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Photo by Ashley Fraser / Postmedia

Watson talked to my colleague Jon Willing about Sparks Street in a stock-taking interview Thursday (the kind of thing he’d have done before Christmas if his appendix hadn’t abruptly resigned). More condos and restaurants, especially on the south side of the street, give him reason for overall optimism, he said, though with reservations.

“I’m pessimistic because the north side is by and large run by the federal government,” Watson said. “The challenge we have with the north side is there are so many changes taking place with the Parliamentary Precinct that the government is not willing to give out long-term leases because they need a lot of swing space. I think we have to look at Sparks Street in a multi-step approach. What are some short-term wins we can bring to the street to help revitalize it, animate it, to make it a place where you feel you really want to head to after work?”

The National Capital Commission’s 50-year plan talks about nicing Sparks Street up, along with numerous other streets linked to Parliament and other major national sites. They “must reciprocate the quality of design and possibly mirror some of the major urban design features that confer the unmistakable signature of the capital,” the plan says, in a sentiment repeated in multiple places. That general expression of goodwill is as detailed as the plan gets about Sparks, though.

Photo by Sean Kilpatrick / CP

Any plan for Sparks has to deal honestly with the fact that Sparks Street’s strongest market for business is public servants and political staff; there’s a reason banks, suit shops, barbers and hairdressers, dentists and opticians are so prevalent. They’re not super-fun, they’re not tourist draws or any draw at all after hours, but they have built-in clienteles. Touristy gift shops aren’t active draws, either: they take advantage of the tourists who wander by but nobody says oh, when you’re in Ottawa you simply must try the maple candies and buy a t-shirt with a moose on it.