could winnipeg learn from regina's downtown?
 

Iam just wondering what the rest of you guys think of regina's downtown compared to ours. Personally I really like regina's downtown compared to ours its fairly clean very friendly people and for a city of regina's size it sure makes it look like a much bigger city than it is. Winnipeg's still has way too many buildings up for lease with no tennants especially on portage around mts centre. Our downtown has improved somewhat but it still has a long way to go. Also Regina has the same demographics of Winnipeg but I never saw the native gangs and low lifes that you typically see in downtown winnipeg. I am wondering if any reginaites could post some pics up of their downtown for us because I find it really underated.

This'll be good.

^No.

and no to the original question.

Any wagers on lifetime of this thread?

Ummm...no. Our downtown isn't nearly the hellhole that it's being made out to be in some quarters. I have no fear downtown during the day.

Lots of pics of downtown Regina on my photoblog.

http://reginainpictures.blogspot.com

I'm sure there's always a few things people could learn from others.

With that said, there is little doubt what this thread will turn into: My downtown is better than your downtown! Nanahnanananah!

This thread won't end well...

:runaway:

Here are lots of pics of downtown from my site...

http://www.allwinnipeg.com/downtown.html

... the Exchange
http://www.allwinnipeg.com/Exchange.html

... the Forks
http://www.allwinnipeg.com/forks.html

I hope we can rise above the silly name calling and just have a real discussion about it because it is good to see where we can learn from others and vice versa. Regina still is shelbyville though!

haha shelbyville

Excellent pics, especially the night ones. No doubt both Winnipeg and Regina punch above their class in regards to their respective downtowns. :tup:

Look, someone's attractive cousin!

I like Winnipeg, I think it's a nice city and I wouldn't mind living there. The last time I was downtown in Winnipeg I saw some sketchy stuff (some guy passed out in a park) but I see these things in downtown Regina on occasion too. More than once I have seen someone shooting up behind my apartment building, and not too long ago I saw someone casually taking a piss on the corner of Victoria avenue and Lorne street. Fortunately, he was promptly arrested.

I live and work in downtown Regina and it's probably my favourite part of the city. It's nice during the day but, other than a few spots, it gets completely dead once the workday is done. There is a revitalization plan in the works that seems promising.

I think Aesthetically Winnipeg has a very beautiful downtown. Though like all cities some areas could be repaired.

And even at night I don't feel unsafe.

I actually find that even the panhandlers can carry a nice conversation. And if you politely decline to give them money they will leave you alone.

The only thing I don't like about downtown is the lack of people outside when there is no event going on at the MTS centre/ Canwest park.

I believe that the skywalk's are the source to that problem, (and people don't like to hear it) I really don't like them. In the cold they can be convenient, but really I feel thats why our downtown feels so empty.

I think one thing which has hurt both downtowns is the closure of the movie theaters, which attracted a few thousand people downtown almost nightly. In Winnipeg's case there is still one theater (Towne 8), but there used to be several theaters in the area, which fed restaurants and coffee shops.

I think that this thread should have been titled:

"What could Winnipeg and Regina learn from each others downtown."

So what are the positive and negatives of both cities?

I think Winnipeg could learn from just about any downtown.

^ Except for maybe Regina's, which is hardly something you would want to emulate. Winnipeg learn from Regina's downtown is as stupid as it gets.

I have seen many amazing cities in my time and many great downtown areas ... and not once have thought Regina should be a model for Winnipeg's downtown.

Winnipeg's downtown does have many great attributes, including some 30,000 residents, an amazing park area (the Forks), impressive throughfairs such as Broadway and Portage and some very urban areas. Add in some great public ammenities such as the MTS Centre, Canwest Park, WAG, the Concert Hall, the Burton Cummings Theatre, the MTC and the Pantages Theatre and a growing downtown University. Winnipeg also has some impressive corporate head offices, which draws thousands of middle and upper middle income workers into the area.

