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We had a mild, colourful, and relatively dry October, filled with beer, pretzels, turkey, and more. Check out our top read Ottawa blog features of Octover 2013 if you missed ‘em!

Theses Old Newspaper Clippings From The Ottawa Journal are Fascinating and Racist

Discovered in the walls of an old home, these newspaper clippings from 1919 offer a vivid look to Ottawa and Canada’s past.

A Sober Glance at Beau’s Crazy Oktoberfest Celebration Last Weekend

If you couldn’t make it Beau’s All Natural’s Oktobergest celebration or just forget everything that happened, check out our gallery here!

At Arrow & Loon It’s About Location, Location, Location (& Beer)

The Bear’s Amy Volume weighs in on the Arrow & Loon in the Glebe, dishing on beer, location, and its date-spot potential.

Embrace Mortality at Swizzle’s Café in the Byward Market

I’m not going to claim that his Murray Street café is the best in the city, but his cheap all-day breakfast will sit in your gut in a way that will make you save on lunch and sleep all afternoon.

What Are These Ottawa Entrepreneurs Listening To?

These Ottawa entrepreneurs were kind enough to share with me the music that motivates them and keeps them in the business zone.

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September marked a transition from Summer to Fall, a successful second year of Nuit Blanche, and

Alas, here are our top-read articles from September 2013!

2013 Guide to Nuit Blanche Outdoor Exhibits in the Byward Market

The theme for this year’s Nuit Blanche Ottawa Gatineau was “Supernova,” which reflected the explosion of great exhibits we saw in the the Byward Market.

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Smile at Photos of Ottawans Posing with Oscar Peterson

The sculpture of Canadian jazz legend Oscar Peterson features an extra space on the pianist’s bench just begging for public participation.

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Mayflower Restaurant to Close: The End of a Local Haunt

While reasons remain undisclosed, the beloved Mayflower Restaurant located on Elgin St. has announced that will no longer be open for business come this October.

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Wunderbar! Four Oktoberfest Celebrations in Ottawa

October is almost upon us and there are some great Oktoberfest  festivals happening all over Ottawa beginning this weekend!  The array of Bavarian-inspired food and drink to be had seems endless!

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10 Things To Love About Fall in Ottawa

What is it about dying leaves and cold air that make us so happy when fall blows in? We took to Twitter to ask Ottawa what they loved about Fall in the capital.

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By Ottawa Rickshaws

Another great summer is unofficially done.  With all the awesome summer festivals and events, fun stories we’ve covered over the summer, and important local issues we’ve discussed, we’ve had no shortage of topics to cover on this blog over the past few months.  Here are our five favourite articles from the past month.  There’s definitely a noticeable beer and Byward Market theme – I guess you know what’s on our minds in the summer!

Why Does Ottawa Not Shop for Groceries in the Byward Market Anymore?

By Brian Clarke

We perform a little thought experiment to challenge the idea that is impossible to get one’s daily grocery needs from the Byward Market in today’s Ottawa.

A Review of Star Wars Identities at the Aviation and Space Museum

By Adam Slight

We give a nerd’s perspective of the Star Wars Identities exhibit that was held all summer at the Aviation and Space Museum.

An Interview with Beau’s All Natural Brewing Co. Founder Steve Beauchesne

Interview conducted by Adam Slight

We talk to Beau’s All Natural Brewing Co. founder Steve Beauchesne about a Beau’s newest project, the B-Side Label.

4 Secret Beer Brews to Expect at National Capital Craft Beer Week

By Adam Slight

With the National Capital Craft Beer Week held every August, we looked for some new, exciting and ‘secret’ brews to try from local microbreweries.

My Vision of the Byward Market is…

By Brian Clarke

My ideal vision of the future Byward Market is a series of pedestrian-only roads.  What is yours?

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By Ottawa Rickshaws

Summer is sadly winding down! July, with all its wonderful events and festivals, has always been our favourite month of the year and we're sad its over.  Before moving on to enjoy what's left of the summer, we look back at some highlights from a great month.

Here are five great pieces from July 2013:

Sky Zone: Ottawa’s Playground for Grown-Ups

By Brian Clarke

Photo credit: parentclub.ca

Ottawa's new indoor trampoline park is a great activity for kids, including those grown-up kids.

Disrupting Ottawa’s Culture of Quiet

By Adam Slight

Ottawa has a reputation of being a quiet city; but sometime we take this a little too far.

The Laff’s Drink Menu: Simple and Traditional

By Brian Clarke

Ottawa's Chateau Lafayette is a historical, traditional and laid-back tavern – and their drink menu reflects it.

