It's really is a wicked problem: lots of confusion and misunderstanding on this kind of issues; lack of a definitive solution; a lot of stakeholders and so on. Conversations on this kind of issues are always tough.
I think people here are always being faily honest when talking about it - being honest about their feelings and opinion. It's just that arguments are likely inevitable. When there are many stakeholders around it's hard to have an agreement.
On the issues Winnipeg have, it's helpful in my opinion to have a look around and see that we are not the only ones dealing with problems. Other major cities have problems too. For example, Calgary also has ghettos (not to be picky about Calgary, just providing an example that I know).
That being said, it doesn't make it ok to have issues. It's always the best to solve them as much as possible. What are the solutions? Well...always ever changing and uncertain.
In terms of downtown growth, my opinion is that it will likely continues, even at a faster pace in the future. Population is a big factor I think, and as Winnipeg is approaching 1m, more things will come. For me, safety issues won't stop me from enjoying what downtown can offer. There are things downtown have that other areas don't really have much. There are also both good areas and bad areas in downtown, too.
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Winnipeg
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