Of course there is room for improvement, but overall I would say for a city of its size our downtown pretty good. The fact that Winnipeg's downtown is spread over such a large area doesn't help create the density many of us would like, but we have to deal with the cards we are dealt. Winnipeg was really meant to be a much larger city ... Chicago of the North, which impacts it still today.

While a much smaller city like Regina can't offer the same level of downtown ammenities as Winnipeg, it still has a respectible downtown. With that said I don't remember the last time I saw 16,000 people floading downtown Regina to see a concert or event, yet on a weekly basis. ;)

both cities could learn a little from each other but realy this is appples to oranges

Sorry newflyer but 30,000 don't live downtown last I checked only 13,000 and of course Winnipeg's downtown has way more ammenities than Regina's that's because we are almost 4 times larger than Regina so we should have them. However the day to day street life is more what I am talking about. When I have been in Regina's downtown I don't see endless amounts of dollar stores and pay day loans and vacant for lease buildings. I don't see very many drunk natives or constant haggling for some change or a smoke. Now some people will say on here just say no and usually that does work but it is annoying none the less and depressing because more than half the people downtown look like charles manson or a drunk native and I am sorry if I upset anyone on here with that but its the truth just stand at the graham bus stop every day and you get to see why a large majority of winnipegers still don't like going downtown.

I don't wish to sling mud at all. I have no disdain whatsoever for any of our Western Canadian brethren. I enjoy my time in Saskatchewan, and Regina, and do not intend to insult Regina or its residents in any way with the following claim.

Regina is a city of 200,000. Perhaps there are some nuanced aspects that would be worth looking at. With that said, I grow weary of comparing ourselves with the Saskatchewan cities. They are wonderful places, but the Winnipeg capital region is upwards to 3 to 4 times the size. If we are looking for models, we should be looking for similarly like sized models in this country. If we are looking for idealic competition of sorts, Edmonton is the obvious candidate in my view. This is not a slight on Regina, but recognition of putting cities in like blocks. Regina's like competition is Saskatoon, Victoria, London, Windsor, Trois-Rivieres, Moncton, Saint John, Halifax, St. John's, and not Winnipeg. This is in the same breath one wouldn't have Moose Jaw trying to emulate Minnedosa. It's not a slight. It's not meant to be insulting. It's a simple recognition of like size.

Regina is a cool city. It's got a very impressive downtown for a city of its size. Scarth street is very nice. I love O'Hanlons. The Drink on Dewdney is really fun on Labour Day. The McCallum Hill towers are very nice. I love the Sask Power building. Wascana Lake is a very impressive urban oasis. They have some neat new things happening, like the GTH, stadium development, and the new hotel/condo complex. But Regina is not a city that Winnipeg should be trying to emulate. Lets look to like sized centres. Edmonton is far, far more comparable to Winnipeg than Regina, in my opinion. Minneapolis doesn't try to emulate Des Moines, even though they are geographically near to each other.

We need to identify how we compare with Edmonton, Quebec City, and perhaps Hamilton (I have a tough time including Hamilton as a masuring stick due to it's strong association with the GTA, and how that effects its development). Regina in short, is a great place, but not a model for which we should pen our future after. This isn't to say it's good, bad or indifferent, but that it is not a reasonable model of like size.

I compared us to Regina because we both have very similar demographics ie:large ukranian and native populations. I wouldn't compare us to Edmonton because of their vast oil and natural gas wealth that Winnipeg has no hope of competing against maybe in 30 years when people will be driving electric cars but not now.

like i said we both have things we could learn/ take from eachother

I like downtown Regina, but I don't think this is an apples and oranges comparison.


You have to consider the fact that at one time Winnipeg was the third biggest city in all of Canada, and as such our downtown was built to a scale that Regina's wasn't.

As a result of issues relating to size and aging infrastructure, we will always have some challenges in redeveloping our downtown that newer cities like Calgary and Regina just don't have.

If I remember correctly, that's because we have a law that prohibits panhandling. Busking is fine... but panhandling is a no-no.

