Live in Westboro
Richmond Road, the river beaches and the mid-rises replacing the bungalows — the west end's answer to the Glebe, and the first Ottawa suburb to be gentrified twice.
Westboro was sold, in the late 1890s, on a lie about geology. The flyers said "Move to Westboro" and promised "views of the Laurentian Mountains"; what you can actually see across the Ottawa River is the Eardley Escarpment, which everybody now calls the Gatineau Hills. The village grew along the Macadam Road to Bells Corners — Richmond Road today — and for a while it was the centre of Nepean Township; the old town hall on Richmond once held the bell that became Nepean's symbol. It was a police village from 1903 until Ottawa annexed it in 1949, and for most of the twentieth century it was cottage country turned modest suburb, reachable by a streetcar whose right-of-way is now the strip of grass along Byron Avenue. Most of the houses date from between 1900 and 1960 and 71% of them are detached. Then, in the 2000s, the outdoor shops arrived — MEC, then Lululemon, then everything else — and Richmond Road became a destination. What is happening now is the second wave: mid-rise condominium replacing bungalows along Richmond and Scott, and an O-Train station at each end of the neighbourhood waiting for a line that is not open yet.
Sold on a view of mountains that are not there, and it worked
The community association draws Westboro between the Transitway to the north, Tweedsmuir Avenue to the east, Carling Avenue to the south and Denbury Avenue to the west; the wider popular definition runs east to Island Park Drive and north to the Ottawa River, taking in Westboro Beach. This guide follows the Ottawa Neighbourhood Study's Westboro boundary, which sits between the two.
The flyers in the 1890s said Move to Westboro and promised views of the Laurentian Mountains. What you can actually see across the Ottawa River is the Eardley Escarpment, which everybody now calls the Gatineau Hills — but the pitch was sound, because the view is the reason people still pay a premium for the north side of the neighbourhood. The village grew along the Macadam Road to Bells Corners, which is Richmond Road today, and for a time it was the centre of Nepean Township; the old town hall on Richmond held the bell that became Nepean's symbol.
A police village until 1949. Westboro governed itself from 1903 until Ottawa annexed it, and the annexation is written into the street names — Main Street became Churchill Avenue and River Road became Roosevelt, because the city already had both. A streetcar ran out along what is now the narrow strip of grass on Byron Avenue, bringing city people to what was treated as cottage country; a number of the cottage-scale houses north of Scott Street are still standing. Most of the rest went up between 1900 and 1960, and 71% of the housing stock is detached.
Gentrified twice. The first wave was retail: Mountain Equipment Co-op opened on Richmond Road in the 2000s, a cluster of outdoor and sport shops followed, and the restaurants and coffee shops came with them. Westboro Village became a destination rather than a high street. The second wave is happening now — mid-rise condominium replacing bungalows along Richmond and Scott, and the Line 1 west extension being built through the neighbourhood with stations at Westboro and Dominion, currently expected in 2027.
The honest version. This is an expensive neighbourhood and the premium is for the village, the river and the school catchment rather than for the houses, most of which are modest post-war stock on regular lots. What you should look at hardest is the construction: the west extension has been a building site along the Transitway corridor for years, and 2027 is a date that has moved before. Richmond Road itself is a genuine high street with genuine high-street parking problems on a Saturday. And the difference between the north side, with the river and the view, and the south side towards Carling is a real one in both character and price.
- The Line 1 west extension's Westboro and Dominion stations are currently expected in 2027 — check the current date before you price it in
- North of Scott, towards the river, is a different and more expensive market than south towards Carling
- Most of the stock is 1900–1960 and 71% detached; expect post-war construction and post-war insulation
- Nepean High School and Broadview are among the west end's most sought-after catchments and are priced into the houses
- Dovercourt is the neighbourhood's civic institution as much as its gym — before- and after-school care included
- Richmond Road parking on a Saturday is the one recurring complaint residents make about their own high street
How Westboro got here
- 1831Maplelawn is built at what is now the western edge of the village — a stone Georgian house with a walled garden, today the second-oldest building in Ottawa and a National Historic Site.
- 1890sFlyers advertise lots with "views of the Laurentian Mountains", which are in fact the Eardley Escarpment across the river. The village grows along the Macadam Road to Bells Corners, now Richmond Road, and for a period is the centre of Nepean Township.
- 1903Westboro is constituted as a police village. An Ottawa streetcar line runs out along what is now the narrow grass park on Byron Avenue, bringing city residents to what was then treated as cottage country — and a number of the cottage-scale houses north of Scott Street survive.
