Lower Town
Encyclopedia
Lowertown is a district in the central area of Ottawa
, Ontario
, Canada
to the east of downtown. It is bounded roughly by Rideau Street
to the south, Sussex Drive
and Ottawa River
to the north, the Rideau Canal
to the west, and the Rideau River
to the east. It includes the commercial Byward Market
area in the south-western part, and is predominantly residential in the north and east.
It was historically French Canadian
and Irish
(as opposed to English
and Scottish
Upper Town, a term no longer in use) and its total population today is roughly 11,377 people (2006 census). http://geodepot.statcan.ca/GeoSearch2006/GeoSearch2006.jsp?minx=7467681.31027574&miny=1188977.51913016&maxx=7475347.5812875&maxy=1193643.94496341&LastImage=http://geodepot.statcan.ca/Diss/Output/GeoSearch2006_GEODEPOTFARM943163448177.gif&resolution=H&lang=E&switchTab=4
website, there are roughly 4180 native English-speakers in Lowertown, 3530 Francophones, and 2235 with other mother tongues
. Lower Town is home to a wide variety of immigrants and visible minorities, of which there are 2495.
Lowertown's diverse population makes it one of the city's more interesting neighbourhoods. Its main stretch along Rideau Street is very bustling and includes many African, Asia
n, South Asian, Caribbean
, and Lebanese
businesses, a large grocery store, the Rideau Branch of the Ottawa Public Library
, and an Orthodox Jewish synagogue
.
for Ottawa, new parkways, roads and bridges were constructed in the post-war period as a plan for renewal and improvement of Ottawa. This period saw major upheaval in the area as dozens of city blocks and hundreds of homes were systematically demolished to make way for expanded roads and new development. However, while the redevelopment was done in Lower Town, neighbouring areas opposed the plans, leaving the current incomplete solution to traffic through the area, heavy truck traffic, and poor urban streetscape for Lowertown residents to cope with.
Since the street is so large and so busy, it exists as a major barrier between the east and west halves of Lowertown. Since it is the main truck route between Ottawa and Gatineau, this means that there are large numbers of tractor trailers travelling through the core of Ottawa daily, along with tens of thousands of commuters in cars. It is one of the highest accident sites in Ottawa.
The road from the bridge was intended to connect to a new Vanier Parkway to the north of the neighbourhood, across Green Island and Maple Island. This connector was never built because of political opposition, and instead St. Patrick Street east of King Edward was built into a major four-lane thoroughfare cutting through the neighbourhood. The end of the connector from the bridge instead connects to King Edward at a sharp turn where the connector would have continued directly to the east.
King Edward was itself rebuilt into a six-lane major thoroughfare from Sussex Drive to Rideau Street, and the plan was to continue the six-lane through Sandy Hill to connect to the Queensway (417) highway. This also was never built.
development provided a shopping mall atmosphere, and retailers moved inside. As part of the development, Rideau Street was turned into a major bus interchange, with enclosed bus shelters on the sidewalks at first. However, these were removed in the late 1990s.
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
to the east of downtown. It is bounded roughly by Rideau Street
Rideau Street
Rideau Street is a major street in downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and one of Ottawa's oldest and most famous streets running from Wellington Street in the west to Montreal Road in the east where it connects to the Vanier district...
to the south, Sussex Drive
Sussex Drive
Sussex Drive is a major street in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and one of the city's major ceremonial and institutional routes....
and Ottawa River
Ottawa River
The Ottawa River is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. For most of its length, it now defines the border between these two provinces.-Geography:...
to the north, the Rideau Canal
Rideau Canal
The Rideau Canal , also known as the Rideau Waterway, connects the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on the Ottawa River to the city of Kingston, Ontario on Lake Ontario. The canal was opened in 1832 as a precaution in case of war with the United States and is still in use today, with most of its...
to the west, and the Rideau River
Rideau River
thumb|Rapids on the Rideau River opposite [[Carleton University]].The Rideau River is a Southern Ontario river which flows north from Upper Rideau Lake and empties into the Ottawa River at Rideau Falls in Ottawa, Ontario. Its length is 146 km...
to the east. It includes the commercial Byward Market
Byward Market
ByWard Market is a district in Lower Town located east of the government & business district, surrounding the market buildings and open-air market on George, York, ByWard and William Streets.The district is bordered on the west by Sussex Drive, on the...
area in the south-western part, and is predominantly residential in the north and east.
