| Defending Kanata: Apt613 contributor Della Siemens, a Kanata convert since 2007 when her then bf – now husband – asked her to move in.“Kanata. I think he means those houses down there. That village.”
According to this beloved Canadian Heritage Moment, my suburb was named after our great country. Mechanicsville, on the other hand, was named after a garage.
If you don’t live outside the greenbelt, you’ll think I’m loony for agreeing to defend Kanata as the greatest area in Ottawa, but I’ve come to love my ‘burb for several reasons. Here they are:
- I’m definitely the coolest person in my neighbourhood. You can’t say that about where you live.
- I can afford my house, and it’s nice. I have a backyard, a garden, a garage, three bedrooms, and when my good friend from Hintonburg needs to store his car’s summer tires for the winter, he naturally thought of all the extra space I have and he lacks.
- I am far away from the smell of Parliament.
- My neighbours are all decent, and we share our garden veggies in the summer.
- Soccer moms are people too. Hipsters love to blather on about inequality, injustice, prejudice, but are you going to tell me that they don’t look upon soccer moms with an air of superiority? Hypocrites – all of ‘em.
- There’s a garlic festival in Carp that rocks. If you haven’t had 10 different varieties of fresh garlic, you haven’t eaten.
- My house is not automatically a fixer-upper, nor is it in a red-light district. The floors don’t creak, and I don’t have bugs, mice, mould, mildew, or fungus. My roof does not leak.
- You know we have Royal Oaks too, right? Whether you’re in Hintonburg, Centretown, or the Glebe, you’ll inevitably end up at one. It may be for trivia, a pint, or a bite to eat – but whatever the reason, you can do that in Kanata too.
- Kanata has free parking almost everywhere, and relatively few loading zones. I haven’t seen a meter yet. And when I come home, the car goes in the garage to dry off and not on the street to rust.
- Did Arcade Fire name their Grammy-winning album after Hintonburg? You can resist the ‘burbs all you want, but they even beckon to this country’s coolest rockers.
- Finally, my friends, most homes in Kanata are relatively new, meaning people haven’t had time to die in them. No ghosts!
From the beginning, Kanata was its own city, only amalgamated into Ottawa in 2001. It’s not just a bedroom community of commuters. We have a city hall, municipal buildings, industry, small businesses, residential neighbourhoods, and local hangouts. Recently, the South March Highlands inspired protests and brought a community together over the destruction of an old growth forest.
I’m not arguing that Kanata is perfect, but if you feel that it has something to offer the great community of Ottawa, you should vote for it. And if anyone is going to haunt this place, it’s me. I’m not leaving. |
Defending Hintonburg: Apt613 editor Trevor Pritchard, who was born at the now-closed Grace Hospital, moved to Saskatchewan when he was two, and 24 years later found himself living in an apartment on Carruthers Avenue – not realizing at the time he’d taken his first worldly breaths only blocks away.That story, dear Ottawans, is 100 per cent true. And I might be willing to share some more details – but only IF Hintonburg gets voted into the seminfinals.
“What?!? That’s blackmail!” you may be shouting incredulously at your monitor or iPhone, depending on how seriously you take these sorts of things. And I’m not going to lie – quite possibly, that was blackmail. But that’s just my scurrilous, hardcore Hintonburg side coming out. Because even though my ‘hood is filled with passionate, generous, and amazing people – like the Giant Tiger clerk who, the other day, helped pay for the groceries of the woman in front of me – deep down, we’ve got a bit of an edge.
And can you blame us? Our neighbourhood – the best in Ottawa, in my opinion – has a storied, occasionally sordid history. Up until the early 1990s, when community organizations banded together to fix the problem, street prostitution was a frequent sight. My barber used to tell me how, when he was young, you’d avoid the now-hip Elmdale Tavern after a certain hour – unless you had a predilection for knife fights. And I’m pretty sure I recall there being a Hell’s Angels hideout just north of Wellington as recently as three or four years ago.
I mention all this because there’s no doubt that, if you stroll down Wellington today, you’ll see a neighbourhood in flux. With every new knitting store and trendy bistro that moves in, Hintonburg takes another step away from its past. And frankly, that’s what makes the place so exciting. We’re constantly evolving, constantly trying to figure out how to best mesh our working class roots with our bohemian aspirations. We’re a work in progress. The only thing that changes in Kanata, on the other hand, are the traffic lights.
In the spring, I’ll be grabbing my locally-grown vegetables at the Parkdale Market – so far the only place I’ve ever bought heirloom tomatoes out of the back of a farmer’s truck. Maybe one summer evening I’ll wander through the neighbourhood, peeking in at the nearly two dozen galleries and other art-friendly locations that comprise the city’s only official arts district. In the fall, I’ll warm myself up with a hearty pastel de choclo from Vina Del Mar (the sole Chilean restaurant in Ottawa, as far as I can tell), a delicious vermicelli bowl from Pho Van Van, or some downhome pulled pork and cornbread from the Foolish Chicken. And in the winter, I’ll grab a piping hot americano from CycleLogik, then pop in to World of Maps and plan my tropical escape (though not for long, beloved Hintonburg, not for long!).
Ultimately, it’s not surprising that Hintonburg’s been named one of Canada’s top 10 emerging neighbourhoods. We’re both urbane and unpretentious, passionate about our potential yet practical enough to turn that potential into a reality. And as for community spirit – well, does any other neighbourhood have a hamburger named for it? Is there a Glebewich? A Westburrito? That’s right, there isn’t. Automatic win for the H’burg, if you ask me.
Oh yeah, Kanata, one more thing: ghosts are AWESOME. You’re missing out. |
