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  #21  
Old Posted Nov 9, 2009, 4:09 PM
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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.
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  #22  
Old Posted Nov 9, 2009, 5:26 PM
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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.
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  #23  
Old Posted Nov 9, 2009, 6:00 PM
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like i said we both have things we could learn/ take from eachother
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  #24  
Old Posted Nov 10, 2009, 1:47 PM
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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.
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  #25  
Old Posted Nov 10, 2009, 2:24 PM
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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.
If I remember correctly, that's because we have a law that prohibits panhandling. Busking is fine... but panhandling is a no-no.
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  #26  
Old Posted Nov 11, 2009, 4:44 AM
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I'm confussed by how Winnipeg could possibly benifit from trying to copy downtown Regina 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
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  #27  
Old Posted Nov 11, 2009, 5:09 AM
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If I remember correctly, that's because we have a law that prohibits panhandling. Busking is fine... but panhandling is a no-no.
I stand corrected .. Winnipeg could learn something from Regina.
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  #28  
Old Posted Nov 11, 2009, 5:11 AM
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I don't know if rug sweeping is a good thing to learn.
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  #29  
Old Posted Nov 11, 2009, 5:12 AM
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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.
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  #30  
Old Posted Nov 11, 2009, 5:13 AM
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I don't know if rug sweeping is a good thing to learn.
Having a clean rug is not a bad thing.. it is time the city cleaned up the downtown.
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  #31  
Old Posted Nov 11, 2009, 5:29 AM
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Originally Posted by newflyer View Post
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.
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.....
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  #32  
Old Posted Nov 11, 2009, 5:59 AM
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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.
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  #33  
Old Posted Nov 11, 2009, 6:03 AM
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Originally Posted by newflyer View Post
Having a clean rug is not a bad thing.. it is time the city cleaned up the downtown.
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.
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  #34  
Old Posted Nov 11, 2009, 6:09 AM
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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.
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  #35  
Old Posted Nov 11, 2009, 6:17 AM
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Having a clean downtown, with less panahndlers would greatly improve its appeal.
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!
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  #36  
Old Posted Nov 11, 2009, 6:23 AM
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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.
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  #37  
Old Posted Nov 11, 2009, 6:31 AM
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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.
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  #38  
Old Posted Nov 12, 2009, 2:22 AM
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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.
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  #39  
Old Posted Nov 12, 2009, 2:35 AM
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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.
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  #40  
Old Posted Nov 12, 2009, 2:46 AM
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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!!!
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