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August 17, 2005 - The Missing Ingredient

Overall, I have been impressed this summer with the slow, but steady progress Ottawa is making towards becoming a more worldly city. While no one could seriously contend that Ottawa ranks with world class cities, or even some of the better regional cities out there, it is beginning to display a growing versatility.

Last night I had the opportunity to go to the Greek Festival, and I was honestly surprised at the size of the crowd. Despite having lived here most of the last 30 years, I was never aware that there is actually a sizable Greek community in Ottawa. A few thousand people were shoehorned into a large parking lot next to the Hellenic Community Centre on Prince of Wales Drive, (on a week night, I might add) to enjoy the wondrous array of foods, music, dancing and general sense of contentment of being in a large group of people. The week before, the grounds at City Hall played host to a sizable Caribbean Festival. While these events are not entirely new to Ottawa, it is encouraging to seem them gaining more exposure.

In a similar vein, Ottawa also has a large Jazz Festival (I was surprised to read that it is larger than the DuMaurier International Jazz Festival in Toronto), the second-largest Blues Festival in North America and the largest Chamber Music Festival in the world. For many years now there has also been prominent folk and busking festivals.

So Ottawa is obviously contending for being a cosmopolitan city, right? Well, yes and no. Obviously there is an interest in these sorts of festivals that makes them events in the city. However, I can't help but feel that there is a certain disconnect happening: while newer communities such as the Caribbean community are beginning to flourish in Ottawa, there is little evidence that any of these festival themes play a significant role in the daily life of the city.

I'll explain by way of comparison. Toronto is a city of many communities. This isn't merely a geographic observation - Toronto has many thriving ethnically-based neighbourhoods that are more than landing points for new immigrants, or enclaves for established immigrant groups. Many, such as The Danforth (Toronto's Greek neighbourhood) and Kensington Market (Jewish, Portuguese and Asian in succession) are neighbourhoods that attract people from all over the city. In general, one can find just about any sort of entertainment or experience in some neighbourhood in Toronto, whether it be going to see live music, eating at a new restaurant, or finding different people to watch.

In my opinion, these attributes are amongst Toronto's great strengths. Living in Toronto, I feel that my horizons have greatly expanded, as I have been exposed to different cultures, foods, experiences and people. While these opportunities do exist in Ottawa, they are limited not only by the size of the city (Greater Ottawa is only a quarter of the size of Greater Toronto - something that the city itself can't be faulted for), but because of the way in which these opportunities are presented. While Toronto has nurtured its main streets and encouraged the development of districts, Ottawa's main streets have not fared nearly as well, and it directly affects how well these experiences are integrated into city life.

Ottawa is a highly suburbanized city. At the end of World War II, Ottawa was approximately 150,000 people, whereas today greater Ottawa is 1.2 million people. Almost all of that growth has been suburban. As a result, many of the ethnic enclaves in Ottawa are in suburban areas, and do not have outwardly evident centres to gravitate to. While there is a successful Chinatown in the downtown area, and hints of a Corso Italia along Preston, there is scant evidence that there is also a significant number of Lebanese and Somalian people in Ottawa. There are still many Francophone neighbourhoods in Ottawa, but there is no area that one could confidently describe as the French Quarter. Apart from a handful of restaurants and stores, the Greek community, so evidently abundant in Ottawa, have no district that they have made their community's home. No doubt these cultures are quietly flourishing in their own milieus. However, without the main streets and districts to provide some central gathering place, a place to see and be seen, there will always be a limited amount of interaction between the various groups of people that make up this city. A community centre is a wonderful way to nurture a particular culture, but I'm not sure that your average outsider feels compelled for whatever reason, or even all that comfortable venturing in to see what's happening, no matter how welcoming the people may be.

During my travels this summer, I've noticed that the east end of Rideau Street has begun to attract several African and Caribbean businesses. To me this is encouraging. Not only is Rideau Street finding some way out of the dark ages of urban renewal that so damaged it, but it is also becoming a place where some of those quiet (and sometimes silenced) voices in Ottawa can be heard. Hopefully this area will be nurtured and grown into a new cultural hub that will enrich the city. Hopefully it will inspire more people from different cultures to populate a main street with their businesses and restaurants, or inspire someone to set up a badly needed jazz club in Ottawa. Either way, main streets are where we'll truly encounter and interact with different cultures and experiences.