Residents of Ottawa's Trump Avenue have a lot riding on Nov. 8 outcome - Action News
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Ottawa

Residents of Ottawa's Trump Avenue have a lot riding on Nov. 8 outcome

Residents of Trump Avenue in Ottawa's Central Park neighbourhood are watching the race for the White House with a new, vested interest.

Quiet street in Ottawa's Central Park neighbourhood named after Republican contender

Trump Avenue is a residential street in Ottawa's Central Park neighbourhood. (Stu Mills/CBC)

It's not far from Manhattan Crescent, around the corner from Park Place and just off Bloomingdale Street.

But in this corner of Ottawa'sCentral Park neighbourhood, where the street signs are more Big Apple than Bytown, Trump Avenue stands out this presidential election year.

The residents of this quiet street have suddenly found themselves in the midst of apolitical tempest, ever since brash billionaire Donald Trump shook off a field of Republican contenders and closed the gap on the Democratic nominee in the race for the White House.
Bonnie Bowering, a Trump Avenue resident for eight years, says she'd support a petition calling for a street name change. (Stu Mills/CBC)

Pam Baker inherited the address when she married her husband and moved in with him 10years ago. These days, shesaid, they've been trying to put some distance between the name and the namesake.

"We try to say, 'Oh, no, no, we're just like the trump card. We're just trumping everybody.' They don't buy it!" Baker laughed.

Mused about name change

Baker said she's even mused abouthaving the street's name changed, but hopes next week's election will take care of the problem for her.
Manhattan, Staten, Bloomingdale, and Trump are some of the street names in the Nepean neighbourhood of Central Park. (Stu Mills/CBC)

"I'm hoping that after the election Mr. Trump will go away and the issue will go away and we wil not have to deal with it any more!"

Baker said it was one of the first topics of conversation when new neighbours moved in on the weekend.

"I just asked them how they felt about living on Trump Avenue and they said they'd heard pretty well every joke going!"

An even newer neighbour, Edward Liu, was busy moving in on Thursday.
Edward Liu admits he hadn't appreciated the significance of the address of the home he moved into on Thursday until he was signing the offer. (Stu Mills/CBC)

"Initially I didn't think about [the name], but when I signed the offers I realized it has the same last name," said Liu.

As the court translator unloaded boxes into his new garage, he noted that thoughHillaryClinton continues to hold a slight lead in the polls, Donald Trump could yet win the U.S. presidency.

"If it happens, certainly, this street will get even more famous!"laughed Liu.

Some undecided

Carolyn Cowanhas been making daily visits to Trump Avenue for the past two yearsas a personal support worker.

"I'm undecided," she said. "He definitely has a very bright mind. It could go very well, or very, very bad. [I'm] hoping that he has very good management skills."

Another neighbour, BonnieBowering,spends her winters in Florida, so she follows U.S. politics closely. Bowering is a staunch Clinton supporter, and said her friends have founda new way to get under her skin.

"People say, 'Oh you must hate that name now!'"

In fact she dislikes it so much, Bowering said she'd happily dump the Trump name if she could.

"Right now, if my neighbours had a petition to change the name of the street, I'm all in," she said, so long as the new name fit the New York theme.

'Maybe they'll change it to Hillary,' joked Cory Simpson about what will happen to Trump Avenue if the Republican nominee wins the presidency. (Stu Mills/CBC)

Purolatordriver Cory Simpson said he drops parcels off on Trump Avenue at least twice a day.

What would change for the residents of Trump Avenue if the Republican candidate wins on Nov.8?

"I don't think too much will change," Simpson laughed. "I just think they'll want the name of the street changed. Maybe they'llchange it to Hillary."