I live in Carlington, Ottawa, which is within the traditional territory of the Algonquin people. According to Wikipedia, Ottawa became habitable around 10,000 years ago following the retreat of glacial waters, and the first Indigenous peoples settled in the area approximately 6,500 years ago. Algonquin people used the nearby Ottawa River for fishing, hunting, and cultural activities. The name “Ottawa” comes from the Algonquin adawe, meaning “to trade”, proving the significance of Ottawa as a trading hub. For centuries, the Algonquin people travelled through the region using the Ottawa and Rideau Rivers, portaging around obstacles like the Chaudière Falls as they moved along these traditional waterways. The first recorded European to witness the falls was French explorer Étienne Brûlé in 1610, who also had to portage past them to continue inland. Permanent European settlement in the area didn’t begin until 1800 when Philemon Wright established a village on the north shore of the Ottawa River near the falls.1

Like many parts of Ontario, the natural environment of Ottawa has been shaped by a mix of native species and those introduced through European settlement. The native flora of the Ottawa area includes trees such as maples, oaks, birches, and pines, along with wildflowers like milkweed and trilliums. The native fauna includes deer, moose, bears, wolves, beavers, raccoons, and foxes, as well as birds such as woodpeckers and herons, and amphibians like frogs and salamanders that thrive in the wetlands. Europeans, on the other hand, brought with themselves some invasive species such as Starling, house sparrow, Zebra mussels, and Round Goby and also Bukthotorn, Phragmites, and garlic mustard.2 3 4

The neighbourhood I live in, Carlington,  was built in the 1920s, and the bigger portion of homes were built after World War II as part of the Wartime Housing Limited program under the leadership of Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King and  C.D. Howe, ”the Minister of Everything”. These homes were to address the housing shortage and accommodate returning veterans, hence the reason these homes are often called “war homes” or “veteran homes”. These homes included a mix of detached and semi-detached ones, designed with simplicity and functionality. The architectural style is often referred to as “Strawberry Box”. Carlington is also home to Ottawa’s first shopping centre: Westgate Shopping Centre, built in 1955, which has a plain exterior design and offers ample parking for families shopping. The target market seems to be middle-class families and the Carlington neighbourhood. Today, the interior seems old, and the retail activities are shrinking. Ottawa has moved farther west, and the emergence of bigger box stores and malls such as Bayshore Shopping Centre has marginalized the old Westgate Mall. The Carlington itself is aging, and in recent years, new apartment projects have replaced some of the older ones. 5

The Carlington neighbourhood is home to Carlington Woods and Carlington Hill—a 22-hectare area designated as an Urban Natural Area by the City of Ottawa. It offers a rich and diverse natural habitat, supporting a variety of plant and animal life. Carlington Woods features alvar ecosystems, a type of ecosystem characterized by shallower soils over bedrock, in this case, limestone. Today, Alvar environments are extremely rare in Ontario because they were and are in areas where humans quarry. The woods face ecological pressure from invasive species such as buckthorn, and local groups actively remove these invasives to protect native species. Carlington Woods is also home to birds, squirrels, and native insects. Vernal pools—areas that fill up with water to create ponds in shoulder seasons, or after wet weather—still exist, providing habitat, food, and breeding conditions for several species, including salamanders. In addition to foxes and increased coyote sightings, ravens are commonly seen, and barn swallows can be spotted darting along Carlington Hill throughout the warmer months. 6

There is also a community garden in the area with five raised beds, which offers families space to grow vegetables and native plants. What’s more, a recent installation of a stormwater management system has helped reduce runoff and erosion near trails and woodlands. Carlington Hill, which is just to the north side of the Woods, was a limestone quarry for the first half of the 20th century, and then later was used as a landfill. In 1965, a ski hill was constructed and named after Anne Heggtveit, who won Canada’s first Olympic gold medal in alpine skiing. The hill was eventually closed in 1987. Today, the hill is home to a city water reservoir and serves as a recreational area, including trails, sledding hills, and a bike pump track. 7