St Boniface Area | Winnipeg | Development

[esquire]

^ That's great. Provencher is wide enough that we can have our cake and eat it too in terms of accommodating both cars and bikes (as well as other forms of AT). No need to shunt it off to a side street... keep those bikes on Winnipeg's Champs-Elysees! (OK, I may be overstating things...)

[wags_in_the_peg]

100% agree, still waiting for Provencher to be the street it deserves to be! so many empty lots / buildings just waiting for re-juvenation / building!

[optimusREIM]

Originally Posted by wags_in_the_peg

100% agree, still waiting for Provencher to be the street it deserves to be! so many empty lots / buildings just waiting for re-juvenation / building!

I have wanted nothing more my whole life, but the local interest groups have a hard time staying out of the way of the vitality of their neighbourhood. The franco-manitoban ones specifically. I've been running in those circles since I was just a kid and they are resistant to any single iota of change that might, for instance, dilute the francophone community etc. It's a pretty rigid mindset.

[thebasketballgeek]

^Which I find odd because French urban design is generally quite high density with a distinct character. If these Franco-Manitobans are so upset it wouldn’t kill them to have urban design guidelines in St. Boniface. Especially if the goal is to make it a tree lined boulevard as seen in Paris.

I will say though I am quite happy with the bike lanes. It took way too long to lobby the bike lanes on Provencher but alas common sense prevails. I’m also quite happy with them being 2.2 metres on each side.

[WildCake]

Originally Posted by thebasketballgeek

^Which I find odd because French urban design is generally quite high density with a distinct character. If these Franco-Manitobans are so upset it wouldn’t kill them to have urban design guidelines in St. Boniface. Especially if the goal is to make it a tree lined boulevard as seen in Paris.

I will say though I am quite happy with the bike lanes. It took way too long to lobby the bike lanes on Provencher but alas common sense prevails. I’m also quite happy with them being 2.2 metres on each side.

That's French from France architecture you're talking about. These are French-Canadians, who should be better named NIMBY Winnipeggers that think a neighbourhood spitting distance from Downtown should look exactly as it did 150 years ago with 4 acre lots, horse carts, roaming chickens, etc...

[bomberjet]

It's decent. Would be nice to have bi-directional lanes on both sides.

Are there are upgrades planned for Archibald? It seems the plan is to install the lanes on Provencher. Then use Greenways, Ie: jus ride on the street, to get to Archibald and then no upgrades there. Archibald is not pedestrian friendly. Just riding on the sidewalk to get through the underpass to the newer AT connection built a few years back.

[thebasketballgeek]

Originally Posted by WildCake

That's French from France architecture you're talking about. These are French-Canadians, who should be better named NIMBY Winnipeggers that think a neighbourhood spitting distance from Downtown should look exactly as it did 150 years ago with 4 acre lots, horse carts, roaming chickens, etc...

You have a point about Franco-Manitobans but I wouldn’t even mind the French-Canadian neighborhoods in Montreal where the residential streets are just a bunch of walk up rowhouses abutting the street with mixed-use housing on the high street.

[optimusREIM]

Originally Posted by thebasketballgeek

You have a point about Franco-Manitobans but I wouldn’t even mind the French-Canadian neighborhoods in Montreal where the residential streets are just a bunch of walk up rowhouses abutting the street with mixed-use housing on the high street.

The NIMBYism seems to be a bit of a local phenomenon. I think it mostly has to do with the perception that the franco-manitoban identity is always under threat and attack. That hasn't really been true in any real sense since the 80s, but the attitude persists. Harder to keep cohesion in the community when there is no urgent rallying cry

[anthonyk]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

Are there are upgrades planned for Archibald?.

In the proposed route, it does not appear so.

[trueviking]

Starting to rust. Will look nice when it does.

[wags_in_the_peg]

I drive by it daily and absolutely LOVE this building, filled such an previous ugly corner, can't wait for more to happen in the area. The only downside is the retail / office are empty (besides the resident gym). Same issue as many of the new builds on St Anne's road, the CRU sit empty while the apartments are sold out.

[audie]

It might be a fad that we all look back on with distaste after 25 years, but I'm an absolute sucker for architectural weathering steel. Love it

[Hecate]

I don’t mind that the francophone community is very invested in preserving the feel of st. Boniface. It’s their community. It’s the heart of francophone culture in western Canada. The last thing it needs is a shit ton of anglophones moving in and diluting the community even more.

[pspeid]

Originally Posted by audie

It might be a fad that we all look back on with distaste after 25 years, but I'm an absolute sucker for architectural weathering steel. Love it

Not my personal taste, but lots of people seem to like it. It's still a very attractive building.

[thebasketballgeek]

Originally Posted by Hecate

I don’t mind that the francophone community is very invested in preserving the feel of st. Boniface. It’s their community. It’s the heart of francophone culture in western Canada. The last thing it needs is a shit ton of anglophones moving in and diluting the community even more.

You can still preserve francophone culture and increase density substantially in St Boniface.

Also, densifying St Boniface could mean a larger pool of immigrants from French communities. It’s not like everyone moving to the area has to be anglophones.

[trueviking]

Originally Posted by Hecate

I don’t mind that the francophone community is very invested in preserving the feel of st. Boniface. It’s their community. It’s the heart of francophone culture in western Canada. The last thing it needs is a shit ton of anglophones moving in and diluting the community even more.

wow.

[trueviking]

Originally Posted by wags_in_the_peg

I drive by it daily and absolutely LOVE this building, filled such an previous ugly corner, can't wait for more to happen in the area. The only downside is the retail / office are empty (besides the resident gym). Same issue as many of the new builds on St Anne's road, the CRU sit empty while the apartments are sold out.

more coming.

the CRU's are a frustration...the spaces are amazing....high ceilings, giant windows...the end has a patio space....storefront retail is such a challenge in Winnipeg, especially if you don't have a big parking lot.

[bomberjet]

There's already a shit ton of anglophones living in St. B.

[borkborkbork]

Originally Posted by Hecate

I don’t mind that the francophone community is very invested in preserving the feel of st. Boniface. It’s their community. It’s the heart of francophone culture in western Canada. The last thing it needs is a shit ton of anglophones moving in and diluting the community even more.

If keeping MFR from replacing surface parking lots on their truck route helps preserve the French language, they're doing a bang-up job

[borkborkbork]

Originally Posted by thebasketballgeek

Also, densifying St Boniface could mean a larger pool of immigrants from French communities.

"We have to preserve the French language" will very quickly turn to "we have to preserve the Franco-Manitoban culture" if the neighbourhood started to fill with Francophones from Haiti, Cote d'Ivoire, DRC, etc. The racism is not subtle.