Now, having grown up in the city, I can't claim that Ottawa is necessarily a fascinating place; but Centretown is a neighbourhood all its own. People from a range of backgrounds and social classes came together here, something that was particularly well illustrated on my street by the multi-million dollar homes that were just three doors down from subsidized housing. My two-and-a-half kilometer bike ride to school took me through China Town, Little Italy and Little Vietnam; and rather than separate and distinct entities, there was constant flow between them. Diversity was evident everywhere you went. Young people mixing with elderly pensioners; labourers and lawyers living side by side; and people from all over the world; all of us came together in Centretown.
At the time, I was studying Mass Communications, with the idea that I would eventually get into advertising. Thankfully, I had an advertising professor who was so good at what he did, that he convinced me to pursue something that I found to be more meaningful. Even better, I was fortunate to have one of my closest friends and roommate studying urban planning. His thoughtful observations and the interesting conversations we had were what first drew me into the field.
We started taking courses together, and while lectures and readings are useful; there is no substitute for seeing (and living) things yourself. On our way home from classes, we would walk through our wonderful neighbourhood and see many of the concepts we had discussed earlier come to life. Look – that block of houses has been purchased and a condo tower is going up; gentrification. Look – the local community group has organized a fundraiser to save a historic site; bottom up governance. Look at all these people; diversity. Centretown was never considered to be a particularly desirable neighbourhood. And rightfully so for some; the neighbourhood had its problems. But had it been perfect, housing would have been too expensive for this myriad of people to come together.
When I was last back, it was clear that change was afoot. New, expensive towers had begun to encroach and the corner store that had formerly been run by the old Vietnamese couple had been replaced by a generic chain shop. These things are part of a greater urban cycle, and if anything, a product of the neighbourhood's success. But for me, I will always be grateful to have lived in such a fascinating place, with such interesting people at exactly the right time.