This comparison shows how badly Lowertown East in Ottawa had regressed from an urban planning point of view from the tumultuous changes the neighbourhood went through in the early 1970s.

First off, the Chapel-St. Patrick intersection does not exist anymore. St. Patrick which was connecting with all the North-South streets of the area had now become this long and isolated linear segment as if the architects in charge of the urban renewal of Lowertown wanted to completely isolate it from the rest of the area.

We often mention that St. Patrick Street was a traditional main street. The archival photo demonstrates the quantity and also the variety of commercial spaces of this former hub in the neighbourhood: a grocery store, a pharmacy and a hardware store allowed the residents of the area to do their shopping by foot.

The loss of density is also striking on that comparison. A three-story mixed-used building has been replaced by a bungalow commercial space for which nobody had the decency to place the main entrance of that commercial space fronting St. Patrick.