I'm confussed by how Winnipeg could possibly benifit from trying to copy downtown Regina :shrug: On top of this Winnipeg's downtown seems to be increasing in density and new developments which is all right with me, maybe Downtown Winnipeg really just needs more cops :)

I stand corrected .. Winnipeg could learn something from Regina. :yes:

I don't know if rug sweeping is a good thing to learn.

I am also in favour of Winnipeg creating a pedestrian strip, like Scarth Street in Regina. I think every city should have such a strip, as it incourages more people to utilize there downtown via there feet at the street level.

It is actually the counter to the interior pedway system... drawing people outside.

Having a clean rug is not a bad thing.. it is time the city cleaned up the downtown.

That's what the Graham Ave. bus mall was supposed to do, except the city caved and allowed cars on the 3 west blocks of it. Great vision, poor execution, and we still have vacant lots on Graham. Unbelievable we still have those 2 gravel parking lots between Smith and Fort.

Regarding Winnipeg panhandlers, if you wish to call them that: just getting hassled by one if too much. It shouldn't happen, and that they are allowed to roam downtown Winnipeg, well I suppose it's their right, much as it is their right to ride the buses from free, but it's surely one thing that keeps people from thinking about living downtown, and makes them want to leave as quickly as possible. Between them and the gangsters.....

Having large loud diesel vehicles constantly roaring up and down Graham Ave really removes the pedestrain attraction. Its about as pedestrian friendlly as Portage Ave.

I would prefer to have a purely pedestrain strip. Where people could walk down, without much awareness of vehicles.. sit along park benches and take in the city environment. The street woud be lined with many outdoor patios from the restaurants and cafes along the strip, as wel as many shops. Perhaps a few busker stations could be encorporated, as well as a small public stage for outdoor performances. Trees, planters and a water fountain would also add beauty to the strip.

(no large buses rumbling through)

As far as the location it should be along a street which would fit this type of enviornment. Many small street front shops and restaurants would be best. Large empty lots would ruin the pedestrain flow for the street. It would only need to be a couple blocks long, but would benefit from being near large office buildings, as they would offer the most middle income people on a daily basis to the area.

What he meant was sweeping things under the rug, not sweeping the rug itself. We wouldn't have panhandlers if people didn't fall that far in the first place. If you do nothing to prevent crime, cleaning up a part of the city will just cause crime to relocate. Thunder Bay is learning this first hand. Don't make our mistake.

Having a clean downtown, with less panahndlers would greatly improve its appeal. It is really a matter of choice .. keep the panhandlers and send the shoppers to Polo Park and residents to something like Sterling Lyon Parkway. Calgary restricts panhandling during office hours and the streets are much more people friendly and thus used by pedestrains. The fact is this is becoming the norm in many cities and its time for Winnipeg to give its downtown priority.

Yes, and proximate neighbourhoods would suffer. We introduced a police presence in our downtown cores and do you know what happened? Neighbourhoods just outside the limits saw crime rates increase several hundred percent. Go one block over from my apartment--outside the regularly patrolled area, in a residential neighbourhood--and you'll find prostitutes. A year ago this neighbourhood was poorer but they weren't there. That's what more police achieved! That's what getting rid of panhandlers and prostitutes did for thecityasawhole. And yes, please forgive me for being an urbanist who takes the whole city into account when planning things. So few people have the ability to step back and look at the big picture these days. They kicked people bumming for smokes out of downtown and now they're hanging out at the hotels by the airport! Instead of downtown having a bad rep from locals the city is developing a bad rep from everyone.

But hey, downtown is clean now! :rolleyes:

i like the little pedestrian mall they have in regina...would like to see that on a larger scale in the exchange district in winnipeg....albert from the park to notre dame would be a good start.

Exactly what I was thinking. :yes:

I was downtown london today and the streets were packed with people. I could not help but wonder as to why a city 2/3 the size of Winnipeg has a higher amount of citizens regularly us its streets. There was literally no room to walk down the sidewalks. It tells me that Winnipeg is really in dire need of coming up with something to fix this problem, because a city without a downtown is a dieing city.

Personally, once again, I think it's the sky walks, and not panhandlers because London has them to, and people just roam around them.

