Comment 61147

By MattM (registered) | Posted March 18, 2011 at 09:20:19

Good article.

I live near Ottawa Street and have witnessed a very similar transformation in the past 2-3 years. A lot of people attribute it to the horrid Centre Maul development, but I noticed the big changes well before that even took shape. Ottawa Street has always been a fairly quiet and calm two-way street, so the pedestrian element was always there. Little things like the Kiwanis square and beautifications have gone a long way to bring more tenants back to the BIA.

I took a walk along from Barton to Cannon a week ago to pick up some things at Crash Landing for the first time in about a year and the change was just remarkable. There is a very big increase in art galleries and antique shops, so much so that the textile stores are becoming the minority. You can definitely see an increase in people on the street and places like Lemoncello seem to do a killing with that generous patio space. A lot of businesses that left Centre Mall have also spilled over into the part of Ottawa nearer to Barton Street, a few even locating on Barton itself.

I predict that Ottawa Street is really going to take off in the next few years as even more tenants relocate from the more upscale parts of Hamilton and Toronto. I also predict that Barton Street will keep receiving the spill off effects, possibly even sparking a rejuventation of Kenilworth... another street with some big potential. Although the eyes are always on Locke and James North, Ottawa Street is really gonna get put on the map now.

Comment edited by MattM on 2011-03-18 09:22:01

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