In November 2022, we held a workshop with Walkable Ottawa on making successful walkable shopping destinations within 15 minute neighbourhoods.
The City of Ottawa has put 15 minute neighbourhoods at the centre of the plan of how our city will grow and flourish in future. A key component of a 15 minute neighbourhood is a walkable shopping destination. Imagine small shops where you could buy milk and some basic groceries, a small bakery? A café where you could meet your neighbours? An ice cream shop?
The purpose of the workshop was to get at questions such as:
- Where could a walkable shopping destination be located in my neighbourhood?
- What are the elements that need to be included/addressed to make a new shopping destination a success or to make an existing one even better?
- What steps are needed to encourage a new walkable shopping destination to take root in my neighbourhood?
This is a grassroots process, intended to inform the City of Ottawa and the public on how this can be done and to develop a framework that could be tailored to contribute to creating complete 15-minute neighbourhoods across the city.
We’ll be sending out a link to the survey results and workshop report early in the new year. If you are interested in the topic and want to get more involved, you can:
- support this work by discussing within your community, your network, your friends and neighbours to help build momentum for more walkable neighbourhoods that include walkable shopping destinations;
- let us know if you’d like to host a shopping destination conversation focused on your neighbourhood; and
- stay tuned for a walkable neighbourhoods coffee house series at Walkable Ottawa early in 2023!
Watch the workshop here!