Bravo, Montreal! But Ottawa's streets need a greener look

Although Montreal is bigger, it seems to be excelling at making the urban landscape greener than Ottawa does.

A member of the Greenspace Alliance of Canada's Capital, Ann Coffey, recently wrote:

"Every time I go to Montreal, I find new patches of green, new biodiversity

enhancement projects, more community gardens and green lanes, more trees, and streets narrowed at intersections with gardens instead of concrete or asphalt -- many community-driven and a lot of "ordinary" people out planting and looking after them. This is the kind of thing that happens when you ALLOW people to be involved in greening their city.

"Last week I came across an urban park along the Lachine Canal where some of the spaces in between the properly designed desire lines had been planted with trees, and where the grass and flowering "weeds" around them were left to grow wild. They were alive with the sounds of insects and birds. What a contrast to Ottawa's city parks that are for the most part empty rectangles of grass!"

Another set of Ottawa eyes, after returning from Montreal, posted photographs to his blog to demonstrate how it's done.

I am in favour a new way of thinking at the city of Ottawa. We must do better. The birds, the the rabbits and the bees are depending on us.