Western Expresso

[Pinus]

I think our Winnipeg forumers need to take a look at what is being said about the city in the Canadian forum thread "What are your year end thoughts of your city" by biguc, Hectate and people from across the country. Our national reputation of Shithole and National Dump continues.

Reginians are also calling their city a shithole in another thread as well, but on a much smaller scale and only from a local context, unlike us.

Happy New Year!

[OTA in Winnipeg]

Originally Posted by Pinus

Our national reputation of Shithole and National Dump continues.



Happy New Year!

I've never said or thought this. The opposite is true in fact.

Happy New Year.

[joshlemer]

I went to the Yes In Winnipeg (www.yesinwpg.com) monthly meeting last night. This is an interesting group in town who's focused on making a difference in how the city is planned, to allow more infill and make developments more walkable/bike-able/transit serviceable/accessible.

Unlike some interest groups I've popped my head into, these guys seem pretty focused on actually trying to achieve their ends rather than gathering to belly ache together.

The specific areas they think they can make a difference in are:

* form a coalition of general YIMBY-minded folks who can be notified whenever there are projects that can be supported but which are facing NIMBY backlash (so, going to attend hearings or whatever the city calls them, expressing support for the project to councillors, etc)
* make it easier for developers and individuals to develop higher density infill projects. One of the ideas floated was to upgrade large portions of the city from zone "R1" to zone "R2".
* make it easier to build "second suites" in existing lots (this is where you construct a second structure in your lot, or build on to an existing structure, to create a second home which you can rent out or put your grandmother up in, etc)


The short term priority for the group at this point is to expand its size in terms of membership/attendance/mailing list, and to get some small amount of cash for online advertising. There's also some workshops in early stages of planning which walk the public through how to go about making such "second suite" units, and will be paid admission (that money goes to advertising). The thinking is that such workshops will expand the public awareness and increase membership. Some members of the org are also from development industry, very frustrated by NIMBY's, which would very much like to see this org get off the ground, so things like company sponsorships are likely to be part of the funding strategy. Other, free, public information sessions are also in the early stages of planning, for the same purpose of expanding the base.

The thinking is that once the size of the organization is large enough then they can go to city councillors with a lot more weight and actually stand a chance to affect change. The goal for the initial growth phase of the org, before attempting to influence policy, is to have at least 25 people consistently showing up at monthly meetings. Last night 9 showed up, but they've had as many as 20 before. By the way, the org is ~1 year old.

So if you're interested in these things, and you probably are if you're on this forum, then you might want to consider signing for the mailing list and showing your face at a couple of the meetings.

[pspeid]

^Thanks for the information. This looks exactly like what Winnipeg needs, though I hope they don't get too close to many developers, or they will be branded as nothing more than an industry-led pressure group (and therefore to be ignored), rather than a grassroots organization.

[bomberjet]

I subscribed and started following them on social media.

[joshlemer]

Originally Posted by pspeid

^Thanks for the information. This looks exactly like what Winnipeg needs, though I hope they don't get too close to many developers, or they will be branded as nothing more than an industry-led pressure group (and therefore to be ignored), rather than a grassroots organization.

I strongly agree. I think this group should definitely be very cautious about being perceived as a puppet org of developers. Since their primary focus right now is to increase membership, I think they can actually increase attendance/membership many-fold on a shoestring budget by taking some simple steps like announcing meetups on Twitter/Facebook/Reddit/SkyscraperPage/Instagram/telephone poles, and cross pollinating with other groups in the city like Functional Transit Winnipeg/Green Action Centre/BikeWinnipeg.

[lilwayne]

Asian countries are so far ahead of Canada in terms of infrastructure and architecture.. we're in the stone age compared to other countries..

We're prolly not even in the top 50 probably in terms of technology infrastructure architecture in the world.. i always thought Canada was advance and modern but naw man i still don't know why most ppl coming runnin to Canada from other countries which are so far better than us in terms of lifestyle crime rate natural beauty scenery climate everything really
. Maybe we're better than some parts of africa middle east and Sith America but those countries got way more history

[EspionNoir]

Some countries are definitely advanced in some places/on the surface, but they might have core problems that their residents find very frustrating. As a result, they might want to leave. The problems are likely to be political and social, which are much harder to solve than improving infrastructure.

