MoveIn Status
Praying for a team.

Firsthand
Many kids live in Bayshore North – at least, judging by the amount of kid-sized bicycles lying (or being ridden) around, not to mention strollers parked just outside people’s front doors. If you were to visit this patch, a quick look around would reveal a huge amount of the row housing, a Middle Eastern grocery store at the strip mall, bits of graffiti that were clearly drawn up by children, and a handful of 12-storey apartment buildings in the northernmost section.

The Landscape
Bayshore North is just a hop, skip, and jump away from the 12-screen Famous Players Coliseum, numbered among Ottawa’s largest movie venues. There’s a lot of increased traffic in the area on Carling Avenue around showtimes as folks from around the area come to catch a flick. There are numerous commercial outlets at the Lake Side plaza, including the aforementioned Middle Eastern supermarket, but also a Chinese restaurant, a tailor, a driving school, and a barbecue restaurant called “Schawarma”.

Bayshore is a large community in Ottawa’s far west end, right near the shores of the Ottawa River. The larger Bayshore neighbourhood extends from Carling Avenue in the north to Richmond Drive and the Queensway (Highway 417) in the south, and from Holly Acres Road in the west to Ridgevalley Road in the east. Bayshore is home to one of Ottawa’s largest malls, Bayshore Shopping Centre, and one of Ottawa’s largest theatres, the Famous Players Coliseum. In and around the neighbourhood are many Catholic and public schools, as well as numerous churches, community and recreation centres set up to serve those who live in it. A couple of other parks are just outside the Bayshore area such as Judge Park and Andrew Haydon Park, providing beautiful greenspace and excellent recreation opportunities. This is a working class neighbourhood, home to a wide diversity of cultures including Arab, Caribbean, Somali, Sudanese, East Indian, Afghani, and many more. Despite consisting primarily of two streets, Bayshore Drive and Woodridge Crescent, Bayshore has a remarkably high population, due in large part to its very high-density housing.¹

The People
In the larger Bayshore community of which this patch is a part:²

• The population in 2006 numbered 7,535
• The population density is 6,244 people per square kilometre compared with Ottawa’s 198 people/km² average
• A full 50% of those older than 15 are legally married
• Two-thirds (68%) of the families in the area are led by a married couple
• Apartment buildings comprise 61% of the total dwellings, with row housing comprising 32%
• A clear majority (81%) of the housing in the area is rented, as opposed to owned
• The mother tongues of 59% of those who live here are something other than English or French, and 40% of the population speak neither official language at home, hinting at a large immigrant population
• These hints are confirmed, as fully 52% of the population is identified as immigrant and 40% of those have arrived since 2001, many of whom are not yet Canadian citizens.
• Of those over the age of 15 who are employed, 35% take public transit to their jobs
• About 56% of the population are visible minorities, with just over a quarter of them being South Asian and other major groups including Arab, black, and Chinese

The History
Bayshore was originally conceived as “Canada’s first country-club style rental community.” Styled after a development originally observed near Houston, Texas it launched as a part of the former city of Nepean in 1963 as a high class 2,400-unit rental development and had such amenities as tennis courts, swimming pools, and a clubhouse for tenants. Named after Sir Evan Nepean, the city itself was established in 1792 on the Rideau River, incorporated as a city in 1978, and amalgamated into the city of Ottawa in 2001. The area continues to be called Nepean, and Bayshore remains a key community within it despite being a hotbed for crime – numerous criminal incidents have occurred even since the start of this year (2009).³

The Challenge
The north patch of Bayview needs to hear about Jesus, and see him living through his people. Will you be one of those people? Would you be willing to move in?

Sources
¹www.ottawaliving.ca and rapdict.org
²All statistics in the section taken from the Census tract profile for 0138.00 (CT), Ottawa-Gatineau (CMA) and Ontario
³en.wikipedia.org and www.ottawacitizen.com