Hundreds of West Centretown residents share priorities for inclusive growth

EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE A SAY IN HOW THEIR NEIGHBOURHOOD CHANGES

The last five years have seen significant shifts in Ottawa’s West Centretown community. Many new, large construction projects are geared to upper-income homeowners and condo owners. As a result of rising home and rental prices, long-time residents have been forced to move, rooming houses have been shut down and resold.

The Building Community Together (BCT) project was initiated to respond to these troubling trends. During consultations with more than 500 people, we learned that community members are concerned that these changes are placing the community’s affordability and diversity at risk.

GRASSROOTS PLANNING IN WEST CENTRETOWN

We are excited to launch our report, Building Community Together: Grassroots Planning in West Centretown, which summarizes input from the community over the last three years. The report represents the community’s vision - the priorities community members themselves have identified to guide new construction development and community planning. The findings of our engagement and research efforts are summarized through six themes. Click on each theme for a one-page summary.

1. Affordable and liveable housing & equitable development

2. Protect and expand public services

3. Facilitate social connections and increase public space

4. Increase access to recreation and leisure

5. Ensure equitable access to healthy food

6. Affordable and reliable transit and active forms of transportation

RESOURCES

Inventory of development

This Prezi reviews the developments planned and underway in West Centretown.

Planning processes overview

Are you interested in better understanding how new developments get approved, and how you can provide input? This one-page tool provides an overview.

Promising Practices Report and Toolkit

Read this report to learn more about how we engaged the community in this project, other promising practices from different communities, and tools to help you get started.

Affordable Housing Primer

Are you confused by all the lingo related to affordable housing? Read this primer to learn more about some of the key concepts and definitions on affordable housing policy.

REPORTS

We benefited greatly from many student research projects. Click on the links below to read the reports.

Affordable Rental Housing Strategy for West Centretown

Building Community Together: A Case Study of West Centretown and Gentrification

For more information

Email info@swchc.on.ca