Thank you and a farewell to Lowertown – a neighbourhood of familiar faces and friends

By Tristan, Laura, Sam, and Frankie

I’m not one for New Year’s resolutions. I lack the required forward-thinking ability and willpower. I much prefer to let the nostalgia out and reminisce. You can sit, reminisce, and have a beer. That’s more my speed. And so, in the early days of 2026, while not making any resolutions or attempting to better myself in any way, I’ve found myself thinking about the past seven years. My time living in Lowertown brings me great joy, and we’ve recently moved to a new, scary neighbourhood.

I first moved to St. Andrew Street in 2018, after realizing I was neither mature enough nor old enough to stay in the Glebe. At the time, I wanted to live downtown – closer to restaurants, bars, and nightlife. I knew almost nothing about the neighbourhood but quickly fell in love. As it turns out, the only things I love more than restaurants, bars, and nightlife are old architecture and plaques, and Lowertown has both in abundance. When I first moved into my old, sloping apartment, I would change my walk to work daily, hoping to peer into French Canadian and Irish Canadian rowhouses and cottages, and find a new plaque or two. I now know a great deal about Lowertown and Bytown’s history, and almost nothing about the rest of the city. (No one told me there is a museum at Billings Bridge!)

A year later, I convinced my partner, Laura, to move in with me, renting an older house on Bruyère Street. I was lucky enough that she, too, wanted to be closer to restaurants, bars, and nightlife. When we weren’t at Chez Lucien or the Laff, we leaned into our shared love of hosting friends and neighbours. We threw one chaotic, friendship-shattering, neighbour-turned-best-friend party before the COVID pandemic brought everything to a halt.

Like everyone else, we adapted. Big parties gave way to outdoor bubble gatherings, sitting ten feet apart in the yard, making a terrible situation a little better. When we were allowed, we went to Donna’s and Ideal Coffee for chips, those amazing Brazilian cheeseballs, and beer, clinging to small routines that made things feel normal – our 2020 version of restaurants, bars, and nightlife.

In the summer of 2020, Laura and I bought the oldest house yet (on what I think is the prettiest street in Lowertown) – we moved to Bolton Street, just west of Cathcart Park. We still wanted to be near the restaurants, bars, and nightlife, even if we had to wait patiently for them to return. The house didn’t have a backyard, but it did have an excellent front step. And so, over those first months, a new ritual began: beers on the front step (or occasionally in the mud of the front garden), joined by my brother or our neighbours, Kevin, Dave, Liz, and Graham. We sat on our own steps, of course – those were the rules.

Living so close to a dog park eventually wore us down, and we caved to the pressure of getting a puppy. We brought home Frankie. This turned out to be a great decision for several reasons. She was extremely cute, we both loved dogs, and it was starting to get weird that we were regulars at the dog park without owning a dog. Frankie quickly made friends with the people there, and so did we. With a group of regulars, including Jan, Kate, Doug, Brian, and my brother and his partner, Friday dog park beers began (though not everyone partook in the beers).

Eventually, Frankie decided that although she loved all the people at the dog park, she didn’t care for most of the dogs. While Laura and I weren’t in the park as often, we continued to go every Friday to catch up with the neighbours. We also always stopped to say “hi” when walking to El Taco de Oro or Brigid’s Well. We kept up our little traditions of having a beer on the step with friends and neighbours or going to the dog park for a beer and a conversation . . . until our son Sam was born and life got a little hectic.

In Sam’s first months, everywhere we would go in the neighbourhood, people would stop us to chat and ask how we were doing (tired!) or tell us Sam was literally the cutest baby ever (empirically true!). This meant the world to us. (As a side note, Sam is an incredibly social boy. His first restaurant, bar, and nightlife outing was a classic – dinner at El Taco and a Guinness at Brigid’s Well, at about eight days old. He still loves getting “cheers’d”.)

These little moments, from cheeseballs, to porch beers, to Bébitte and Kodi, to making sure two new parents were okay, all have something in common – the people of Lowertown. It turns out, being close to bars, restaurants, and nightlife wasn’t all that important. What was important, and what made us feel special, was being part of a community, and for the past seven years, you welcomed us into yours. 

And so, to the people of Lowertown – thank you.

Thank you to the neighbours and strangers who became familiar faces, and then friends. Thank you for your kindness and the sense of belonging. This place has shaped who we are far more than we expected when we first arrived, looking for nightlife and plaques.

We will always look back on these years with gratitude, likely sitting on our porch with a beer in hand.