15-Minute Neighbourhoods in Hunt Club
Feb 6, 2021 - By John D. ReidAccording to the City draft Official Plan a 15-minute neighbourhood is where you can walk to get to the grocery store, where you can easily walk to frequent transit, and where children can safely walk to school. You can access most of your day-to-day needs within a 15-minute walk from your home, including when using a wheelchair or other mobility aids, on sidewalks or pathways.
The City Public Health department gets more specific, with the 5C’s of healthy communities with some community design features that promote healthy built environments.
- Compact and Complete
○ A diverse and compact mix of housing options for all ages and incomes, with shops and services, access to healthy food options, schools, employment, public transit, and open green spaces that can promote walking and social connectedness by making it easy to get out and meet.
- Connected
○ Safe, complete streets and transportation networks that promote walking, cycling and transit use, making it easy and pleasant to get around.
- Cool
○ Parks, trees and green spaces provide shade and improve air quality, making the community cooler, and promoting active living and positive mental health.
- Convivial
○ Attractive and lively public and community spaces where people can easily connect with each other and with day-to-day services make communities vibrant and livable.
The built environment is shaped by policies and regulations, planners, engineers, developers, governments, elected officials and engaged community members. As shown on the map, from a planner’s perspective the whole of our community association area, from the Plante Drive and the Airport Parkway to the east to Kimberwick Crescent and the Rideau River to the west, can be covered by three 15-minute neighbourhoods.
To the west, Quinterra and Hunt Club Woods are serviced by the commercial area on Riverside from Uplands to Rivergate Way. It has restaurants and greenspace but lacks food shops, schools, and is divided by the Riverside commuter route.
The Hunt Club Riverside Park Community Centre and adjacent shopping area are the focus for the central 15-minute walkable area. It is serviced by two bus routes. There is even a library facility although falling far short of providing full branch service.
The eastern area has schools, is within 15 minutes of the South Keys shopping district and rapid transit service. It is covered by the South Keys Secondary Plan in the draft official plan.
With the exception of that eastern area, the draft official plan does not anticipate all aspects of 15-minute walkable communities becoming a reality for our association area for many years, at least until the housing stock reaches the end of life. On the positive side the community is well served by greenspace.
How does the neighbourhood within a 15-minute walk of your home meet these criteria? By putting your address into the free app at https://app.traveltime.com/ you can review your own 15-minute walkable area. Do the facilities it offers meet your needs? A nearby school may not be significant if you are a senior. Let us know about your 15-minute walkable community and any improvements you would like by sending at email to info@hunt-club.ca/.