Winnipeg - Out with the old, in with the new

[Winnipegger]

Hi, I am new to the Skyscraper page, but I have a great interest in cities and Skyscrapers, and I have been blessed with a nice downtown in my own City, Winnipeg. I think Winnipeg has it's fair share of Glass and Steel, but making Winnipeg, well, Winnipeg, is that it's major trade district is all historical. Now, I myself, don't really care for the preservation of the 5 storey brick and stone buildings that can make our Downtown look like a dump at first sight. Now, please don't get me wrong. I am a fan of architecture, and it's those buildings that define our strive for building up, and the ever evolving definition on what is urban and central, but I say its time to move on.

Yes, the stone is nice, but who wants a skyline filled with hundreds of tiny 5 storey stone buildings when we can replace them with more efficent, and eye pleasing buildings, like the Richardson, or CanWest, or even the Commodity Exchange Tower. I've been to downtown Minneapolis, and man, was that nice. I stayed in a fancy hotel right in the heart of all those skyscrapers, and it was one heck of a view. And do you know what? There wasn't one single old stone short building there. It was all gleaming glass and steel.

I think that Winnipeg needs to take on a new initiative to let the sky become more of a resource, rather than letting everything sprawl out. Our downtown and city needs to attaract more major coporations so we can get our sky filled with glass. Its the 21st century and the city is the place to be. Offices are where the buisness men are, and the buisness men are what keeps the economy up. Now, I'm only in my teens, and I am not sure how all this urban design and preservation of historical sites work, but those are just my thoughts.

I'd love to see our skyline grow, and glow, and more buildings climb the skys, but I am sure there is way more to it than just trying to attract buisnesses, but I just thought I'd bring up the subject to see what others though. I hope It doesn't offend anyone. Post what you think!

ps. Sorry about the double post. I don't know how to delete one of the two threads!