What Ottawa Looks Like In the Summer

By Adam Slight

By @tmiller613

We decided to throw a little gallery together to show off Ottawa in the summer.

How Condos Could Help Ottawa be More Efficient

By Adam Slight

We argue that the urban sprawl Ottawa suffers and our unwillingness to accept downtown condos put an undue strain on taxpayers and public transportation.

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Photo credit: Ottawa Citizen

By Brian Clarke

This is the first of two parts of an article about an important and frustrating problem we have all experienced: road congestion.  Why is it split into two parts?

Well, in today’s half, I introduce the problem in a somewhat serious tone. It’s not really a new argument, but one that I think we all should be aware of if we are going to deal with the issue.  Tomorrow, in part two, I switch gears and take a bit more of a silly tone in attempt to answer my own questions.

Because that is how I deal with questions that I have no real answer to…

On the one hand, I agree that we Ottawans cannot complain about traffic as much as our neighbours in Toronto and Montreal, however, it is still a recurring problem that seems to rear its ugly head every summer.  With unpredictable weather, tons of construction every summer and a vastly inefficient transit system, our city’s roads can get very congested.

Add our huge suburban sprawl to this and average commute times in Ottawa end up being one of the highest in the country at over 26 minutes. For an idea of how huge our suburban sprawl is, consider that Ottawa has only 300 residents per square kilometer, while other large cities in Canada (Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver) are all well over 4000! Even Winnipeg, Calgary and Edmonton, have a population density of over 1000 – three to four times that of Ottawa.  Is this a case for high-rise condos in Ottawa?

City Hall’s solution to this issue is certainly respectable, albeit a bit utopian: encourage everyone to cycle to work.  They have a vision that by building and improving bike paths and lanes, more people will take a green option to get to work. If you build it, they will come.

As a cyclist, I love this attitude from City Hall.  However, I realize that it is not entirely practical – most people are still going to drive, no matter what.  This simply isn’t Europe – our North American culture is too dependent on cars.

Additionally, as pointed out by Alex Devries of Spacing magazine, there is a bit of a paradox of striving to improve green commuting. The nature of municipal politics and the fact that most electorates are car drivers means that City Hall must try to improve cyclist networks without inconveniencing drivers.

This is why the issue is such a tricky one, and why I have no serious answer.  It’s tough in city politics to make everyone happy.  However, I think all of these related problems – surburban sprawl, inefficient public transit, and road congestion all have the same underlying issue: our overdependence on cars.

If we can somehow become less obsessed with driving, I believe the suburban sprawl would slow down as many people would look for closer options, more pressure, time and resources would be put on improving public transit and most obviously, road congestion would diminish.  The question then becomes, how do we do this?

Before I give my completely ridiculous answer to this question tomorrow (because, again, I don’t have a serious, practical solution), I’d like to give you the chance to chime in.  Share in the comments below or on our Facebook page how you think (if at all) Ottawa can reduce its dependence on cars and consequently its road congestion.

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By Ottawa Rickshaws

Ottawa Tourists: Beware When Taking Pictures in the Market

by: Brian Clarke

Brian had an interesting experience this weekend that can be used as a warning for future Ottawa tourists.

Please, Please, Please Don’t Drive Your Car at The Great Glebe Garage Sale!

by: Adam Slight

The Great Glebe Garage Sale is an awesome Ottawa event – aside from the people who are too lazy to shop outside of their cars.

Regarding Ottawa’s Recent Award as “Most Boring City in Canada”: Some Context

by: Adam Slight

Some context for Ottawa's recent “award” as Most Boring City in Canada.

Ottawa Street Performers Silenced on Voice Amplification Bylaw, Health & Careers at Stake

by: Adam Slight

Paul Perreault performing acrobatics on the street with a microphone, as his doctor has ordered, but against a local bylaw.

We sit down with two Ottawa street performers to discuss the bylaw that is jeopardizing their health, careers, and the economy of the Byward Market.

How Can Ottawa Adopt the #Pesky Identity as a City?

by: Brian Clarke

With the Ottawa Senators being dubbed the 'Pesky Sens' this season, we ask how the city of Ottawa can learn from and adopt the pesky identity.

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By Ottawa Rickshaws

This summer, we will be introducing a new feature on our website and Facebook page: Ottawa Rickshaws Travel Tips.

This won’t be your typical tourism and travel advice.  We want to use our unique pedestrian point of view and the experience we’ve all gained running rickshaws to showcase Ottawa.

