Ottawans still riding the bus...

... despite every effort by OC Transpo to stop them:

OC Transpo did not expect ridership numbers to return to normal until the fall, but the transport company's statistics show that ridership this March was only 2.8 per cent lower than it was in March 2008.

Personally, I've reduced my ridership by 38.5%, (2.5 days per week from 4), and now that the Tamils are making arrival times less predictable, I'll probably ride even less.  I guess not everyone has the luxury of alternate transportation, or the option of working from home.

Also, I'm looking forward to decent cycling weather so I can reduce my bus ridership to 0%!

Getting Seedy

We managed to get to the Seedy Saturday event at the Ron Kolbus centre (at Britannia Park), and were blown away by how great it was. Of course there were seeds to trade (we forgot to bring ours, but we probably need them for the new garden anyway), but also 8 or so small seed vendors specializing in organic and heirloom varieties. I spoke to one of the owners of The Cottage Gardner, and she said it's the busiest she's ever seen it. Of course, since we showed up at 2 pm, a lot of varieties were sold out. We'll have to rely on mail order. Along with the seed vendors, there were displays from a lot of local food-oriented organizations, including Just Food, who produce the excellent BuyLocal food guide. They also sponsor the Community Gardening Network of Ottawa, which includes fourteen local community gardens. The closest to Bells Corners looked like it was in the Carlington neighbourhood. I wonder if there would be any appetite for a community garden here? Most people have lots which are big enough for a small garden, but that doesn't have the same social aspect of getting together with a bunch of like-minded gardeners to dig some dirt. So what do you think? Where would be a good location for a community garden in Bells Corners?

More signs of the times

Ottawa isn't the only place with a sign problem:

"It's currently the wild west," said Councillor Adam Vaughan. "You can put up a sign for five or six years, and make hundreds of thousands of dollars off it, and nothing happens.

I like most of these proposals for a new TO sign by-law, all of which would help out the Bells Corners Strip:

• Require illuminated signs to be powered by renewable energy or demand the purchase of offsets

  Consider times when illuminated signs must be turned off

  Limit the maximum area that signs can occupy in a window

  License sign companies

  Create a dedicated sign unit with the city building department to issue permits, inspect, monitor and enforce the new bylaw

Also a link to a great web site: http://illegalsigns.ca/ ... we need one of these for Ottawa!

Greenbelt meets suburbia

This is one of the photovoice shots I took in the greenbelt. It's supposed to communicate the blending of suburbia and nature, part of what makes our neighbourhood so great. I don't know if it succeeds, but it's a pretty picture.

Going solar

This is a really interesting story about a family in Orleans that have installed a solar panel, and are selling power back to the grid:

Even in December, the rooftop solar panels on the Helmerson family's home can produce enough power on a sunny day to meet the family's needs — and a little more.

The catch: at $12,000 for the system, it will take about 15 years for it to pay for itself. I would expect there to be great economies of scale with a system like this, though. Imagine a $6000 system that paid for itself in 7 years... at that point I think you'd start to see mass adoption.

Spam from Pierre

Our good friend Pierre Poilievre is spamming all and sundry:

From: info@fightingforyou.ca To: all my intertoob friends, including reburb Date: Tue, 2 Dec 2008 13:26:30 -0500 Subject: Stand Up for Canada Stand up for Canada - Let the people speak Two months ago, Canadians elected the Prime Minister with a strengthened mandate to address the global economic crisis. Now, we're about to have our shiny toys taken away! WAAAAHHHH!!! Sob. Please, please don't let this happen to us! SHRIEK!

Interestingly, this email is unsigned, though it does sound a lot like Pierre. Sorry buddy, I gotta say, suck it up. Here's reburb's response:

Dear Pierre, The people already spoke, you're not listening. The majority don't support you in this silly slap-fight. Do the right thing and stand up to a confidence vote instead of running away like shrieking little girls. Best regards, Reburb

In hindsight, the comparison is unfair to shrieking little girls. I have a couple, and they'd do a better job at running Pariliament than the current crop of clowns.

Bells Corners Photovoice

My daughter and I have been participating in a program called "Photovoice" over the past couple of weeks, where residents are given cameras and asked to take pictures of things in their communities. The subjects fall into two categories: things you value, and things you would like to change. We're not sure where the results will end up, but it sounds like there may be a display at the Centennial Library in the new year, as well as a large showing of photos from many communities around Ottawa at City Hall in June.

We had to select just one from each category to submit. So here are a couple of the "rejects". Which category do you think they fall in to?

Sign Jihad Episode ?

It looks like the temporary signs at the National Bank Plaza have been reduced by 25%. Gone is the unlit Giant Tiger sign, and one of the other GT signs has been given over to the health clinic to advertise flu shots. Still, that's 3 signs on one block.

When I get a bit of time, a note will be sent to The Public Citizen. I like his style...

Ok, so it's been a month...

Yes, Reburb has been busy moving from Bells Corners to... Bells Corners! My advice to you, my friends, is to never ever ever move. Talk about sapping your will to live. But things are starting to settle, so I hope to get regular posts up soon.

Mixed messages

On the one hand, the City of Ottawa wants people to think about ways to spruce the place up:

While Deputy City Manager Nancy Schepers said cost estimates won’t be done until early next year, city staff began asking downtown pedestrians yesterday for their opinions of the city’s existing street furniture and what they would like to see in its place.

On the other hand, the City of Ottawa wants people to rip out flowers and pathways:

Resident of Ottawa's Riverside South neighbourhood who have spent years greening up the area around their homes have been told by the city to tear up any trees or flowers they have planted on city property.

The area councillor thinks maybe the Bylaw department is overzealous:

The bylaw department "I think overreacted and sent the letter to a large number of residents," said the councillor for the area, Steve Desroches. "I don't want to see them pulling out trees and tulips and flowers."

That's the Bylaw Department, they've got a hate on for everyone but Giant Tiger.