Sparks Street BIA & MA — Attraction in Ottawa

Earlier in life when working and before allergies kicked in severely ..i use to love that area of town five plus stars I'd of given .. but yet back then i still absolutely hated the parking situation in that area but it was after some hunting or good luck parking was doable findable .. and today ..it's still the same love (shops, attractions, offices, bars, restaurants, touristy stuff, activities, festivals, etc,..) love/ hate situation/relationship.. but being poor and having severe disabilities it is absolutely no longer affordable nor that accessible for me especially since the general parking situation has worsened severely .. even with my added official Ontario handicap parking Permit ..since now street parking is at an absolute ultra high premium and it's almost impossible to park a pick-up truck there even in loading zones or no parking zones as those are ultra rare..let alone a an actual parking spot... Oh no ..newrly impossible parking situation .. plus and because.. over the last decades.. the city has put up so many " no stopping " signage that it makes it almost impossible to find a parking spot near to where one needs to be at if dealing with even doctor appointments or etc.. an absolute nightmare for parking .. and paid parking sport that can take a van or pick up truck are extremely rare .. but who can afford those high rates.. especially when Street parking is made free via the handicap parking permit.. and so i can't stress enough this abhorrent horrible discrimination situation for us handicapped members of society .. let alone the headache it must be for the rest of people who aren't doing deliveries nor have a handicap parking permit.. and now what with a personal vehicle exclusion zone around there .. lol .. it's just insult upon insult and discrimination of the social equity barrier type ..one after an other being piled on against us .. all because of ignorant city planning and protectivistic security mentally and traffic flow managers .. hello wake up to your Social Equity Barriers that you're creating rather than removing as per the many laws that protect the most at risk members of society .. hello ..wake up ..come on remove to...

The atmosphere is wonderful, however for a pedestrian mall, it could do so much better. This is a bit more

Firstly, let's talk shopping. The street has only a handful of actually useful stores. Souvenir shops take up too much space, and most storefronts are empty. So there is not much of a draw there.

Then there's the pedestrian experience. Uneven pavestones, coupled with ugly patches of bumpy asphalt detract from the quality of a nice walk between beautiful buildings. In the winter they plow the sidewalk portions only, which get interrupted by bollards, so as a pedestrian you have to either climb snowbanks to get to the other side of the street or walk down to a stoplight. In the summer, patios break out onto the sidewalk section, so you're regularly stuck playing frogger with sunbathing public servants.

Finally food. The restaurants have recently started diversifying from pubs and microbreweries, so this is promising. I suggest a yummy dinner at Riviera or cocktails at the Rabbit Hole as personal highlights. That said, the restaurants are concentrated around Bank and Elgin. Something a little further west could be interesting.

All in all, Sparks Street has major potential, but if they want to bring it back to its former glory, they need to make it usable. Fix the pavement, plow the entire thing in the winter, bring some different shopping options and make the street functional instead of an experience. Finally, something I forgot - bring in a grocery store! As a downtown worker it would be great to pick up food for dinner to bring home, and it might keep my wallet downtown...

Dear Google, Sparks Street is a pedestrian mall 5 to 6 blocks long, closed to car traffic. It isn't singular store or eatery as suggested by your review algorithm! That clarified, Sparks Street is managed by the National Capital Commission, but it hasn't done a good job. Far too many dead zones with little economic activity (such the block dominated by the Ottawa HQ of the CBC). Not enough trees and flowers; not enough benches (none sheltered from hot sun or rain). There are some areas that have outside patios run by pubs and restaurants, which can be very enjoyable, but not enough other shops and boutiques. Clearly the NCC is very risk adverse regarding their management of Sparks Street. (Perhaps they could learn some lessons from how Ste-Catherine Street is well supported and managed as a pedestrian mall in Montreal! Many European cities do this better too!) "Okay" is the best grade I can give Sparks Street, and I'm being generous. (I'm an ex-Montrealer living in Ottawa so I often make...