10 things Ottawa can learn from Washington, DC

I’ve recently returned from Washington,DC, which has given me a whole list of ideas and inspiration for how Ottawa can improve, both from and tourism perspective, and for everyday people living in the city.

1. The National Mall

The National Mall, a giant park between the Lincoln Memorial and Capital Hill, was the place that impressed me the most during my visit to the Capital. The park is gigantic, it took probably an hour to walk from one end to the other. It features tourist attractions like the Washington Monument, food trucks and drink stands, and lots of options for recreation. I saw probably thousands of people walking, running, biking, scootering, playing frisbee, soccer, and even a full blown baseball tournament going on.

Ottawa’s closest equivalent currently would probably be Major’s Hill Park, but I think Queen Elizabeth Drive has huge potential if it’s ever turned into a National Urban Park. The Summer Zone is certainly a good start.

2. Invest in cleaning and maintenance

The first thing I noticed when in Washington is how clean everything is. Clearly a ton of money is being spent on maintaining and beautifying the city. From garbage cans being emptied, to streets being swept, to gardening, it’s clear a lot of pride and money is put into presenting this as the centre of what many Americans consider the “greatest country in the world”. 

This is exactly why I don’t think Ottawa can or would maintain themselves to the same high standard. The NCC does a lot of great things, but Canadians are much less patriotic and more understated, and I’m not sure they see the country-wide value in keeping Canada’s capital immaculate.

3. Free Museums

In Washington, DC all federal museums were free. London, England provides free museum admissions as well. I know Canada provides free admission on Thursday nights, but I’d love to see them invest in free admission at all times. I’d assume the bump in tourism and the opportunity to educate and inspire national pride would be well worth the cost.

4. Street Trees

From downtown to the further out areas, every part of Washington I visited had a ton of street trees. Street trees provide shade, cleaner air, and help boost property values. They’re also just really nice to look at.

Ottawa needs to do a better job of planting more trees, and protecting the trees it has, especially in Centretown.

5. Useful Transit

Washington’s Metro system proved to be incredibly useful during my trip. I got to my hotel downtown from the airport without any transfers, and had no issues taking the metro to the suburbs and back, with minimal transfer times. The train was standing room only when I rode around at 5pm. All the stations I got off at were in built up areas with stores and dense housing nearby, although I didn’t ride every line or check out every station so can’t comment perfectly. However, I’m pretty confident the system is much more practical than Ottawa’s stations in the middle of the highway or the soon to open airport train that will require not one, but likely two transfers to get downtown.

Bonus points to Washington for having painted bus lanes, something I’d love to see Ottawa implement.

6. Beautiful Stations

Besides just having reliable trains, the stations in Washington were absolutely beautiful.

Ottawa’s stations are the worst of both worlds. Big enough that they were not inexpensive to build and take up a lot of space, but still most stations do not provide warmth or true protection from the elements.

In many cases Ottawa’s LRT may be too far along to improve stations, but it’s something to keep in mind for if Phase 3 ever happens, and for when maintaining current stations.

7. Bike Share

Washington had both bike share options and e-scooter options. There were both bike share corrals and bikes that you could park anywhere. I think it’s nice to provide options, and I didn’t see any parking significant parking issues in the week I spent there.

Ottawa still doesn’t have a bike share, although they have had tried twice in the past, with not nearly enough bikes. They are planning to perform a feasibility study in 2025. In my opinion, considering how many North American and Canadian cities have already done bike share successfully, Ottawa should just go ahead and start one.

8. Quick Urbanism Improvements

Washington had a lot of quick and small improvements that make city living better, like flex post traffic calming, road paint, and what appeared to be parking spot patios.

I’d like to see Ottawa get much more adaptable and aggressive in how they calm traffic and provide space for active transportation and visitors.

9. Incredibly Walkable

Despite having a huge amount of traffic, and many stroads, Washington was very walkable.

Basically everything is mixed use and a lot of the government buildings, museums, and other touristy things are close together, so as long as you don’t mind the heat it’s very easy to walk to most of your destinations. I know Washington is near many other suburbs, like Arlington or Tacoma Park, but the city itself seemed pretty small and everywhere I saw was surprisingly built up and dense. Even on my visit to what I’d consider a suburb, I had no issue taking the subway and then walking.

Although the pedestrian signals in Washington were incredibly long, one thing they did have which I’m hoping Ottawa adopts, is no pedestrian beg buttons in busy pedestrian areas. The just assumes someone wants to walk. I know this is something Councillor Ariel Trotter has said before she’d like to explore in Centretown.

10. Missing Middle Housing

Washington has it’s own problem with a lack of highrises, and what appears to me to be a huge affordability crisis and dwelling shortage (don’t ask how much my hotel costed), but it’s mid-rise housing is beautiful and basically everywhere. 

Ottawa is doing a decent job now of building high-rises, which I’m hoping will help with affordability, but I hope to see more missing middle housing as well. Diversity of housing options provides more options when renting and buying, and an interesting environment to look at when walking or travelling around the neighbourhood.

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