Centretown Community Amenities Audit

Draft: For Discussion Purposes Only

September 16th, 2010

Understanding Centretown’s Need & Opportunity:

The Centretown Ward is quickly becoming one of Ottawa’s most desirable destinations for downtown living. Continued demand for housing, a growth in local employment opportunities, and planned and on-going infrastructure investment in rapid transit, road improvements and bridge connections will continue to fuel changes over the coming years.

A Community Amenities Audit was undertaken to gain a greater understanding of both the existing and possible future condition of the social infrastructure serving the Centretown Ward. An important output of this work will be to identify what types of community amenities may be required to complement and facilitate the area’s growth.

Through the establishment and analysis of the existing baseline provision, identification of current amenity provision targets (where possible) and the establishment of a potential future growth scenario (based on the existing Centretown Secondary Plan projection), this study provides direction as to the future need for community facilities across the neighbourhood.

It is intended that this document be used to assist not only private sector, but also the City of Ottawa and residents’ groups to better understand existing and future community needs for facilities in Centretown.

Centretown Today

Below is a summary of population and household assumptions used for this review.

 

2010 Estimate
(from City of Ottawa, 2010)

Future Scenario
(from Secondary Plan)

Population

23,660

30,000 to 36,000

Households*

13,690

17,650 to 21,175

Geographic Area

2.1km2 / 210ha / 519 acres

2.1km2 / 210ha / 519 acres

*based on current household structure of 1.7 persons per household

Centretown’s Current Community Assets

A sustainable community needs to be a complete, mixed-use district able to accommodate activity and vibrancy. It must offer residents the opportunity to interact, work, live, play, pray, shop and learn within a convenient walking or transit distance.

Community amenities are an essential component of this mix. These facilities and their related public spaces are important assets for animating the public realm, increasing access to services, improving opportunities for activity, connecting social networks, creating community destinations and contributing to a better overall quality of life for residents.

This section provides a summary of the Community Amenities present within the Centretown, including a review of:

  • Parks & Recreation Facilities
  • Indoor Recreation Amenities
  • Schools / Education Services
  • Libraries
  • Community Centres
  • Youth Centres
  • Physicians / Health Care
  • Emergency Services
  • Religious Organizations & Services
  • Social Support Services
  • Childcare

The map overleaf shows where each of these amenity types are located across Centretown. Additional details are appended in an accompanying spreadsheet.

Community Facilities serving Centretown: Today

Population

Existing Amenity Provision

Current Provision Standards

Source

Provision Gap Today

20,515 residents:

Under 19: 1,395

  • 0-4: 495
  • 5-13: 525
  • 14-18: 375

13,690 households

Community Centres:
2 formal
+ 4 informal

1 centre per 5,000 units
[2 to 3 required]

London Borough of Newham, 2008 (U.K.)

Adequate provision.

Libraries:
0
+ Main Branch in proximity

1 centre per 10,000 units
[1 to 2 required]
0.74ft2 per capita
[17,500ft2 required]

London Borough of Newham, 2008 (U.K.)
City of Toronto, 2008

Under provision.

Daycare Centres:
6
[2 private +
4 public]

10 childcare spaces per 1,000 population.
[205-235 spaces required]

Province of Ontario,
Ministry of Culture, 2004

Adequate provision.

Health Centres:
5

1 health centre per 5,000 units
[Up to 3 required]

Newham Primary Care Trust, 2008 (U.K.)

Adequate provision.

Doctors:
66

1 GP per 1,800 population
[11-13 required]

Newham Primary Care Trust, 2008 (U.K.)

Adequate provision.

Seniors’ Day Centre:
0

1 per 20,000 population
[1 required]

Province of Ontario,
Ministry of Culture, 2004

Under provision.

Youth Centre:
0

1 per 20,000 population
[1 required]

Province of Ontario,
Ministry of Culture, 2004

Under provision.

Parkland:
8 City parks:
5.5ha / 13.8acres provided

0.84ha per 1,000 population [17ha/42.5 acres]
1.1ha per 1,000 units [15ha/37 acres]
Ottawa average of 34.3m2 per person
[81ha / 200 acres required]

City of Toronto, 2008
LB Newham, 2008 (U.K.)
City of Ottawa, 2010

Under provision.

Outdoor Amenities:
Basketball: at least 3
Baseball: at least 4
Playgrounds: 6
Pools: 2 + splash
Rinks: 2
Tennis courts:
at least 3 provided

1 court per 5,000 population [up to 3]
1 field per 5,000 population [up to 3]
1 per 5,000 population [up to 3]
1 per 20,000 population [1 required]
1 per 5,000 population [up to 3]
1 per 5,000 population [up to 3]

Province of Ontario,
Ministry of Culture, 2004

Adequate provision.
Adequate provision.
Adequate provision.
Adequate provision.
Under provision.
Adequate provision.

