sports town. Ottawa has changed alot in the last 20 years. Minor Soccer registration is at an all time high, Minor football in Ottawa is the largest in the country. Both sports would do well and would be well supported.

Even if city council decided to go with Kanata (and I would attend games), they would still have to figure out what to do with Lansdowne. For the Ottawa area as a whole (which includes Kanata, orleans, Gatineau, Gloucester, Nepean, Cumberland etc. etc) Lansdowne is a more central location and easier to get to by a majority of people. Most other cities have already figured out that the downtown area is where you want your infrastructure and we have a jewel in the rough at Lansdowne.

Although the idea of Lebreton flats is intriguing...

 

According to a very thorough survey, people are split on MLS vs CFL, but the fast majority wants Lansdowne...

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Sports/Majority+wants+city+revitalize+Lansdowne/1288533/story.html

 

Cohon stands up for CFL

 

So much for the internet poll that stated two-thirds wanted MLS over CFL. (not that you should ever trust those types of polls to begin with). I'd say this doesn't bode too well for Melnyk and MLS, unless they'd be willing to compromise.

 

My preference is Lebreton, then Lansdowne, then Kanata. But like someone said, if it was at the Carp dump I would support it. I just want MLS in Ottawa. Bottom line. But city development is tied closely into the summer sports scenario in Ottawa. And it's better for the city if CFL/MLS is downtown.

On a semi-related note, how fast is it to take the bus to/from the Scotiabank Place? How fast does it leave the parking lot after the game?

 

I'll bet Googs67 never expected 500 posts when the thread was started!