Orleans Weekly Journal
Published: Friday, November 2, 2007 

Robinson's top reasons for living in Orléans 

Welcome to Orléans Outtakes – hopefully this column will inform, provoke, perhaps irritate … but always entertain you. Today let’s look at my list of top five things about living in Orléans and conversely, the top five things that aren’t so great.

Let’s start with the good stuff.

#5: When driving (or taking the bus) on the 174 and 417 into the core the sun is never in your eyes, especially on those spring/fall morning and evening commutes when the days are shortened.

#4: I’m no fan of Trudeau’s legacy, but Orléans is a living testament to the ideals of a bilingual and bicultural community. Add in our growing ethnic diversity and we have a dynamic and enriching ethnocultural mix.

#3: Gabriel Pizza, which is now a city-wide icon. Even a thin crust medium with low-fat cheese and sauce still beats all other competitors.

#2: Our accessible and reasonable elected officials serving at all levels. They don’t grab the headlines and that’s a good thing; they quietly go about their business to represent our interests. Compared to the ideological, quote-me-daily, zany idea politicians that some other parts of the city have elected, we are very fortunate.

And #1: Our public schools are very, very good . . . French, English, public or Catholic, they continue to rank high in educational attainment when compared to their peers across the province.

Now for the not so good stuff.

#5: While the sun is always at the back of our heads, driving to a Sens game from Trim Road is painful. Scotiabank Place is basically in another area code!

#4: Yes we have good take out/order in options, but the variety of eat-in restaurants is less than stellar. We need more family-run, unique dining options alongside new upscale franchise offerings.

#3: Have you ever tried to book extended family members into that hotel on Tenth Line, St. Joseph or Innes when your house is bursting at the seams? Oops, silly me, we don’t have a hotel or even a mid-size conference facility to hold a charity fundraising dinner for 200 or more people.

This leads me to number #2 in the “needs work” area, economic development. This is still a community where we live and play, but for the most part don’t work. Local stats show 0.8 jobs local for each household compared to higher numbers for other parts of the city. With over 110,000 citizens we are a huge bedroom community and much work remains to be done to attract 21st century value added jobs and an increased government presence to our side of the city.

And finally, #1 is the blight of litter and graffiti. One graffiti tag on a mailbox, bus shelter or cable box is one too many. Ditto for the litter lining our major streets. We can all do better – individuals, businesses, the city, the utilities, Canada Post, etc. – in this area for sure.

Am I bang on or way off base? Send your comments to the editor of the Weekly Journal at orleansouttakes@transcontinental.ca. 

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Walter Robinson is the former chief of staff to Mayor Larry O’Brien and a proud Orléans (Fallingbrook-Pineridge) resident. His column will appear each week.