Sandy Hill, Ottawa

Coordinates: 45°25′30″N 75°40′30″W / 45.42500°N 75.67500°W / 45.42500; -75.67500
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other uses, see Sandy Hill.

Map of Sandy Hill (from OpenStreetMap)

Sandy Hill (

Queensway highway and Nicholas Street. The area is named for its hilliness, caused by the river, and its sandy soil, which makes it difficult to erect large buildings.[1] It is home to a number of embassies, residences and parks. Le Cordon Bleu operates its Canadian school there, at the opposite end of Sandy Hill from the University of Ottawa
.

According to the

2011 Canadian Census, the population of Sandy Hill was 12,490.[2]

History

Sandy Hill was, during the nineteenth and early twentieth century, Ottawa's wealthiest neighbourhood. Originally the estate of Louis-Théodore Besserer, who donated part of this land to University of Ottawa, it was subdivided and became home to most of Ottawa's

lumber barons. When Ottawa became the country's capital, it became home to senior public servants and to the Prime Minister who lived at Stadacona Hall and later at what is now known as Laurier House
.

The construction of bridges over the canal and the introduction of

Radio-Canada
television network drama "La Côte de Sable" was set there, to this day one of the network's only drama set outside Quebec.

The area saw much growth at the end of the

embassies. Many nations still have their embassies in Sandy Hill, including those of Russia and of many African
nations, which are clustered near the Rideau River. Its population dropped by 30% in the '60s and '70s as families fled the dismal urban planning. Currently, there are many students living in the area due to its proximity to the University of Ottawa.

Geography

A pair of houses on Laurier Ave. E. Many of the large older buildings in Sandy Hill have been converted into apartments.

Unusual among modern urban neighbourhoods, Sandy Hill demographics change dramatically within a few blocks. Very wealthy people live near the embassies of the Rideau River, but closer to the university, one finds more students, senior citizens, and new immigrants with more diversified income levels. Housing in the western end of Sandy Hill includes boarding houses, student rental housing, modest privately owned homes and cooperative housing. For example, on Henderson Avenue, a historically Irish working-class sector of Sandy Hill, there are two Housing Cooperatives: Sandy Hill Housing Co-op and St. Georges Housing Cooperative / la Coopérative d'habitation St Georges, a bilingual, multicultural coop, with residents who come from Canada, with neighbours newly arrived from Ghana, DR Congo, Morocco, Rwanda, Burundi, Poland and several Middle Eastern countries. These Coops not only provided attractive low-rise multi-housing mixed income communities but also contributed to the restoration of the heritage homes on this street and won awards for their contribution to Sandy Hill's heritage restoration.

The Sandy Hill area is split about equally between the

transitway
passes by the university.

Sandy Hill is often divided into four areas. North Sandy Hill consists of the area north of

Second World War
, though there are a number of much older structures. The far south of neighbourhood below Mann Avenue is an area known as Strathcona Heights. This area is much smaller geographically than the other two but is as densely populated. It consists almost entirely of low-rise apartment buildings that are either subsidised housing or co-operatives. This area was completely redeveloped in the early 1990s. The area below the Strathcona Heights escarpment, near the Rideau River, is known as Robinson village. It was cut off from other neighbourhoods when highways were built, and contains low-rise houses and light industrial uses.

Notable sites

Strathcona Park (Ottawa)

Notable residents

See also:
list of University of Ottawa alumni

By virtue of its proximity to Parliament Hill, many past residents of Sandy Hill have been politicians.

Embassies

The large homes built by the lumber barons are today popular locations for embassies and many countries are represented in the neighbourhood:

  • Algerian embassy
    (Fleck/Paterson House)
  • Austrian embassy
  • Brazilian embassy
  • Bruneian embassy
    (Stadacona Hall)
  • Bulgarian embassy
  • Burkinabé embassy
  • Congolese embassy
  • Ivoirian embassy
  • Croatian embassy
    (Toller House)
  • Gabonian embassy
  • Guinean embassy
  • Jamaican High Commission
  • Kenyan High Commission
  • Malian embassy
  • Moroccan embassy
  • Myanma embassy
  • Nigerien embassy
  • Pakistani High Commission
  • Polish embassy
  • Russian embassy
  • Senegalese embassy
  • Serbian embassy
  • Sudanese embassy
  • Swiss embassy
  • Tanzanian High Commission
  • Togolese embassy
  • Ugandan High Commission
  • Venezuelan embassy
  • Vietnamese embassy

Churches

See also

  • List of Ottawa neighbourhoods

References

  1. ^ Exploring Ottawa: an architectural guide to the nation's capital. Harold Kalman and John Roaf. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1983. pg. 62
  2. ^ Population calculated by combining Census Tracts 5050014.00, 5050050.00, 5050051.00, 5050052.00 and Dissemination Areas 35061793 and 35061791 whilst removing Dissemination areas 35061798 and 35061020
  3. ^ "Julian Armour - Lifelong Learning Program". carleton.ca. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
  4. ^ "Ed Broadbent at Broadbent Institute". Broadbent Institute. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
  5. ^ "Lester B. Pearson | Biography & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
  6. ^ Redmond, Gerry (October 25, 1973). "City Westwick loved returns that love". Ottawa Journal. Ottawa, Ontario. p. 21.Free access icon
  • Exploring Ottawa: an architectural guide to the nation's capital. Harold Kalman and John Roaf. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1983.

External links

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