- 1949Ottawa annexes Westboro. Integration forces street renaming: Main Street becomes Churchill Avenue after the war, and River Road becomes Roosevelt Avenue, because the city already had streets by both names.
- 1950s–1960sThe bulk of the housing goes in — modest detached houses on regular lots, which is still 71% of the stock — and the streetcar right-of-way on Byron becomes the linear park it is now.
- 1985The Westboro War Memorial Association unveils a cenotaph in the Byron park on 8 June, dedicated to the neighbourhood's dead of the two world wars and Korea.
- 2000sMountain Equipment Co-op opens on Richmond Road and a concentration of outdoor and sport retailers follows, along with the restaurants and coffee shops. Westboro Village becomes a destination rather than a high street, and the neighbourhood gentrifies in earnest.
- 2004–2015Westfest runs each June on Richmond Road before moving to Laroche Park in Mechanicsville. The Fuse Street Festival now carries the August weekend.
- 2020sMid-rise condominium replaces bungalows along Richmond Road and Scott Street, and the Line 1 west extension is built through the neighbourhood with stations at Westboro and Dominion. The extension is currently expected in 2027, a date that has moved before.
A beach at the bottom of the street and a forest at the top
Westboro Beach is a supervised Ottawa River beach with a rebuilt pavilion at the bottom of the neighbourhood, and the NCC pathway runs through it — unbroken from Britannia Beach in the west to the downtown locks in the east. Hampton Park, at the southeast corner, is a mature woodlot with real trails. And the Byron linear park, the old streetcar right-of-way, runs the length of the neighbourhood as a green spine with the 1985 cenotaph on it. Further west are Mud Lake and the Britannia Conservation Area, the best urban birding in the region.
The resident's angle: the river does a great deal of work here — swimming and paddling in summer, skiing and walking in winter, and a commuting route to downtown that is genuinely competitive with driving. The caveats are seasonal: the beach's lower ground floods in a strong freshet, and the pathway is not cleared to bare pavement in winter, which is fine if you ski and less fine if you cycle.
24 places, with real drive times
Road-adjusted distance and drive time from the centre of the community to each destination, nearest first. Filter by category.
Showing 1–12 of 24 places, nearest first.
Method: distances and drive times are estimated from a representative point near Richmond and Churchill, using straight-line distance multiplied by a road factor and a tiered speed model — honest ranges, not routed times. The downtown figures here will fall materially when the Line 1 west extension opens; today the fastest route is a bus to Tunney's Pasture, or the pathway on a bicycle.
Every gym within reach
Dovercourt Recreation Centre is the neighbourhood's civic institution as much as its gym: a non-profit centre on Dovercourt Avenue with two pools, a gymnasium, a fitness centre, squash courts and the longest programme list in the west end, including the before- and after-school care that decides where a lot of Westboro families live. The City's own facility here is the Churchill Seniors Recreation Centre on Richmond Road.
- Two pools, a gymnasium, a fitness centre and squash courts, with municipal-adjacent pricing
- Before- and after-school programmes that a large share of local families plan around
- Churchill Seniors Recreation Centre at 345 Richmond Road is the City facility, with drop-in fitness and programme space
- The commercial studios are on Richmond Road itself, which is convenient and priced for the village
| Facility | What it is | Drive |
|---|---|---|
| Dovercourt Recreation Centre open | 411 Dovercourt Avenue — a non-profit community centre with two pools, a gymnasium, a fitness centre, squash courts and by some distance the longest programme list in the west end. Not municipal, but priced close to it, and effectively the neighbourhood's civic institution. | 4–5 min |
| Westboro Beach open | Supervised river swimming in summer, a rebuilt pavilion, and the NCC pathway through it — the free option most of the neighbourhood actually uses, in both directions along the river. | 4–6 min |
| Churchill Seniors Recreation Centre open | The City centre at 345 Richmond Road, with programme rooms, fitness classes and the neighbourhood's older-adult programming — municipal pricing, and open to non-members for drop-ins. | 2–4 min |
| The Ottawa River pathway open | Not a gym: the NCC pathway runs unbroken from Britannia Beach in the west to the downtown locks, straight past the bottom of the neighbourhood. Flat, scenic and the reason Westboro's cycling commute is genuinely competitive with driving. | 4–6 min |
The free option is the river. The NCC pathway runs from Britannia to the downtown locks straight past the bottom of the neighbourhood, and in winter the same corridor is a ski and snowshoe route with Camp Fortune twenty minutes further on.
