Seeking solutions to the troubles facing downtown Ottawa

Rideau Street is seen in this 2024 image. (Tyler Fleming/CTV News Ottawa)

Rideau Street was once the heart of the capital's shopping district. For decades, people came from all over the region to shop, but with changing habits and the recent revolution in online shopping, many no longer head downtown to find that special item.

Those that still frequent specialty shops like Steve's Music have been finding the experience more and more challenging as the makeup of the neighbourhood has changed. This trend is now forcing Steve's Music to relocate in the new year, leaving behind their location of 42 years. The store's manager, Dan Sauve, says the past 15 years have been difficult with massive construction projects limiting access, the pandemic, the growing homelessness problem and an epidemic of street drugs and related mental health problems taking over the streets, crowding out residents and businesses alike.

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"It's one thing after another that's eroded the desire of just normal people to come downtown. Who would want to come downtown to shop when there's this kind of thing going on around?" Sauve said. "I'm looking at the move as hey, you know what? We're going to write a new chapter here because we are far from being done."

It's not just local residents and businesses that are feeling the impact. The Department of National Defence relocated 1,000 employees from their building at 400 Cumberland St., citing employee safety concerns. The Ottawa Police Service has been working with community partners to address concerns, opening a service hub in the Rideau Centre as a key part of their plan to improve safety and security in the busy tourist and business area. Acting Sergeant Paul Stam says this is not something that is unique to Ottawa, it's something police are seeing in major cities across the country.

"They are feeling overwhelmed by the rise in crime and the visible disorder that's out on the street," Stam said. "They are feeling unsafe and it's not just those communities that are feeling unsafe, it's also the street involved community. Our mission is to address that."

The councillor for Rideau-Vanier, Stéphanie Plante, says the concentration of services in the community is a contributing factor to the difficulties businesses and residents face. Decisions by previous city councils have meant the ward has about 800 men's shelter beds, three injection sites, two day programs, two soup kitchens and two safe supply pharmacies all along that strip. A lack of help from upper levels of government has meant the city does not have the resources to tackle these problems and is only able to afford Band-Aid solutions. Plante hopes some out-of-the-box thinking might help, like encouraging some of the city's upper management to live in the downtown, like they do in Detroit and Baltimore, which could help focus officials' attention on the needs of the community. The councillor thinks at times we can over think the problem. She says many of the street-involved people she talks to say the same things as most people when asked what basics they need: a place to live, food to eat and medical care.

"It can't be just this like you know 9-to-5 public servant and tourism location because that is not only what makes our downtown great," Plante said. "What makes our downtown great is the people who live here, and I have pretty awesome people who live here."

The Ottawa Mission is on the front lines when it comes to the issues in Ottawa's core, supplying hundreds of thousands of meals each year and a place to sleep for hundreds each night. Peter Tilley, the agency's CEO, wants to see less of a focus on law enforcement and more resources dedicated to public health. He says it's not pleasant having to deal with the situation downtown and the influx of people from outside the community — more than 20 per cent of the Mission's clients are not from the capital. the increase in the supply of illicit drugs and the lack of affordable housing is impacting businesses and residents alike. Creative programs like peer support are helping but Tilley says we need more places for people to go other than being on the streets.

"I've seen the issues of homelessness drug addiction and mental health firsthand, and I've never seen things in such a state as we are in now," Tilley said. "We've come out of this pandemic with a lack of affordable housing, lack of mental health supports, lack of addiction supports."

At Steve's Music, they are getting ready for the big move and are hopeful for the future of the community they are leaving but worry the support the community desperately needs may be a long way off.

"We can't be the collateral damage at the same time of a would-be solution or a Band-Aid solution," Sauve said. "Let's try to attack the core issues at hand."