In my Ottawa Citizen column this week I say the revitalization plan for the ByWard Market is good but could be much better — mostly by designing it to be 100% people-centred instead of business-centred and by putting teenagers first, for instance by having a large space devoted to thrifting and bartering and my what a long sentence.
In short, stop fretting about merchants and worry instead about making the space accessible, affordable and irresistible. Retailers love nothing more than to have humans show up at their doorsteps in large numbers. So focus on that, yeah?
A lot of readers commented that the place would be more popular if there were fewer unhoused people and I’m going to ignore the subtext and flip the thing around by saying unhoused people would be better off inside than on the street and do I have to remind everyone that Housing First actually works?
As a bonus this week I will add another column on that little skating rink on William that was most elegantly eviscerated by my good pal and outstanding columnist Bruce Deachman.
