Saturday, June 21, 2008

Over the canal

When I moved to Ottawa, it was made up of 11 municipalities. There was also another level of municipal government that dealt with region wide things.

At some point the provinicial government decided to make Ottawa a mega-city, and they forced the amalgamation of Ottawa. As a result, the city is now huge geographically, and it includes urban areas as well as areas that are quite rural.

One of the first controversial issues after amalgamation was a footbridge over the Rideau canal. It is a big benefit to the downtown area - it links the University of Ottawa with the residential and commercial areas on the other side of the canal. However, some people who live on the outskirts of the new city (and who aren't on municipal water, etc.) were against spending money on something else that they wouldn't use.

Anyway, today I walked over the footbridge over the canal.






2 comments:

  1. I did this on my last trip to Ottawa...which was only my second trip to Ottawa.

    Toronto became a megacity around the time I moved here. So much gets spent on so much worthless crap that no one complains very loudly anymore.

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  2. I'd just like to say that I have never thought the foot bridge to be worthless crap. I have always thought it's a good idea - and yes, I live downtown.

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