This Wednesday May 16th at 7:30pm is your last chance this season to come out and participate in the Next City Cafe

Seeing the Suburbs

Wednesday May 16th 7:30pm

Alpha Soul Cafe 1015 Wellington Street West, Hintonburg

Join:
Julia Valley - Western Ottawa Community Resource Centre
Mandy McCrone- Barrhaven Without a Car -Jane's Walk 2012
Akash Sinha - Dharma Developments
Arras Hopkins - AOE Arts Council

What are the misconceptions and realities that are shaping them? What does the future hold?  What are the possibilities?

Join the conversation, share your experiences and ideas.

Join us on twitter at #nextcity

Help Spread the Word! Pass it on.

Suburbs Courtesy of www.infrastructurist.com

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Wednesday May 16th at 7:30pm is your last chance this season to come out and participate in the Next City Cafe.

Pass the word.

Seeing the Suburbs

Wednesday May 16th 7:30pm

Alpha Soul Cafe 1015 Wellington Street West, Hintonburg

What are the misconceptions and realities that are shaping Ottawa's suburbs? What does the future hold?  What are the possibilities?

Join the conversation, share your experiences and ideas.

Contribute on twitter at #nextcity
We will post more info including guests in the next few weeks.

Help Spread the Word! Pass it on (particularly to your friends in the suburbs)

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Spacing Ottawa's Next City Cafe presents:

Wednesday March 21st at 7pm at the Alpha Soul Cafe - 1015 Wellington Street West in Hintonburg

Creating Collaborative Spaces

How does collaboration happen? What are the benefits? How do we foster a collaborative culture within Ottawa?
join the conversation, share your experiences, help shape Ottawa with special guests:

• Vinod Rajasekaran from Hub Ottawa,
• Julie Dupont from the City of Ottawa,
• Diane Touchette from Under One Roof
• and Clive Doucet

as they talk about their experiences, exciting new collaborative spaces in Ottawa and how collaboration can change this city.

Share your ideas and experiences on twitter at #nextcity…

Spacing Ottawa's Next City Cafe is taking a break in January but we will be back with more exciting discussions in February, March and April, 2012.

Next City 2012: mark your calendars now.

Wed. Feb. 15th  7:30 pm- Healing Toxic Cities: who is doing what to make Ottawa a healthier place to live

Wed. March 21st 7:30 pm- Curated Collaboration:  innovative spaces that foster collaboration

Wed. April 18th - 7:30 pm Art in the Streets: sculptures, murals and gardens

So, put down that snow shovel and come on out to the Alpha Soul Cafe (1015 Wellington West) in February.

photo by momentcaptured1…

High Line Park, NYC - photo by CosmicAutumn

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Wednesday, Nov. 16 at 7.00 PM @ Alpha Soul Café, 1015 Wellington Street West, in Hintonburg.

Do you know of a green space in your community that is underused, that is uninspiring, that you avoid, that you wish could be something more?

This week's Next City Cafe is about how to reimagine these community spaces and make them into something wonderful.

Bring your imagination, a pen, and your wish list for a local community space -- and with some experienced panelists, we will dream big -- so come on out and spread the word!

Panelists:

• Chris Osler, Community Developer of the Sandy Hill Community Health Center
• Aamina Bedran, Co-founder of the Ottawa Children's Garden

After the bump, the notes from October's Next City Café, on the topic of Food Security.

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Why does food security matter in Ottawa?

In October, the Next City Cafe met to talk about food security in the City of Ottawa.  Surrounded by the food of the Alpha Soul Cafe in Hintonburg -a hot destinations for exciting new restaurants- the discussion focused on opportunities to better food security in Ottawa.  With 80% of the City of …

Urban food of the future, from 1940's Seagram's ad.

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Everyone eats. What we eat, how we get it, the cost of our food and where it comes from are questions for everyone.

How do we plan our city with food in mind?

Let’s talk about it together.

“Planning for a Food Secure Ottawa”

October 19th 7:00pm

Alpha Soul Café, 1015 Wellington St W.

Next City Café is a new monthly discussion forum in collaboration with Spacing Ottawa 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 conversations.

image courtesy Crosset Library Bennington College…

"Everyday Cycling" is an inclusive term that can be used to describe anyone who rides a bike for any reason: for sport, for dropping kids at school, for grocery shopping, commuting to work, for leisurely rides along the river, all can thought of as everyday cyclists.  On Wednesday September 21^st, cycling enthusiasts, community activists, and planners gathered at the Alpha Soul Café in Hintonburg for the first session of the Next City Café.  Breakout groups were tasked with answering three key questions; afterwards each brought their notes back to share with the room.

The goal was to come up with constructive actions we can all do to make cycling better in our city.

Q#1. Why does cycling and cycling infrastructure matter?

A: Building cycling infrastructure creates a better city by; increasing spontaneous stops at local businesses, breaks down class barriers (bicycles cost much less than cars to operate), consuming less precious public space than cars or public transit, reducing the carbon footprint of travel and providing a safer more friendly environment for pedestrians where there are fewer cars and more eyes directly on the street.

Q#2. What does Ottawa need to make cycling better?

It was unanimous that …

Toronto's Dufferin Grove Park: people make the place

Editor's note: Last week Spacing Ottawa contributor Allegra Newman joined with blogger. Eric Darwin and urban planner George Dark on a panel discussing "What makes a great place?" at the launch of Spacing Magazine's national issue at the National Arts Centre. Allegra has agreed to share the notes from her introductory remarks with us in the post below.

I have spent a long time recently thinking about what makes a good place well… good.  I realize that this is quite an subjective concept.  For some people the contribution of great architecture, ideal location, uniqueness or access to natural beauty and green spaces make good places.  While I agree that all of these elements contribute to making a place, the places that are great for me have something else in common. People.

Great places are shaped by the people who use them- and not just talking about tourists but about the people who live, work and play in these places.  Great places often grow organically, fed by the needs and desires of the people who inhabit them. These places are inspired and transformed by human interactions within the space.  Even good urban …

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Listening to the repetitive clanging of machines boring through bedrock it can seem that the condo developments along Richmond and Wellington Roads are never-ending. But along with the noise and dust, urban infill can also mean exciting possibilities, and can be used as a creative opportunity for changes within a community. Most recently, development options are being proposed for the Soeurs de la Visitation convent at 114 Richmond Road. This large, cloistered, very green looking area stretches from Richmond Road to Byron Avenue and is a mystery to local residents who have only air photos and glances at buildings and hundred year old trees to identify the heritage and natural value of the site. Immediately adjacent to the site is Hilson Public School with its treeless schoolyard separated from busy Richmond Road by a chain link fence. These two properties, side by side, green space and concrete. According to the current proposal the green space will be developed and the concrete will continue to be a children’s playground. Imagine if this could be different.

Ashcroft is proposing a multi-building development on the convent land and is currently in the phase of seeking community input and support for …