Category Archives for "Ideas"

[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 […]

Where do (good) ideas come from to start your own business? Well, if you are Ben Jacobsen, you marvel at the fact that your girlfriend is willing to spend $10 on a tiny package of bespoke table salt. So, he left Europe and moved back to the Oregon coast where he sampled seawater from 27-bays […]

[Feature image: Airbnb founder Joe Gebbia (right)] In June 2019, I wrote to city consultant Brian Bourns who had held a short-term rental workshop, https://ottawa.ca/en/short-term-rental-workshop-3, which no doubt brought forth many competing viewpoints on Airbnb, VRBO, Expedia et al. Below you will find my note to Brian and also a defense of home-sharing written by […]

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 […]