I’ve been feeling nostalgic about my hometown of Ottawa the last couple of days, probably triggered by installing the Facebook app on my iPod. Specifically, I’m thinking back on my early to mid twenties when I was living downtown in various apartments, most shared with roommates I’ve been out of touch with for twenty years or more.
It was an exciting time for me: in the space of just a few years I went from being flat broke, constantly hovering on the brink of applying for welfare to passing through a series of fun restaurant and retail jobs, and finally ending up as the director of the background painting department at a large animation studio. From the joys of being an irresponsible, uncommitted, down-and-out 20-something to the first tastes of professional success. You never forget that time of your life.
Being a loser with no plan and no direction in life was a LOT easier in the mid to late 80’s and a lot of fun actually. Ottawa was a very forgiving city to do that journey too. The cost of living was low, cheap housing in the downtown core was plentiful, it was easy to meet people and make friends and if you weren’t too snobby, it was always easy to find work when you needed it.
It’s funny how when I remember those years in Ottawa you’d think that it was never winter and that I never had to work for a living. The first memories that surface are of seemingly endless and glorious summers, afternoons spent smoking pot in parks with friends under cloudless skies, all-weekend barbecue parties, bike rides along the Rideau canal and Ottawa river and something cool happening somewhere every night of the week.
My favorite apartment in Ottawa was also my first solo bachelor pad, a one bedroom attic apartment in a hundred year old house on Gilmour street near Elgin. It was a tiny place, but it was all mine, in what was then the coolest part of town and it was flooded with sunlight all day long. I had a back door in the kitchen that opened up onto a 30×40 foot deck that no one but me ever bothered to use.
Back then I never thought twice about leaving the back door open at night or when I went out for the day, so that my cats could come and go as they pleased via the fire escape. It was that kind of downtown neighborhood and Ottawa was that kind of city. But that was about 20 years ago and I think it’s safe to assume you’d never be able to feel safe doing that now. Friends still living in Ottawa tell me it’s become the violent crack-addict/dangerously aggressive panhandler capital of Canada – especially in my old neighborhood.
I wish I could say I’m surprised, but the truth is you’d have to have ideological blinders on not to see that one coming 20 years ago. I could tell you precisely why Ottawa has such a disproportionately high homelessness/drug-addiction/predatory beggar problem for a city of its size, but I don’t really feel like getting into it today and my explanation would tend to piss off people whose hobby is lovingly nurturing the fantasy that such problems are the inevitable result of minority Conservative governments, Capitalism and the nefarious conspiracy that is Western Civilization.
Besides, I’d rather keep my memories of the sleepy, boring and picturesque government town with the friendly people and surprisingly cool, inclusive underground scene intact, rather than dwell on any problems that have gotten out of control since I left. Ottawa was a wonderful place to spend my 20’s, but when I remember my time there I remember with equal fondness the exhiliration I felt at leaving.
I remember it well.
Sadly that Ottawa is long gone. A couple of years ago I walked around Sandy Hill (where I once crashed all theose years ago) and was horrified at the sight of used needles and condoms littering the ground. I blogged about it in outrage but it drew not a comment other than “what did you expect?”
Its funny that the life we led so long ago and couldn’t wait to escape at the time, was in many ways the easiest we were going to have it. When I think about how far $27K got me I can only shake my head and smile.
Though at the time the city felt constricting and boring, we all seemed to get up to much more “fun” than I can remember since.
Alas the “live to work” disease has taken over.
It was much more work to live back then.
Thanks for taking me back 20 years…….Now off to the airport once again!
Terry
I know. If you told me 20 years ago that I’d be waxing nostalgic about the “easy life” in Ottawa, I’d have split a gut laughing. It’s sad too, how much we’ve come to accept in the decline of our cities. The idea of being able to leave a patio door wide open at night – unthinkable today.
BTW, I’m not kidding about having to work to remember it ever being winter. I guess my mind has blanked the trauma of it. Any Ottawans out there: you know what I’m talking about. For the rest of you…there’s just no way to describe Ottawa winters. “Siberian” is the only word that comes to mind. Maybe climate change has softened them over the last 20 years.
LET ME SAY OTTAWANS THAT I FEEL YOUR PAIN.
I ARRIVED IN DETROIT IN NOVEMBER 1965 AND AT THE TIME ONE COULD LEAVE THEIR DOOR OPEN AT ANY TIME OF THE DAY OR NIGHT.
DURING THE THREE SHORT YEARS UNTIL I LEFT IN 1965 THERE WAS A COMPLETE DOWNTURN IN THE WAY PEOPLE BEHAVED AND I TOO WAS EXILIRATED WHEN I WAS ABLE TO MOVE ON.
EVEN THOUGH I STILL DREAM NOSTALGA ABOUT THOSE YEARS IN THE MOTOR CITY BUT I KNOW IN MY HEART THAT I SHOULDN’T.
My father used to live in the Tiffany apartments right on the canal at Queen Elizabeth drive and argyle street. This was back in the 90s. I took a drive down there a few months ago and it is barely what I remembered. I remember you could actually walk down the streets without worrying about anything. This time I was worried about how long it would take before someone broke into or scratched my my recently purchased, mint condition, 95 pathfinder, which I bought because my dad had a 93 when we lived down there. Ahh those were the days…Though I could NEVER live down there now…
hey i have only been to ottawa once and it was a school trip in grade 8 but i have wished to go back so many times and this time its coming true. on christams eve im going up not sure where im staying dont really care but i just love it.i stayed a week when i went and we hung around the caleton univesity and it was amazing at night we snuck out and chilled at the canal. we went to all the musesums and art galleryies and i loveee ittt <3