Ottawa is a city that is most often shown through one kind of top-down filter or another.  Ottawa Rickshaws Travel Tips are an alternative way to showcase Ottawa – from a rickshaw runner’s point of view.  They are tips for tourists visiting Ottawa, as well as local citizens looking to be a tourist in their own town.  These aren’t activities you’ll see from tour buses or aerial photographs of Ottawa.  Ottawa Rickshaws Travel Tips are designed for the casual Ottawa pedestrian.

Be sure to follow us on Facebook to see our Ottawa Rickshaws Travel Tips, or check out the full gallery here.

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Me bottling my homemade wine at Wine Station.

By Brian Clarke

Everything you read about business and marketing these days revolves around the same ideas: use social media and engage your customers or you will be left in the Dark Age of business marketing.

While I do agree that not using social media sites will leave your business at a competitive disadvantage, I think there is a danger in assuming that if you just set up a Facebook page and Twitter account, your business will be successful.  It’s about what these new tools allow you to do, and what they make easier and cheaper for you to do that is important.

That being said, you don’t need social media to be a social and engaging business.  In other words, it not about the tools you’re using but how you’re using them.

To illustrate this point, I’d like to share the wonderful experience I had with Wine Station, a local Ottawa business in the south end of the city.  Wine Station’s business model is simple: you go to make your own wine. They supply the ingredients, the equipment and most importantly, the knowledge and instructions, while the customer makes their wine.

But how is this social business?

If you read the advice about how to use social media for business, some common tips are: educate your customers about your products, allow your customers to interact and communicate with you, and provide them with a fun engaging experience.  Wine Station did all three without me – the customer – ever going near a computer screen.

They educated me about the wine making process, and explained very clearly what was happening at each step.  They provided an interactive experience, in which I worked with a Wine Station employee and truly felt like I was involved in making the product.  And most importantly, it was fun.  The staff was friendly, knowledgeable and made the experience great.

Our wine-making experience was so fun, we were drinking on the job!

I’d recommend any wine lovers in Ottawa to check out Wine Station and make an order for your own wine. If you drink a lot, it is cheaper in the long run.

However, the moral of this story is that social media tools aren’t a saving grace for any business.  It’s what you do with them that matters.  Using Twitter doesn’t make a business a ‘social business’, but what is behind that Twitter account does: people.  Having good knowledgeable employees who provide customers with good service and an engaging brand experience is what makes a business social.

Whether you use social media or not to achieve this is irrelevant.

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By Ottawa Rickshaws

The summer season has finally arrived, but before packing away our jackets and boots, let’s take a quick look back and some of the most read articles from spring.

8 New & Exciting Things to Look Forward to This Summer in Ottawa

By Adam Slight

We take to Twitter to ask Ottawa what new and exciting things it is looking forward to this summer.

Top 5 Burgers in Ottawa

By Brian Clarke

Looking for a good burger in Ottawa? Brian shares his top five burger joints.

Photo by Brian Clarke

“A Huge Injustice”: Montreal Ikea to Oust Ottawa’s as Largest in North America

By Adam Slight

Montreal is planning to take the crown from Ottawa for having the biggest Ikea in North America. We can’t take this sitting down!

More Reason to be Optimistic about Ottawa’s CFL Team

By Brian Clarke

While perhaps a little too optimistically, we think the signs point to Ottawa’s 3rd CFL franchise being successful.

Photo credit: Canadian Football League | cfl.ca

What Can Ottawa Learn from Toronto’s Condo Boom?

By Adam Slight

We look to Toronto’s condo boom to figure out what we should look out for should Ottawa follow a similar path.

Photo by Marc Massie – www.marcmassie.com

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This month we spoke with Mayor Jim Watson about his social media habits.

By Ottawa Rickshaws

Ottawa Rickshaws Talks Twitter with Mayor Jim Watson

Interview conducted by Adam Slight

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson shares his views and habits surrounding social media, explaining why he’s one of the most active Canadian mayors on Twitter.

An Open Letter to OC Transpo

By Brian Clarke

Brian vents some frustrations with Ottawa’s bus system.

5 Authentic Irish Pubs in Ottawa

By Adam Slight

We profile some of Ottawa’s most authentic Irish pubs in Ottawa.

An Interview with an Ottawa Social Entrepreneur

Interview conducted by Brian Clarke

Star Wars Identities Exhibit comes to Ottawa, Delivering a Force-Choke of Nostalgia With It

By Adam Slight

Popular museum exhibit Star Wars Identities comes to Ottawa this summer at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum.