East Side Love is Living on the West End

Hi Everyone.

As you may know, my fiancé just bought a courthome in Kanata – a beautiful 3 bedroom home with a basement and full backyard. We will be living about 10-12 minutes from downtown, and 5 minutes from major shopping centres, surrounded by tons of green space and a great sense of community. The only downside to this is that we are going to have to make an adjustment – we are used to the East side of town! About 4 years ago we purchased a 2 bedroom condo off of Jeanne D’Arc Blvd and lived there for about 2 ½ years and LOVED IT. We were walking distance to the mall, had a park in front AND in back of us, transit outside of our door, and even Tony’s Pizza right beside us that would make the best pizzas, burgers and subs in town. All of her friends are on the East side, and most of her family as well – not to mention mine too!

So what are we getting ourselves into? Well lets have a look at the two towns and see how we fair.

Orleans is a suburban area about 16km from downtown Ottawa with 95,491 people as of 2006 (11.5% increase over 5 years). Orleans has Place D’Orleans as its major shopping centre and even has Petrie Island for those hot summer days to go hit the beach. There are not really any social hot spots in Orleans – perhaps maybe a lonely pub or two. Orleans has however seen a massive increase in residential development in the past year or two, and the Queenswood Heights area now boasts a Wal-Mart, Superstore, Sobeys, Future Shop and new Canadian Tire to complement its existing Home Depot and Staples. Furthermore, many eateries have popped up including Boston Pizza, Montana’s and (drum roll…..) WENDYS. Who can forget the Shawarma Chef tucked away behind the MacDonald’s on Innes and Trim? So business appears to be booming in Orleans – what about Kanata?

Kanata is also a suburban area that is about 22 km from downtown Ottawa with 85,112 people as of 2006, which represented a 20% increase over 5 years! Kanata is home to the high-tech sector and a variety of big name enterprises. Kanata was designed as a mix of commercial and residential properties which contain a great amount of green space and is surrounded by the greenbelt. A major difference with Kanata is that it is comprised of many smaller sub-communities that each contains their own commercial centres and unique cultures. My new neighbourhood, Beaverbrook, is located right beside the greenbelt and is minutes from the Kanata Centrum power centre, Ottawa’s third largest shopping centre, and the AMC Kanata 24 Theatre complex. We are home to Canadian billionaire Terry Mathews and (one of my favourites) about 10 minutes away from getting out of my house and into the ScotiaBank Place! Kanata boasts a plethora of Elementary, Catholic, French Catholic and French Immersion Schools (over 20!). I know , I know, that only matters to people that HAVE children, but I AM getting married in 4 months – and kids could (hopefully) soon follow!

All in all, I would say Kanata is very much like Orleans. They are both suburban areas at approximately the same distance to downtown Ottawa, and they each have both have seemingly booming economies. What excites me about Kanata is the variety of local stores and outlets, and the amount of green space surrounding my neighbourhood. Also, I I am just out of earshot of the highway, so I can hop right on in under a minute! Best part you ask? NEW TOWN! There is nothing wrong with Orleans AT ALL… I love it dearly, but I am an adventurer, and the thought of new faces, new streets, new activities and new challenges excites me.

How do you guys feel about East VS West ends?