People’s Park in Old Ottawa East has long stood as a valuable green space along the Rideau River where residents walk, picnic, relax, cycle, and enjoy the outdoors. For years, the park was threatened by an old plan to build a freeway through it — the Alta Vista Transportation Corridor (AVTC). That plan has now been formally removed from the city’s updated Transportation Master Plan (TMP), meaning the freeway will no longer pass through the park.
With that threat gone, new proposals are now surfacing: parts of People’s Park are reportedly being considered for housing development as Ottawa deals with growing demand for homes
This shift marks a turning point. The community—and the city—faces a tough decision: preserve what remains one of the rare open-greenspaces in a densifying neighbourhood, or re-use part of the land to offer much-needed housing near transit and services.
What’s driving the housing push
Ottawa is under pressure to increase housing supply. The need for more housing — including affordable and market-rate units — has pushed the city and planners to explore all available land for development, including parcels within existing urban areas.
In that context, land like People’s Park — close to transit (because of proximity to transit corridors in Old Ottawa East) and existing neighbourhood amenities — is seen by some as an efficient way to add housing without expanding the city outward. Advocates of densification argue that redevelopment of underused or under-zoned urban parcels can help Ottawa meet its housing targets faster.
From a planning perspective, embedding housing near services and transport helps promote walkable, transit-oriented communities, reduces sprawl, and supports more sustainable urban growth.
What could be lost — and why many oppose development
People’s Park is more than empty land. For many residents it is:
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A green lungs for the community — an open space for recreation, family time, nature, and direct contact with the Rideau River, at a time when accessible parkland is shrinking.
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A critical amenity for neighbours in a part of the city that is facing increasing residential densification. The park offers something hardest to replicate: unstructured open space, fresh air, and a sense of community that built environments cannot always deliver.
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A symbol of resident advocacy and hope: the removal of the freeway plan was celebrated as a community victory, a signal that advocacy and public voice can influence city planning.
Developing the park (even partially) could jeopardize these values — many worry that replacing green space with housing would erode quality of life, reduce public access to nature, and permanently alter the character of the neighbourhood.
The trade-off: housing supply vs community space
This situation highlights a broader challenge faced by many growing cities: balancing urgent housing needs with preserving green space and community character. On one hand, building housing on existing urban land can help meet demand quickly, use infrastructure efficiently, and reduce urban sprawl. On the other hand, overdevelopment risks losing precious public spaces and weakening community wellbeing, especially when densification is concentrated in older neighbourhoods.
What happens in People’s Park could set a precedent — for how the city treats other parks, public lands, and community-valued open spaces. It poses the question: do we prioritize maximum housing units, or do we preserve open spaces as part of the urban fabric that provides quality of life, mental health, and environmental benefits?