One of the most sought-after catchment pairs in the west end
Broadview Public School runs kindergarten to grade 8 with an early French immersion stream, and Nepean High School on the same street is the catchment secondary — a pairing that has been priced into Westboro houses for a generation. Churchill Alternative on Ravenhill offers the alternative programme and admits from well outside the catchment, and Notre-Dame High School is the Catholic secondary next door.
| School | Board | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Broadview Public School | OCDSB | The catchment elementary on Broadview Avenue, kindergarten to grade 8, with an early French immersion stream. |
| Churchill Alternative School | OCDSB | The alternative-programme elementary on Ravenhill Avenue, which admits from well beyond the catchment and is heavily subscribed. |
| Nepean High School | OCDSB | The catchment secondary on Broadview Avenue — the west end's long-standing academic high school, and priced into the houses around it. |
| Notre-Dame High School | OCSB | The Catholic secondary on Broadview Avenue, immediately beside Nepean. |
| Dovercourt Recreation Centre | Community | Not a school, but the neighbourhood's before- and after-school programme provider, which for a lot of Westboro families is the deciding factor. |
Catchment boundaries in this part of the west end have been reviewed more than once as the mid-rise infill along Richmond and Scott has added households. Confirm the current catchment for a specific address with the school board before you buy.
Month by month, what living here looks like
Not a highlights reel — the actual annual rhythm, including the dates residents have to remember.
- The river pathway becomes a ski and snowshoe route, and Camp Fortune is twenty minutes away
- A daily mean of −10 °C, and 59 cm of snow in an average January
- Richmond Road's restaurants are at their quietest, which regulars regard as the best time to use them
- Gatineau Park's cross-country network is at its best and the Champlain Bridge is the shortest way to it
- The coldest fortnight of the year — about 16 nights a year fall below −20 °C
- The outdoor rinks in the neighbourhood parks run whenever the cold holds
- The Ottawa River breaks up and the pathway floods in low spots for a week or two
- Sugaring season across the river, twenty minutes away
- Grit season on Richmond Road, and the potholes at their annual worst
- Richmond Road's patios come out and the village's summer character returns
- Freshet peaks on the Ottawa River; Westboro Beach's lower ground goes under most years
- The best month for the Byron linear park before the mosquitoes
- The walled garden at Maplelawn opens for the season — 1831, and the second-oldest building in the city
- Doors Open Ottawa, and the best cycling weeks before the humidity arrives
- The river warms enough that people start using the beach optimistically
- Westboro Beach's supervised season begins and the pathway fills up in the evenings
- Sunset near 8:50pm, and the west-facing river views the neighbourhood was sold on come into their own
- Westfest, which ran here from 2004 to 2015, is now at Laroche Park — a fifteen-minute ride east
- A July daily mean of 21.2 °C with humidex regularly past 35, and the river is the neighbourhood's answer
- Bluesfest at LeBreton Flats is a twenty-minute ride down the pathway
- Peak paddleboard and beach season, and the busiest weeks on the shore
- Fuse takes over a weekend on Richmond Road and closes the village to cars
- The federal government empties out and the Carling and Scott commutes briefly disappear
- Peak humidity, and the month a 1950s bungalow's lack of insulation shows
- Warm days, cool nights, and the month the river pathway is at its most pleasant
- Schools return and Broadview and Churchill get their afternoon traffic back
- The Gatineau Hills start to turn, visible from the top of Richmond Road
- The Gatineau Hills peak, and the view the 1890s flyers oversold is genuinely spectacular for about ten days
- Hampton Park's woodlot turns, and the trails are at their best
- The first frost usually lands in the first half of the month
- Remembrance Day at the Byron Avenue cenotaph, unveiled in 1985, is the neighbourhood's own
- Dark by half past four, and the month a 1950s house's windows announce themselves
- The overnight winter parking ban starts in mid-November
- The BIA's lights go up and the village has its decisive retail month
- Camp Fortune usually opens in the second half of the month
- The first real snow, and the discovery of how much of Richmond Road's parking is on-street
24 photographs of Ottawa and the region
Drawn from the site's shared, freely licensed Ottawa photo library — not photographs of Westboro itself. Filter by category.
Showing 1–12 of 24 photographs.
About these photographs. Openly licensed images geotagged in or near Westboro, found on Wikimedia Commons and served from there with full attribution. Inline photos elsewhere on the page may still come from the site's shared Ottawa library.