Centretown West, also known as West Centretown or Dalhousie is a neighbourhood in Somerset Ward in central

Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

, Canada. It is home to the city's

Little Italy Little Italy is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an Urban area, urban neighborhood. The concept of "Little Italy" holds many different aspects of the Italian cul ...

and

Chinatown Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, O ...

enclaves. The Ottawa Neighbourhood Study defines the neighbourhood as lying to the west of

Bronson Avenue Bronson Avenue ( Ottawa Road #79) is a major north-south arterial road in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It starts at the south end as a continuation of the Airport Parkway, which is an expressway to the Macdonald-Cartier International Airport. It c ...

and LeBreton Street South (south of the Queensway), to the east of

O-Train The O-Train is a light rail system in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, operated by OC Transpo. The O-Train system consists of three lines, all of which are fully Grade separation, grade-separated. As of March 2025, one line is currently being extended an ...

Line 2, north of

Carling Avenue Carling Avenue is a major east–west arterial road in the west end of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It runs from March Road in Kanata to Bronson Avenue in the Glebe. The road is named for John Carling, founder of Carling Brewery and Conservative M ...

, and south of Scott Street, near Nanny Goat Hill. To the east lies

Centretown Centretown is a neighbourhood in Somerset Ward, in central Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is defined by the city as "the area bounded on the north by Gloucester Street and Lisgar Street, on the east by the Rideau Canal, on the south by the Qu ...

, to the north lies Lebreton Flats, to the west lies Hintonburg, and to the south lies

Dow's Lake Dow's Lake in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada is a small man-made lake on the Rideau Canal, situated two kilometres north of Hog's Back Falls in the middle of Ottawa. It is at the southern end of Preston Street, just south of Carling Avenue, and just ...

. At its narrowest definition, the neighbourhood's northern boundary is Somerset and its southern boundary is the Queensway. Historically, the area was part of

Dalhousie Ward Dalhousie Ward (pronounced or ) is a former ward in the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was created in 1888 when it was annexed by Ottawa from Nepean Township, becoming Ottawa's eighth ward. It was merged with Wellington Ward in 1994 to becom ...

until 1994. The community association for the area is the Dalhousie Community Association. The local food bank is the Dalhousie Food Cupboard.

Nomenclature

Some area residents reject the name Centretown West as not reflecting the area's history. The City of Ottawa refers to the area as both Dalhousie and Centretown West in planning documents, while the Ottawa Neighbourhood Study refers to the area as "West Centretown". The community association is currently considering renaming itself to The West Somerset Community Association.https://centretownbuzz.ca/2025/03/dca-report-new-name-gardens-on-public-lands-honouring-a-champion/

History

The area was annexed by the city of Ottawa in 1888. Prior to that it was part of

Nepean Township Nepean Township is a former incorporated and now geographic township in Eastern Ontario, Canada, now part of the City of Ottawa. Originally known as Township D, it was established in 1792. In 1800, it became part of Carleton County and was incorpo ...

, and the community was known as Rochesterville. Until the 1960s, the neighbourhood was working class, and home to a largely Francophone and Italian population. Federal government expropriation and the widening of the neighbourhood's arterial roads were blamed contributed to a decline in population thereafter. Much of the Italian population moved out of the neighbourhood in the 1970s, and were replaced by lower income residents and newer immigrants from China and Vietnam.

Character

The neighbourhood is composed largely of low-density residential commercial properties, and some light industrial uses. Somerset Street West is dominated by Chinese and Vietnamese businesses, and it is considered to be Ottawa's

. It also retains a large

Italian-Canadian Italian Canadians or Italo-Canadians (; ) are Canadian-born citizens who are fully or partially of Italian descent, whose ancestors were Italians who migrated to Canada as part of the Italian diaspora, or Italian-born people in Canada. Accordi ...

population in

centred on

Preston Street Preston Street may refer to: *Preston Street (Ottawa) *Preston Street (Baltimore) *A section of Kentucky Route 61 Kentucky Route 61 (KY 61) is a long Kentucky State Highway extending north from the Tennessee state line in Cumberland County to ...

, which is also called "Corso Italia". A portion of Gladstone Avenue is also called "Via Marconi", after the Italian inventor who completed some of his work in Canada. Its population in 2021 was 10,074.

References

External links

* Neighbourhoods in Ottawa {{ottawa-stub

Nomenclature

History

Character

See also

References

External links