Very interesting, though. The idea of an entire downtown jam-packed with spitting hobos is an extremely foreign idea to me, although during my visits to Calgary I’ve noticed a similar kind of effect while staying at hotels downtown. It’s prevalent in parts of downtown Vancouver as well.

In fact, this has been the case all the major Canadian cities I’ve ever been with the exception of Toronto and Montreal.

Downtown – its importance, its condition, its future, the relative degree of success that efforts to vitalize it have (or haven’t) been having – is something the City has been hearing alot about through SpeakUpWinnipeg. The Call to Action (halfway report/check-in with the community on the project of creating a new long-term plan) includes actions relating to downtown – http://www.speakupwinnipeg.com/home/call_to_action/.

One of the proposed actions is pursuing the development of downtown as an entertainment hub, another relates to hosting more downtown festivals. What do you think? The right direction?

Well done.

C’mon.

Several years ago I worked downtown in the evening, catching the bus at Vaughn and Graham at 11:00 p.m. I never felt unsafe or afraid. Sure there were panhandlers, but it was also well lit and there were always a couple of other people around. I’m not afraid for my kids to take transit downtown, although I do encourage them to travel with others.

I hope Michel is right, and the next 5ish years bring even more change!

“people smoking, people spitting, and people panhandling”

Indeed. I have noticed this as well. I have also noticed the rude mothers pushing strollers while smoking and talking on their cellphone. This group seems to think the world revolves around them. Their SUV strollers take up half the sidewalk and then they demand to board a bus and consume 5 seats and force several people to stand. What happened to SMALL strollers and to bus drivers enforcing the “fold your stroller” rule?

Another point about these strollers is they will not move over. Last week I was walking along the right side of the sidewalk (does no one do this anymore?) and a stroller and companion were walking abreast (most people in this city who travel in pairs or groups insist on forcing everyone else off the sidewalk) and I could see they were not going to move over (they had 3 feet between them and the street) so I simply stopped dead in my tracks. And, they crashed right into me but I didn’t budge. I was up against the building. I will not disappear into thin air just so an SUV stroller can take up the whole sidewalk.

But anyway, I’m off topic. Back to the original points above, I’ve managed to find some routes which help me avoid most of the problems mentioned. Portage Place is a real social cause for sure. Strollers and bums, basically. City Place? Better crowd but very annoying music in the food court. I would go there for lunch more often if not for the annoying music they pipe in. And no, I do not loiter and drink coffee all day. I need 15 minutes tops to eat, and then I’m gone. Their music drives me away!

I and many other of these working professionals mentioned above don’t come downtown because we want to. We come down here because our employers locate their offices here and force us to be here. So when the clock strikes 5, we’re outta here, away from the spitting, bums, SUV strollers and panhandlers.

This has nothing to do with retail establishments and everything to do with the bums and undesirables and rude people that seem to congregate downtown. Get rid of them and the criminals and you’ll find that decent people with proper manners will start to want to come here.

I absolutely agree. I like the fact that Winnipeg has grown very slowly.

But “growth” doesn’t equate with “improvement.” As you note, lots of growth is anti-improvement. And improvement doesn’t mean ripping down the town’s beautiful buildings. Witness the new RRC campus, a real delight.

BTW, THANK YOU for the tip on parking. I will use both hints happily.

Noni

Also, @Noni Mausa, regarding the speed of growth: Slow growth can be an asset… in our case, it has prevented us from razing some of the most beautiful buildings in our city in the name of “progress” and “development”. Instead, it has forced us to find to ways to retrofit and renovate, all the while keeping intact most of the history and charm!

Also, although the growth in the downtown core may seem to have been excruciatingly slow in the past (you don’t mention when you started at that job, the tone of your writing would imply 47 years), I would argue that the last 5 years (at LEAST) have seen a drastic acceleration of that pace. Mountain Equipment Co-op, MTS Centre, Red River College’s Princess Campus, U of W’s McFeetor’s Hall, Waterfront Drive condo projects, the list goes on… Most recently, RRC’s retrofitting of the Union Bank Tower will bring 100 new people (students) to LIVE DOWNTOWN! And if I look back to what I was doing during my college years (eating, drinking and going out — usually all once… er, I mean, whenever my studies permitted it, that is), these are exactly the people that will support the types of businesses we are so desperate to have downtown. Bottom line, we are at the beginning of a tipping point, and the next 5 to 10 years will see a radically different downtown Winnipeg emerge, one we can all be proud of.

Yay Winnipeg, and double-yay Downtown Winnipeg (in 5ish years)!

There are many destination stores I would go to downtown, if it weren’t for the recent infestation of Yellow Jackets i.e. the new parking patrol, and the alteration of parking rates to probably triple their income, either through payments or fines.

Too, they effectively cut the amount of time the buyer gets for his quarter. It used to be if you bought an hour on the meter, either you or someone who pulled in when you pulled out, definitely GOT that hour. No more. When you leave, your remaining time vanishes — you can’t even use the reciept for time anywhere else, it’s tied to the one location.

The new parking regime keeps me out of the downtown, unless there’s no other choice. The spitting people are avoidable, the freelance taxation isn’t.