[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="598" caption="Going for a Danish at the Next City Café - everyday cyclists in Copenhagen"][/caption] ____ Next City Café is a new monthly discussion forum that explores the spaces, places and ideas that matter in Ottawa.  Every 3rd Wednesday of the month, urban enthusiasts, activists, planners and residents will get together to explore, talk and be inspired to contribute to making this city’s spaces even better. Come join the conversation! Ottawa is a beautiful city to cycle around but is it the best city to navigate as an everyday ...

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What: The summer installment of Urban Drinks, the evening cocktail party co-shaken by the Apartment 613, Open File Ottawa, and Spacing Ottawa blogs. When: Thursday, August 18, from 8.00 - 10.00 PM Where: Shanghai Restaurant, 651 Somerset Street West. 6 Following on from the fabulous Urban Bloggers United event this past winter on Bank Street, this time we're taking the party to Chinatown for some tasty summer-time refreshments from the people that have been mixing them right, since 1971. Just like ...

Cancer Survivors Park, Alta Vista Drive at Riverside Drive -- photo by Justin Van Leeuwen.

Here at Spacing Ottawa we're big fans of  Vrtucar, the car-share organization that since 2000 has been helping Ottawans in need of occasional access to an automobile get to their appointments without the necessity of owning their own personal set of wheels. Vrtucar is part of a Canada-wide association of car-share groups, and this past week we had the unique opportunity to see an example from Toronto organization and compare it side-by-side with a local vehicle. This endeavor may well cross almost certainly crosses the line into car-share geekery, so fair warning -- female and other socially well-adjusted readers may want to look away now.

The final stop on the Spacing Road Show hits Halifax on Monday. Make sure to come out! When: Monday, July 25, 6:30-9pm (panel starts at 7pm) Where: The Hub, 1673 Barrington St. Cost: free ($5 gets you copy of magazine) Facebook: RSVP to our event listing Panelists: Matthew Blackett (Spacing publisher) moderator, Cyndi Rottenberg-Walker (partner at Urban Strategies, urban planner), Tim Bousquet (news & environment editor at The Coast).

When: Tuesday, July 19, 7-10:30pm Where: National Arts Centre, 4th Stage 53 Elgin St. Cost: $5 (gets you copy of magazine) Facebook: RSVP to our event listing PARTNER: National Arts Centre Panelists: Matthew Blackett (Spacing publisher) moderator, George Dark (partner at Urban Strategies, urban designer & landscape architect), Allegra Newman (community planning advocate), Eric Darwin (West Side Action) UPDATE: Listen to Spacing publisher Matthew Blackett and Spacing Ottawa editor Evan Thornton talk about Ottawa's "Top 10" places with All in a Day's Alan Neal on CBC ...

We recently came across the above scene on Elgin Street between Waverley and Frank. All along the sidewalk, it's  a jumble of bikes locked to railings and bikes locked to other bikes; a classic Ottawa jumble of improvised bike parking. But what of those parking meter-to-bike post conversions we were promised last year? There was not a one along the whole length of the block; a block smack dab in the middle of a Centretown neighbourhood well-known for intensive bike ownership and usage. Even more aggravating, this shortage of street-side bike parking facilities is unfolding ...