It was historically French Canadian
French Canadian
French Canadian or Francophone Canadian, , generally refers to the descendents of French colonists who arrived in New France in the 17th and 18th centuries...
and Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
(as opposed to English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
and Scottish
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
Upper Town, a term no longer in use) and its total population today is roughly 11,377 people (2006 census). http://geodepot.statcan.ca/GeoSearch2006/GeoSearch2006.jsp?minx=7467681.31027574&miny=1188977.51913016&maxx=7475347.5812875&maxy=1193643.94496341&LastImage=http://geodepot.statcan.ca/Diss/Output/GeoSearch2006_GEODEPOTFARM943163448177.gif&resolution=H&lang=E&switchTab=4
Ethnic Diversity
According to the City of OttawaCity of Ottawa
The City of Ottawa is the corporate entity of municipal government in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The corporation is responsible for provision of services to the public as well as enforcement of municipal by-laws...
website, there are roughly 4180 native English-speakers in Lowertown, 3530 Francophones, and 2235 with other mother tongues
First language
A first language is the language a person has learned from birth or within the critical period, or that a person speaks the best and so is often the basis for sociolinguistic identity...
. Lower Town is home to a wide variety of immigrants and visible minorities, of which there are 2495.
Lowertown's diverse population makes it one of the city's more interesting neighbourhoods. Its main stretch along Rideau Street is very bustling and includes many African, Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
n, South Asian, Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
, and Lebanese
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
businesses, a large grocery store, the Rideau Branch of the Ottawa Public Library
Ottawa Public Library
The Ottawa Public Library is the library system of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and is the largest bilingual library in North America...
, and an Orthodox Jewish synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
.
Post-War Urban Upheaval
As part of the Greber PlanGreber Plan
The Greber Plan, or General Report on the Plan for the National Capital , was an urban plan developed in 1950 by Jacques Gréber for the Federal District Commission of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.Its main components were:...
for Ottawa, new parkways, roads and bridges were constructed in the post-war period as a plan for renewal and improvement of Ottawa. This period saw major upheaval in the area as dozens of city blocks and hundreds of homes were systematically demolished to make way for expanded roads and new development. However, while the redevelopment was done in Lower Town, neighbouring areas opposed the plans, leaving the current incomplete solution to traffic through the area, heavy truck traffic, and poor urban streetscape for Lowertown residents to cope with.
King Edward Avenue
Today, King Edward Avenue is a six lane main road running north-south through the centre of the neighbourhood. It is connected on its north to the MacDonald Cartier Bridge, a main connection with Gatineau, Quebec, which leads to heavy traffic travelling to and from Gatineau through the area. The traffic exits Lower Town either to the east along St. Patrick or to the south along Rideau and Nicholas to the 417 highway, as south of Rideau, King Edward is a four-lane (and further south, two-lane) road through the Sandy Hill residential neighbourhood with no heavy truck traffic allowed.Since the street is so large and so busy, it exists as a major barrier between the east and west halves of Lowertown. Since it is the main truck route between Ottawa and Gatineau, this means that there are large numbers of tractor trailers travelling through the core of Ottawa daily, along with tens of thousands of commuters in cars. It is one of the highest accident sites in Ottawa.
The road from the bridge was intended to connect to a new Vanier Parkway to the north of the neighbourhood, across Green Island and Maple Island. This connector was never built because of political opposition, and instead St. Patrick Street east of King Edward was built into a major four-lane thoroughfare cutting through the neighbourhood. The end of the connector from the bridge instead connects to King Edward at a sharp turn where the connector would have continued directly to the east.
King Edward was itself rebuilt into a six-lane major thoroughfare from Sussex Drive to Rideau Street, and the plan was to continue the six-lane through Sandy Hill to connect to the Queensway (417) highway. This also was never built.
Rideau Street
Rideau Street has had its share of poor development and misguided solutions also. Prior to the shopping malls and suburbanization of today, Rideau Street west of King Edward was a primary shopping area of Ottawa. While to the north, the Byward Market area has continued to thrive, Rideau Street is struggling, with vacant areas, and has become the centre of the homeless population of Ottawa. To the south, the Rideau CentreRideau Centre
Rideau Centre is a three-level shopping centre on Rideau Street in Downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It borders on Rideau Street , the Rideau Canal, the Mackenzie King Bridge, and Nicholas Street....
development provided a shopping mall atmosphere, and retailers moved inside. As part of the development, Rideau Street was turned into a major bus interchange, with enclosed bus shelters on the sidewalks at first. However, these were removed in the late 1990s.