I'm not sure if it's necessarily the skywalks. Maybe when theres snow on the ground. I think it's having things to do, places to shop(street level shops), places to eat and drink that get people downtown. Not to mention actually having living spaces in the core as well. If you can brand your downtown, making it a major destination in your city for entertainment and shopping, that's a start. That is why I am very excited about downtown Reginas masterplan! Making downtown the "cool" place to be, will make people want to live there. As for the comparison. I don't think they can really relate as a whole.

Actually you'd be surprised at the size of London. It now has 450 000 people and growing rapidly. Which is why I sometimes get depressed because in the last five years (since my family moved here) London built 4, 20+ story condo buildings downtown whilst Winnipeg has built none. And London's downtown is rapidly become superior to Winnipeg's.

Which really irritates me because I'm very competitive and I'm a proud Winnipegger and my friends are proud Ontarioans and London is the regions big city, so they like to rub it in my face....end rant!!!

i had a few nice walks downtown this summer but i went a few days ago and it was bad... too many drunks/drugs/punks, i was on my own and was asked "do you have a smoke on you?" by a young native, looking dirty and badly dressed, who then went to ask to other people at the next bus stop... But even if he wasnt' asking, looking around and seeing too many drunks/bums doesn't give a nice feeling of being downtown, it makes you feel like you shouldn't be there in the first place

I agree downtown London is uglier looking but much more vibrant, they have a long street packed with bars and shop where it's very crowded.

i've never felt uncumfertable near the vegrints but then i walk under the main st subway with my cameras in full view

As someone from Regina, I agree that our downtown is impressive for a city of our size. It is also exciting to hear about a new 25 story condo complex and Hilton hotel at the corner of Albert St/ Victoria Av. Harvard Developments also wants to build a new tower at 12th/ Hamilton St. There has been a concerted effort between City Hall and private investors to make downtown hip and a desirable place to live. However (and this is a big however), remember that downtown Regina is sandwiched between two ghettos. North Central is directly north-west of downtown while the core area is directly to the east of Broad St. Both are within walking distance of downtown and many scumbags traverse downtown to travel between these two ghettos. (especially at night) Victoria Park is not the place to be at night despite the fact it is well lit and the bushes have been cut down around the perimiter. If Regina's downtown grows the way it looks like it will (dome stadium) then the natural expansion of the downtown's footprint may alliviate some of the vagrant problems. The more people there are downtown, the safer it becomes. However, due to the natural lay out of the inner city, I believe there will always be a problem with crime downtown.

Also, with the possibilty of Mosaic stadium being torn down and more housing being built where it/the tracks were, that would connect Cathedral with North Central. That could be interesting. I feel a lot more safe in the "Core" than I do in North Central though. Do you think it`s possible for an area like the Core to be phased out over a course of so many years? For it to become another Cathedral style neighbourhood, with China town reshaping into desirable shops and the like? Rename it Germantown?

There already is the area I think adjacent to Chinatown that is called Germantown, so I don't see them renaming Chinatown to a second Germantown... would be nice to see an improvement to Chinatown though.

I thought that was part of Germantown...I must be wrong, as I don`t know too much about it haha. And I would love to see Chinatown turn around...the place is kind of a crap hole. Would have loved to see it in its good days assuming it had them though.

is china town like winnipegs with holes in it from fires and such with a mix of markets and realy good food but looking depression cause of all the holes in the strip?

Reginas is mainly pawn shops and a couple Asian grocers. Really not much going on. Very run down looking even without the fires.

not even good restraunts that suxs :(

sad part about the fires on the strip is that the buildings were being used at the time to

i realy need to get out to regina and explore it some more but from what i have seen of it from the greyhound and wondering away from the bus depo (the old one) i found it to be a nice city within a couple blocks of it during a sunrise none the less

Well the good chinese restaurants are all over the city. There are tonnes of Chinese/Vietnamese restaurants here. They just aren't confined to one area of the city like I suppose is the case when a city has an established Chinatown area.