Schools:

  

Population

Current Provision

Current Provision Standards

Source

Provision Gap Today

Today:
0,515 residents:

Under 19: 1,395
0-4: 495 (2.4%)
5-13: 525 (3%)
14-18: 375 (1.8%)

13,690 households

Future Scenario:
36,000 residents

Under 19*: 2,664
0-4: 936 (2.4%)
5-13: 1080 (3%)
14-18: 648 (1.8%)

*using today’s demographic mix

Nursery:
## existing.

1 nursery school per 180 children.

London Borough of Newham, 2008 (U.K.)

To be determined.
Adequate provision.
Under provision.

Elementary:
4 existing.

Capacity:
1260

Enrolment:
917

1 primary school per 420 children.

1 primary school per 450-550 pupils.

London Borough of Newham, 2008 (U.K.)

Ottawa Carleton Board

Adequate provision today.

Adequate provision tomorrow.

Secondary:
1 existing
+ 1 Alternative.

Capacity:
1089+340

Enrolment:
809+270

1 secondary school per 940 children.

1 secondary school per 1000-1250 pupils.

London Borough of Newham, 2008 (U.K.)

Ottawa Carleton Board

Adequate provision today.

Adequate provision tomorrow.

Centretown Tomorrow...

Centretown is growing. Using information from the current Secondary Plan for Centretown, it is estimated that the population of Centretown could increase by 50% of its 1976 level. That would equate to a population of between 30,000 and 36,000 residents. For this summary, we are using the larger estimate.

So, what does a community of 36,000 residents potentially require?

Community Facilities serving Centretown: Tomorrow

Population Projection

Existing Amenity Provision

Provision Standards

Future Additional Requirement

Population:
36,000 residents

Households:
21,175 units

Community Centres:

Existing:
2 + 4 informal

1 centre per 5,000 units

Up to 2 additional required

Public Libraries:

Existing:
0

1 centre per 10,000 units

Up to 3 additional required

Daycare Centres:

Existing:
6

10 childcare spaces
per 1,000 population

83 additional public spaces required.

Health Centres (@ 3,000m2) :

Existing:
5

1 centre per 5,000 units

Up to 2 additional required

Doctors:

Existing:
66

1 GP per 1,800 people

No additional requirement

Youth Centre

Existing:
0

1 centre per 20,000 people

Up to 2 additional required

Seniors’ Day Centre:

Existing:

0

1 centre per 20,000 people

Up to 2 additional required

Parkland:

Existing: 8 parks
5.5ha / 13.8 acres

0.84ha per 1,000 people
1.1ha per 1,000 units

23-28 additional acres required. Park upgrades should be considered.

Outdoor Amenities:

Basketball: at least 3
Baseball: at least 4
Playgrounds: 6
Pools: 2 + splash
Rinks: 2
Tennis courts:
at least 3 provided

1 per 5,000 population
1 per 5,000 population
1 per 5,000 population
1 per 20,000 population
1 per 5,000 population
1 per 5,000 population

Up to 4 required
Up to 3 required
Up to 1 required
No additional requirement
Up to 5 required
Up to 4 more required

Key Messages

  • At present, Centretown is generally adequately provided for with community facilities. The exception is dedicated facilities for the young and the elderly (Youth Centres and Seniors’ Centres).
  • If Centretown continues to grow, many community facilities will be operating at capacity and additional facilities will be required to meet demand.
  • Although currently adequately provided for, existing facilities are aging – particularly schools, community centres and indoor recreation facilities – and will require renewed investment in next 10 to 20 years.
  • Outdoor recreation amenities are adequately provided for at the moment, although many outdoor amenities are close to threshold capacity. Additional population growth will require additional outdoor amenities.
  • Facilities are generally well distributed across Centretown, with particularly strong representation in the Mid-Centretown area.
  • Parks and open spaces – both active and passive – are at a premium across Centretown. Much of the existing open space provision is not formally dedicated park space, but shared recreation areas with schools or other institutional users.
  • To maximise future growth opportunities, additional provision of the following facilities should be considered:
    • park spaces
    • community centres
    • dedicated Youth Centre
    • outdoor recreation amenities
  • Augmenting the provision of City-operated facilities, there appears to be a strong representation of informal social support services and centres providing a spectrum of activities that cater to different user groups. The majority of these are clustered in the Mid-Centretown area.
  • Additional work is required to understand future demand for all types of schools and day care facilities across Centretown. Any existing surpluses could be temporary if growth continues.

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