Most of the time, when we at the Mainstreeter consider how Old Ottawa East is changing, there is a fair amount of excitement that comes through in our copy. Hey, we’re a newspaper. We go out and ask: what’s happening, what are people talking about? We want to write about construction projects or additions to daily life in the community: new people, new programs, new businesses, new efforts in which our residents are involved.
That shouldn’t come as a surprise. This city is an exciting place. I like to believe our little corner of it punches above its weight., as the saying goes. There is more happening in OOE that one would expect.
I find it curious however, that I enjoyed assembling this issue because it was not completely about enjoyment. It reminded me that amid the newness and the looking forward, there were signs of potential trouble.
In that way, I hope this Mainstreeter provides something else newspapers can capture quite ably: a sense of perspective. Let me explain.
Sure, you will find stories here about testing, expansion, creation. There is Ashley Russell’s bright piece about the new program called Godly Play at Church of the Ascension. There is Martha Cooper’s thoughtful link between the back-to-school traditions of her youth and the modern, 21st century role of the Folklore Centre. And there is the interview with David Kardish and his vision for a dynamic new community of homes and businesses on the Oblate lands.
But there are also contributions that give us pause. In what I hope will be the first of many columns by architects, builders and homeowners, Andrea Vecsei looks at new houses – the large, glass-covered kind popping up all over OOE, Old Ottawa South and the Glebe – and suggests we reconsider their place in our streetscape. In another story, one with longtime resident Liz Fulton at its centre, we remind ourselves that that beautiful new Main Street about to arrive next year shouldn’t simply bulldoze its way through the community.
I always say, autumn is a time for reflection. This issue of the Mainstreeter should put you in the proper frame of mind to reflect.
