What’s that, you say? Political intrigue in Ottawa? I know, it’s shocking. The smelling salts are in the cabinet on your left. To be fair, however, most of Ottawa’s political scandals are of the federal variety. So when the mayor is charged with allegedly offering a parole board appointment to one of his right-leaning competitors during the 2006 municipal election, in exchange for pulling out of the race, it’s kind of a big deal – and that’s why we fished out our best ballpoint pens, donned our spiffiest fedoras, tucked... | Continue reading article

Interesting news coming from the city: Ottawa residents’ water consumption has gone down as much as 20 to 30 percent over the last five years despite the city’s growth. A number of factors can explain this positive turn of events. These include the efficient new plumbing fixtures used for new homes and renovations, gardeners deciding to stop extensive watering of lawns and the near elimination of things like washing driveways. Lex Luthor Larry O’Brien has worked his last days (for now) as mayor of Ottawa. His trial is beginning today,... | Continue reading article

Apartment613 is pleased to offer a take on the new transit tunnel plan today from David McClelland of the Ottawa Project. You’ll also hear him discuss the tunnel on CBC Radio.  If you have comments on the proposal please leave us a comment! With the release of a proposed route and stations for Ottawa’s future downtown tunnel on April 28th, the nation’s capital seems to be one small step closer to a proper light rail system. While the plan is still somewhat up-in-the-air due to a lack of funding commitments... | Continue reading article

Last week, we finally witnessed the coming of spring. The snow is gone, flowers are showing, leaves are popping out, the market stalls are back, skirts and shorts are back and everyone seems a bit happier. One big exception to this general feeling of joy are the business owners on Bank St. between Somerset and Arlington. This past week was the beginning of Bank St. renovation part four. In these tough economic times, many business in that area are worried that they will be affected by six months-plus of construction... | Continue reading article

The hat was dusted off, slips of paper were torn and folded and the winners were finally chosen. Apartment613 gave away two pairs of tickets courtesy of the NAC this morning to the CTV Pop’s Sci-Fi Spectacular. The contestants had to let us know their favourite sci-fi music moment, and while Star Wars and John William were big favourites, a few lesser known tunes made it on to the list. There were some great stories that went along with the music: at least one couple were united through the power... | Continue reading article

Ottawa: One Great City! Well-known urban studies theorist, Richard Florida, has named Ottawa-Gatineau  as the best city in Canada for mid-career people, families and retirees to live in, as well as one of the top three cities for singles and empty-nesters, in his latest book, Who’s Your City? In addition to this, he claims that Ottawa has the highest concentration of cultural creatives in Canada; even more than Toronto or Montreal! Hard to believe? Maybe it’s the prolific number of bloggers in town. Good news for public transport proponents, according... | Continue reading article

The Ottawa municipal government decided to give a thumbs down to both Eugene Melnyk’s Kanata stadium plan as well as Lansdowne Live’s stadium plan. As David Reevely from Greater Ottawa has stated, the Melnyk Kanata stadium would probably be more profitable for the city in the long run, but it does not solve the “Lansdowne problem”. I’d also recommend reading A stadium chronology, which is a nice resume prepared by Reevely that shows that after all this, the city will apparently be resuming the Lansdowne design competition; one which Larry... | Continue reading article

  Ottawa city councillor, Alex Cullen, has announced that he will be running for mayor in the upcoming 2010 municipal elections. Many pundits praise his knowledge of City Hall but believe that his left- leaning tendencies will scare off voters. Ottawa Citizen columnist Randall Densey sees a three-way race between Cullen, Alta Vista councillor Peter Hume and incumbent Larry O’brien unfolding…This, of course, may well change if O’brien loses his upcoming court case on charges of attempted bribery and purported influence peddling. Oh, Lex Luthor… The Genie Awards, which celebrate... | Continue reading article

April 1, 2009. A warning has gone out in the capital region after an outbreak of Twitterrhea hit the Ottawa community. The Public Health Agency of Canada warns that if the infection is not soon put under control, an epidemic of huge porportions may soon face the city and  surrounding regions. Although the origins of the dreaded virus is unclear, the local epidemic is believed to have originated at a local blog dedicated to identifying and passing along Ottawa’s cultural “truffles”, which the unnamed site apparently forgot to wash before... | Continue reading article

Geez, I’m really hoping this does not become a regular trend, but yet again Bank St. has suffered a harsh blow with last night’s fire of Tommy & Lefebvre, the popular sports goods store. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, but its clear that the store is a complete loss. The estimated damages to the building and its contents hover around the $2 million mark. The Ottawa Citizen reports that Kevin Pidgeon, president of Tommy & Lefebvre, hopes in the short term to be able to... | Continue reading article