Category Archives for "Design"

While it is a long march from humble beginnings to a continent-spanning business operation, if anyone can do it, it’s my friend and coaching client, Chris Long, pictured here with his oldest daughter, Lily, at the grand opening of Longyards at 6571 Bank street in Ottawa Canada on October 1st, 2019. Chris is a trained […]

[This is the third in a 3-part series written for Ottawa Business Journal by OBJ columnist, Bruce M Firestone, PhD, who is working with the city of Ottawa to develop a new OP, official plan, one that is suited to 21st century conditions—both economic, sociological and environmental.] Introduction If you were the ultimate authority in […]

Many real estate developers forget about branding and merchandising. Imagine if you went to a high-end dress shop or a place to buy an expensive suit and they had fabulous clothing but no racks–you had to pick up that dress or suit up from the floor and shake off the dust? Yuck. So, when buying […]

The end of an era happens this November 2019–Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce’s main branch is closing on Sparks street after many, many decades. For its last years, it has been their “main branch” in name only. When I arrived in Ottawa from Australia and started out in business (circa 1983), the manager of this […]

What makes New York’s central park so successful (it’s the most visited park in the US) is, in part, the fact that thousands of people live on its periphery, which not only gives them access to it, it also creates a safer environment because there are so many eyes on the park. Parks can be […]

On the plus side of getting whacked by a tornado in September 2018 is knowing soil conditions in our neighborhood, Arlington Woods. It’s sand all the way down–a great foundation material–it’ll support residential structure no problem at all plus the drainage is fantastic. Here’s our neighbor’s home. Her house was destroyed by the tornado attack. […]