February 4th....Ongoing frustration continued, with long trucks like this one, blocking laneways, with nowhere to pass because of the snowbanks.
February 6th Cause for celebration! This wonderful snowbank- destroying machine appeared. It was such a relief to drive on a street devoid of snowbanks.
Of course, that transformation was short-lived. February 12th - 30 centimetres of snow fell.
The following day was a treat - a real snow day! Because schools and many offices were closed, some of the young families on the street took advantage of a perfect day to go sliding down the Kenora St. hill. For a short while, it felt like an old fashioned neighbourhood again...lots of people out shovelling, visiting, kids sliding and absolutely no one driving on the street.
Now however, it's back to business as usual. It was raining on February 15th, when I took this photo, but that does not affect construction in an Ottawa winter. The chipboard walls started going up on the double at # 79.
And yes, the house beside that project? It's official. It has been sold and will be demolished to make way for another double. Ten years ago there were five original houses across from us - all unique and reasonably sized. As of this spring, only one will remain. There will be seven properties instead of five. We thought our area was zoned for single family dwellings only, but we were sadly mistaken. That zone starts about six houses up the hill from us.
Over the past month we have had discussions with city officials, community activists and fellow neighbours. Long time residents are pretty upset that our neighbourhood is changing so rapidly. We hate to see the original houses and mature trees disappear, in favour of overly large houses with little green space. In short, we feel that our neighbourhood is under siege. What can be done? The province and the city have a policy of intensification. As long as there is money to be made and builders adhere to the current restrictions, it's full steam ahead. We all live in fear that more of our neighbours' homes will go up for sale.
No comments:
Post a Comment