Jay Sheridan loves to play street hockey with his four-year-old son outside of their home.
With Lansdowne Park just blocks away, he said he's worried about increasing traffic pressure.
"That will influence my vote as well -- how the candidates stand on the Lansdowne Live issue," he said.
Concern about finances
Another Ottawa resident is also putting a lot of thought into who the next mayor should be. As she narrows her choices down, she says she is concerned about finances.
Poverty, housing, social welfare and the economy is very important," says Tracey Guptill.
"(We need) someone who is going to pay attention to those issues, and has understanding on how money should be spent, and keeping us within budget."
Light-rail: Less talk, more action
There are concerns about whether Ottawa's light-rail project will stay on budget. Some candidates are against a downtown tunnel, and others want the project scrapped altogether.
Liz Bernstein says she just wants to see less talk and more action.
"Let's just get to it," she says.
"Get something done so people can get out of their cars and and into public transit, whether it's bus or train, going underground or not, so we can get around more easily."
Roads and the environment
Tara Porter relies on her bike to get around, and says she wants improvements to be made for cyclists.
"There's a lot of opportunity for there to be much safer roadways," Porter says. "Part of the roads where cyclists are meant to cycle on, they're really not safe."
Graham Saul says he's looking for a mayor who cares about the environment.
"I want to see leadership from council on some of the issues that relate to clean water, clean air, world-class park space."
Close to 17,000 ballots were cast in the first advance poll, 7,000 fewer than in 2006.
With a report from CTV Otawa's Vanessa Lee
