Ok, people. We all love our community, and our fabulous mainstreet is one of the reasons we love it so much. We walk to shop, and there are some wonderful, local small businesses that make our ‘hood a happening, welcoming place. But here’s the thing. There’s a big difference between
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Miss Vicky's Offhand Remarks: Hintonburg Hub a reality!
Oh friends, do you know how hard it has been to keep this news to myself? So hard. But by now you’ve all probably heard that Somerset West Community Health Centre has finally purchased a building to house the Hintonburg Hub. The building is located at 30 Rosemount – right
Continue readingMiss Vicky's Offhand Remarks: Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes
So by now you have all heard that the owners of The Whalesbone will be taking over the Elmdale on January 1. The revelation caused a bit of a kerfuffle on Elmdale owner’s Facebook page, where she broke the news. Word spread quickly on Twitter (I confess, my tweet of
Continue readingMiss Vicky's Offhand Remarks: 1050 Somerset Update
This just in from the Hintonburg Community Association: On October 15, Claridge Homes, which is proposing to build a new 23-storey tower at 1050 Somerset, offered to settle our Ontario Municipal Board appeal of their project on the eve of the hearing. The Board of Directors held a lengthy conference
Continue readingMiss Vicky's Offhand Remarks: Weekend Fun: Community Cleanup and beery rewards
Fall is awesome. But it sure is busy – packed full of community events, and new traditions seem to be added each year. There is some fun stuff in the ‘hood this weekend. You get to give back to your community, eat some burgers, sample some craft beer and tasty
Continue readingMiss Vicky's Offhand Remarks: Lawyers are pricey
So are planners. And the Hintonburg Community Association needs good ones, because they are taking their objections to Claridge’s planned development at Somerset and Breezehill to the Ontario Municipal Board. The planning committee and city council approved the proposal for a 23 storey tower with very little debate. According to
Continue readingMiss Vicky's Offhand Remarks: Good news on the child care front
For Devonshire kids, anyway. Here’s a note from the Devonshire School Age Program that crossed my inbox today. We were fortunate that WeeG got a spot in the program for senior kindergarten last year. We’ve been very impressed with the program and with the staff there – the kids all
Continue readingMiss Vicky's Offhand Remarks: Time for a Taste of Wellington!
This Saturday is the annual Taste of Wellington – a great opportunity to get out and sample all that our community has to offer. It started off as little more than a sidewalk sale with food samples. But as the mainstreet has evolved, so has the event. More restaurants means
Continue readingMiss Vicky's Offhand Remarks: Hintonburg Handmade Hallowe’en – Volunteers needed
Miss Vicky has always wanted to see some kind of Hallowe’en event in the ‘hood. Hallowe’en is the best, isn’t it? When else do you get to dress up and pretend to be something or someone else? Well, unless you’re under 6, when dressing up and pretending to be someone
Continue readingMiss Vicky's Offhand Remarks: Harvest Festival postponed
Hintonburg’s annual Harvest Festival, which is supposed to be tomorrow afternoon, has been postponed to Sunday, September 9. It’s a great event – BBQ, games for the kids, bouncy slide and of course the annual baking contest (apple pies this year!). I guess the rain forecast was too ominous. So,
Continue readingMiss Vicky's Offhand Remarks: Comings and Goings – the overdue edition
Oh, Faithful Legion, it has been so long. Too long, really. I will make no excuses for the light blogging of late. Life took over, and the twitters are an evil distraction. I’ll make it up to you, I swear… with some gossip! There have been so many changes in
Continue readingMiss Vicky's Offhand Remarks: Comings and Goings – the overdue edition UPDATED
Oh, Faithful Legion, it has been so long. Too long, really. I will make no excuses for the light blogging of late. Life took over, and the twitters are an evil distraction. I’ll make it up to you, I swear… with some gossip! There have been so many changes in
Continue readingMiss Vicky's Offhand Remarks: Comings and Goings – the overdue edition UPDATED x2
Oh, Faithful Legion, it has been so long. Too long, really. I will make no excuses for the light blogging of late. Life took over, and the twitters are an evil distraction. I’ll make it up to you, I swear… with some gossip! There have been so many changes in
Continue readingMiss Vicky's Offhand Remarks: Roundabouts on Tyndall? Really?
So the city is conducting a consultation on the Byron/Tyndall Corridor – basically the route from Gladstone to Parkdale to Tyndall to Holland to Byron. Although the study is looking at all modes of transportation, although the emphasis seems to be on improving it as a cycling corridor. The Hintonburg
Continue readingMiss Vicky's Offhand Remarks: Nelson House in crisis
There is a community meeting tomorrow evening to discuss the closure of Nelson House, a local shelter for women and children. Women escaping violence in Ottawa cannot afford to lose one of the few safe places they have. We need to work to ensure the closure is brief and temporary.
Continue readingMiss Vicky's Offhand Remarks: Your community needs you!
With spring in the air, activity is ramping up in the community. There are a lot of fun events ahead – the Tulip Festival on May 12, ArtsPark on May 26, the Hintonburg Garage Sale on June 2. Oh, it’s a busy time in the ‘hood! But before I get
Continue readingMiss Vicky's Offhand Remarks: Crunch time for the Hub?
I haven’t written much about the Hub lately. But things have been moving along, behind the scenes. The big developments: Somerset West Community Health Centre’s board approved a plan to put forward $1 million toward the Hub project and is putting together a community fundraising campaign for front-line health care
Continue readingMiss Vicky's Offhand Remarks: Breezehill Development: my comments
Today is the deadline for your comments on the proposed 28 story Claridge development at Breezehill and Somerset. Although Melanie Knight, the planner who will report and make recommendations on the development, has said she will take comments beyond the deadline, so it’s not too late to get your thoughts
Continue readingMiss Vicky's Offhand Remarks: 28 Stories on Breezehill? Have your say
So Claridge is proposing a 28 story condo building at 1050 Somerset, on the corner of Breezehill and Somerset, right beside Devonshire School. This is the location of the former 168 Market. The property on Somerset falls within the boundaries of the Wellington West Community Desgin Plan and is zoned
Continue readingMiss Vicky's Offhand Remarks: Growth and infill: two consultations
It’s well known that growth is coming to the neighbourhood. But what kind of growth is it going to be? What kind do we want it to be? There’s a lot of anxiety about growth in urban neighbourhoods. Some of it is legitimate – it’s not like all of the
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