Bank Street

Answering the question on Reddit r/Ottawa, "What is your favorite part of Ottawa?"

Bank Street

For me, it has been everything up and down Bank Street (when I was young I lived in Metcalfe and for me Ottawa *was* Bank Street). 

- Vernon, where my Grandmother lived, 

- Spring Hill, where my father and brother rest now, 

- Ernie's on what was then highway 31, where I worked as a breakfast cook, 

- the Old Ottawa sign, 

- the Quarry where we swam on what is now John Quinn Road at Stone School Road, 

- Leo's Livestock, where the Metcalfe Walk would begin, 

- Greely, 

- Rideau-Carleton Raceway (where I once worked; I'd walk to Bank Street and hitchhike home), 

- the old K-Mart in Blossom Park (now a FarmBoy - big improvements), 

- the Conroy Pit (and the rest of the Green Belt), 

- shwarma corner at Hunt Club Road, 

- the old McDomalds at Alta Vista Plaza (across from where I bought my first car), 

- Canadian Tire at Heron, 

- Wild Birds Unlimited, 

- and the big Bell Building across the street (where I worked for Nortel for a summer), 

- Billings Bridge (my first bank account) 

- and across the road, the Bank Street Professional Centre (where a broker swung a mortgage for me), 

- the old Harvey's (I'll miss it), 

- Rideau River, 

- Chef's Paradise (if you saw my girth you'd understand), 

- Patty's Pub, 

- no more telephone poles on the road (I hit one on a bicycle just where Giant Cycle is now, wrecked my bike and went to the hospital for a few hours), 

- Ottawa Public Library (used to be a pool place where I'd hang out and smoke cigars), 

- the Canal (so many memories), 

- Lansdowne Park (where I worked 1975-1979 and am back now as a RedBlacks season ticket holder), 

- Glebe Centre (where I worked and where I hope I'm at in my late 80s), 

- Kettleman's Bagel (which was a Subway when Subway was good), 

- Bridgehead (good coffee, fair trade), 

- Joe Mamma (where I bought my bicycle that took me to Rimouski), 

- Patterson Creek, 

- the old Greyhound Station, 

- Museum of Nature (On O'Conner), 

- the Rialto Theatre (long gone, but where I'd watch movies all day for 50 cents), 

- James Street (where I used to live, and much later, James Street Pub), 

- Barrymore's (when it was great), 

- Cue & Cushion (where I would meet my dealer), 

- the Somerset Hotel (where my father stayed, an old-style pub, and what is now Gay Square), 

- Henry's (where I've spent a small fortune on camera gear), 

- Cooper Street (where I lived, across the street from the church that is now a theatre, on O'Conner), 

- L'Esplanade Laurier (beautiful while buildings, the Sugar Bowl, the egg restaurant), 

- the Jack Layton Building, 

- the Jackson Building (where I worked when I was in College), 

- the classy pool hall on the second floor at Bank and Sparks (where the Howard Jewellers is), 

- Sparks Street itself, 

- the Confederation Building (where I met my childhood M.P., Walter Baker, and he took us to the Parliamentary cafeteria), 

- Parliament Hill to the right, 

- and the Ottawa River. 

And then there's the day I walked every inch of it, from Molly McGuire's on Rideau Street, where I stayed after the last bus, all the way to where I lived as a 16 year-old in Metcalfe, walking past Greely on a cold winter day, singing Piano Man at the top of my lungs and swinging my arms to stay warm, arriving home with the dawn.

Bank Street has always taken second place, never as upscale as Rideau Street, never as low class as the Market, but it was mine, I loved every inch of it, and I still do (even though it really needs a tram and less traffic).