Apartment613

Photo courtesy of Mike.Geiger.ca (Myke) on Flickr.

Rock the casbah! David Lau, professor of civil engineering at Carleton University says the seismic risk of the Ottawa-Gatineau region ranks third in Canadian urban areas. You wouldn’t know it — for many Ottawans this was the first quake felt in years, if not ever — but there are many small ones that we just don’t feel. The 5.0 magnitude earthquake that shook the city and sent thousands of employees home last week luckily did not cause any major damage in the city.

According to a poll, citizens of Ottawa are 2-1 in favor of the Lansdowne redevelopment. Councillor Clive Doucet hosted a press conference on Monday, June 21  with Ed Uhlir, the Director of Design for the Millennium Park Project. Uhlir shared his thoughts on Lansdowne – claiming the chosen plan “was pretty timid in terms of its design“. Check out Uhlir’s creation, and you’ll understand why. Uhlir added: “It is difficult to integrate commercial and retail in a park setting. There’ll be a tendency for the park to be subjugated to the commercial and retail development, which I think is a mistake,” he said. “It should not be an after-thought to do the park. It should be the primary goal, to design a great park.” I’m not sure that’s what we’re aiming to do with Lansdowne at the moment.

Prominent local Conservative Bob Plamondon wants to rename Wellington St. in front of Parliament Hill after Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada’s first prime minister. The idea has received support from some councillors but the Citizen reports it might be a tough sell at City Hall. The city has received objections from the Macdonald-Cartier Society, which says the historical significance of Wellington Street is too important to discard. What’s more there’s already a MacDonald St. name in honor of John A. about kilometre from Parliament.

After postponing his decision numerous time, Mayor Larry O’Brien should announce on June 29 whether or not he will be running in the 2010 Ottawa mayoral election. Will O’Brien try to run knowing that Jim Watson has such a commanding lead?