Call in the night mayor? Ottawa seeks out plans to improve 'nightlife' economy as industry calls for better collaboration on transportation, safety – Ottawa Citizen

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The City of Ottawa is reviewing proposals to improve its ‘nightlife’ economy in hopes of better positioning Canada’s capital as the ideal place to both work and play.

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“Cities with vibrant nightlife economies are able to differentiate themselves from other places,” city economic development officer Jamie Hurst said in an interview, citing benefits that flow from  a vibrant nightlife like improved job creation, talent attraction, economic growth and tourism.

In October, the city solicited requests for proposals to design a “nightlife economic strategy,” with a deadline of Nov. 2. The city confirmed Thursday that it had received three proposal submissions and its budget to develop the strategy would be $75,000.

For the most part, Ottawa has focused on economic activities that happen during the day, according to Hurst, leaving nightlife to be managed in a “much less formal manner.”

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Creating an “umbrella” strategy that considers all the players involved in the city nightlife works much better than leaving it to individual businesses to do “their own thing,” said Jantine Van Kregten, Ottawa Tourism’s director of communications.

The city’s nightlife scene involves “a really unique overlap of groups that don’t always talk to each other,” she said.

“This is kind of the sweet spot (between industries).”

Van Kregten says Ottawa’s nightlife has much to offer, but it takes more digging to find than in bigger cities like Toronto or Montreal, leaving it very under-appreciated.

“Those in the know … know places to go, but I think we can all as a city do better in sharing those hidden gems and make them not so hidden anymore,” she said.

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Having an inventory of these “hidden gems” is something Van Kregten believes will tremendously benefit the city’s strategy.

Tony Elenis, president and CEO of the Ontario Restaurant, Hotel and Motel Association, said any nightlife strategy must prioritize public safety and take into account residential communities that play host to businesses relying on nighttime customers.

“For a successful night economy, it has to have public safety, public health and the vibrancy all packaged and executed well.”

Elenis said cooperation between the various stakeholders like the arts, music, entertainment and restaurant sectors with residential communities would be vital to the success of the city’s nightlife strategy.

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This cooperation is important because of conflicts that arise between residential communities and businesses. Any nightlife scene will produce noise, Elenis said, disturbing residents in the area, which can lead to complaints.

The presence of a “night mayor” or some person of authority on these type of issues would be very helpful to the strategy, he added.

Van Kregten agrees.

“That concept really appeals to me personally, having a symbolic head of that part of the industry that can smooth things over,” she said.

Conflicts between residents and crowds are inevitable, “so someone who can stick-handle that and build those relationships so that you can address issues before they get out of control … would be an important part of the plan,” Van Kregten said.

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For Elenis, transportation is another major component to ensuring the success of the strategy, saying “a fully functional transportation system is a key ingredient that makes a great city, whether it is nightlife or not.”

He’s proposing having businesses partner with taxis to change rates and adjust peak hours to better accommodate the nightlife scene.

Van Kregten says cooperating with transit and transportation players is “an important part of the puzzle,” as people going out to drink need to have options to get back home safely.

“If you’re going to go out for an evening’s enjoyment and you want to be responsible and maybe have a drink or two, but not drive back, then your options are limited,” she acknowledged.

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Alok Sharma is the manager of tourism for the City of Toronto, which has been implementing its own nightlife action plan since 2019.

Despite the COVID-19 lockdowns of the past nearly two years, that city has found ways to hold events and seek out opportunities for the nightlife economy.

For instance, the city has recently taken to hosting City Hall Live Spotlight, which features weekly on-stage performances from local artists that are streamed online.

“We tried to figure out a way that we could support artists, but also give a love, shine a spotlight, if you will, on iconic venues,” Sharma said.

Elenis believes Ottawa can hold similar events.

“You’ve got hubs like Little Italy, and the ByWard Market that you can design to be festivals over time,” he said.

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Sharma recommended establishing, at the beginning of the process of creating a nightlife plan, an external group of people who are industry members to provide guidance. This group would include venue operators, DIY and commercial event producers, anti-sexual harassment organizers, arts organizations and artists.

“I think, as a city, or city government, you don’t want to pretend that you know, everything that needs to be done, I think it’s really important to have those consultations and to to make sure that you’re working in lockstep with the industry to ensure that whatever the outcome is, it is going to be beneficial for the industry,” he said.

As the process starts in Ottawa, Hursts said there’s palpable excitement among those involved with the city’s nightlife economy.

“The feedback that we’re receiving from the broader Ottawa community is that they too are really excited to have this conversation about Ottawa’s nightlife,” he said.

“So, we look forward to seeing what comes out of this work and then collectively move forward as a community to grow and develop Ottawa’s nightlife economy.”