By Juliet O’Neill
Many residents of the ByWard Market already live the dream of the “10-minute city,” a concept that perplexes and inspires urban authorities around the world.
The idea is to ensure residents are no more than 10 minutes by foot or bike from everything they need in a normal day: community gathering places, shops, schools, parks, services, workplaces and public transit.
That’s the definition from the 55th International Making Cities Livable Conference that the City of Ottawa hosted last spring. The theme: “Healthy, 10-Minute Neighborhoods.” Other definitions are looser, expanding the 10-minute rule to a car drive.
An example of perplexity is in Portland, Oregon, where authorities have encouraged “10-minute neighbourhoods” with zoning laws that allow construction of high rises without parking space on condition public transit is nearby.
It was reported at the Ottawa conference that a flood of 18 out of 40 apartment building projects filed in Portland in the previous 18 months offered no parking. The snag was that neighbours were upset about increased competition for street parking. How would the city control tenants who buy cars?
In Europe, the concept is called “the city of short distances.”
In central Porto, the mayor is inspired to lead the rehabilitation of derelict heritage buildings to attract low-income residents back from the suburbs of Portugal’s second largest city. The aim is to replace commuting time with family and entertainment time.
Other times a “10-minute city” grows spontaneously.
That’s how it feels in the ByWard Market, a 1.2 square-kilometre neighbourhood where many residents live a convenient life of access to most daily needs within 10 minutes.
My family, neighbours and several friends are among them. Some work from home or are retired. Some have given up car ownership. There are car-sharing Vrtucars parked around the neighbourhood and three rental companies: Hertz, Enterprise and Discount. Plus there are two OC Transpo bus routes on Dalhousie, the No. 9 and No. 6, that connect riders to anywhere in the city, even faster next year when the LRT opens on Rideau Street.
I live on a residential street of houses, apartments and condos that is a few blocks from the busiest zone, far enough to enjoy a quiet lifestyle but close enough to shop, dine out and find entertainment within a short walk.
Within 10 minutes, I can get to the farmers’ market to buy fresh seasonal food; to the National Gallery of Canada to see world-class art exhibits; to a café for a business meeting; to a cooking class at C’est Bon Cooking; to a panoramic view from the rooftop bar of the Andaz Hotel; or to one of the cities two best gelaterias – Mantovani 1946 or Piccolo Grande.
I can buy locally-roasted coffee beans and brewed coffee at three fine places. Ideal Coffee features freshly-baked scones twice daily. Bridgehead is a home away from home for local apartment dwellers well into the evening. Bluebird Coffee doubles as an art gallery and regular gathering place for Ottawa Storytellers.
In less than five minutes I can get to three spas within a block of one another on Dalhousie St., including the high-end Daya Spa, the moderately-priced Smudge Beauty Bar or lower-priced student services at Gina’s College of Advanced Aesthetics.
The 10-minute rule is snap when it comes to hair salons, with at least one on every block of Dalhousie St., among them my favourite hair dresser Chuck Barhoum at Gigi Hair Design near Bruyere St., which originally opened in 1950.
A health clinic is a block away at Bruyère Family Medicine Centre in a building that also provides a dry-cleaning drop-off point, a mailbox, a battery-recycling depot, hot pizza slices at lunchtime and one of three pharmacies within 10 minutes by foot. Make that four if you walk briskly or bike to the Rideau Centre shopping mall.
Did I mention The French Baker at Benny’s Bistro is three minutes door to door? Two other outstanding nearby bakers are Le Moulin de Provence which Obama made famous during a 2009 visit, and Aux Delices Bakery & Pastry on ByWard Market Square, where you can buy soft ice cream in summer.
It’s a short run to exercise class, badminton practice or sewing lessons at the Routhier Community Centre, to yoga as early as 6:30 a.m. at Upward Dog, to a 24-hour gym at Anytime Fitness on George St., and to swim in the four-lane pool at the historic Champagne Bath on King Edward Ave. A stroll along the Ottawa River or Rideau River is within 10 minutes.
You can map out a DIY fitness track, perhaps running from Notre Dame Cathedral up to Samuel de Champlain’s statue on Nepean Point, across to the sculpture of an Anishinabe scout in Major’s Hill Park behind the Chateau Laurier, down to the Canal locks and back up, with a final sprint up and down the stairwell beside the U.S. embassy on Sussex Dr.
Bingham Park provides a kiddies’ wading pool, a tennis court, a baseball diamond and a skating and hockey rink in winter. Cathcart Park is split between dog walkers and a children’s playground. There is usually someone keen to play chess at Il Perugino Caffè & Bar.
The 2014 Ottawa Neighbourhood Study, based on 2011 census statistics, supports these personal experiences. It says the percentage of people who walk to their jobs in the Market was 44.4 percent. The Ottawa average was 7.2 percent. An updated study is due soon. Many of the observations may stand.
The single population in the market was far higher, 51.2 percent, than the city average of 30.5 percent. And the number of couples without children was much higher, 72.7 per cent, compared to the city average of 38.2 percent.
ByWard Market residents were closer than city averages to a community garden, convenience store, a museum or gallery, a dog park, a baseball diamond or basketball court, an outdoor play structure, wading pool or sledding hill. Along with far more bars and nightclubs than average, there were far more dentists and optometrists in the Market.
Doctors say we can live longer and healthier by walking ten minutes every day. In the ByWard Market you can achieve so much more with a short stroll.