About building very tall towers: some US cities like Austin and Houston built skyscrapers taller than 150m in the 70s and 80s, but their downtown still didn't look welcome and vibrant. Many of these buildings were offices. Austin has started building many residential towers in downtown at the start of this century I believe. Building density seems to be a better option, and I think it's being done already in Winnipeg. We have had many residential development & conversion in downtown in the past 10-15 years or so. I think we are not doing bad at all.

IMO some cynical attitudes towards Winnipeg are a bit......unnecessary, to put it nicely.

[1ajs]

austin is boom right now

[pspeid]

Originally Posted by EspionNoir

IMO some cynical attitudes towards Winnipeg are a bit......unnecessary, to put it nicely.

Yes that's putting it nicely. I thank you for the show of civility.

I've said this before but, hey, it's a forum, so I'll repeat myself. People are, of course, allowed to like or dislike whatever they want. I think the problem with some folks is their frustrations with this or that allow them to get so worked up, they see everything that bothers them (streetscaping, wind, etc.) as some kind of personal attack. They lash out in the most bizarre, unsupportable rants, and many of us are left wading through their bile just to get to a decent discussion.

I was going to respond to some of the absurdity I've seen posted here, but it wouldn't help, and adding the worst offenders to the ignore list is so much easier.

[buzzg]

Austin is a fantastic, growing city that benefitted from tech companies moving in due to low taxes and costs. It's my favourite food city in the US. So much arts and culture.

Austin also doesn't have many (or any) super talls. It's similar to Winnipeg in having a fairly spread out downtown with more medium-sized towers like us. However, Austin is also plagued by an astronomical amount of parkades. Like, they're everywhere, and they're huge. You can't really go on any street without at least one monster parkade, and like us (maybe worse than us) there isn't many clear "high streets" downtown.

There's really only one street that's got all small shops and bars on the whole length, and that's 6th street - it's awesome, but it is a college party street with clubs and bars. It's pretty cool though, closed to traffic in the evenings and mounted police patrol it. The other cool fun street in central Austin is Rainey – but it's just outside downtown: it's a residential street where all the houses were converted to bars and restaurants.

[Lars65]

I think to suggest that Canada is inferior to most countries in terms of lifestyle or natural scenic beauty, of all things, is pretty disingenuous, at best.

[1ajs]

Originally Posted by Lars65

I think to suggest that Canada is inferior to most countries in terms of lifestyle or natural scenic beauty, of all things, is pretty disingenuous, at best.

canadas problem is, its so big and as a result its very regonalistic on things it should be colaborating on across this country

[Spocket]

Originally Posted by lilwayne

Asian countries are so far ahead of Canada in terms of infrastructure and architecture.. we're in the stone age compared to other countries..

We're prolly not even in the top 50 probably in terms of technology infrastructure architecture in the world.. i always thought Canada was advance and modern but naw man i still don't know why most ppl coming runnin to Canada from other countries which are so far better than us in terms of lifestyle crime rate natural beauty scenery climate everything really
. Maybe we're better than some parts of africa middle east and Sith America but those countries got way more history

You really think that? You need to travel more.

I can tell you right now that if you think all (or even some) Asian countries are ahead of Canada in terms of architecture then you've never been to said places. You can't compare Shanghai with Winnipeg for the same reason you can't compare New York with Nome, Alaska. And if you travel outside of those places, not very far, you'll find that most of that "advanced" architecture is very no-frills. For example, when you go shopping in my city in China, you keep your parka on in the mall because they didn't bother providing a proper heating system. And if you live in a building under 7 floors, forget about elevators. That's if the place can manage to stay erect considering the standards for construction are ignored most of the time.

As far as beauty and history...well, the beauty of any given place is subjective so that's out of the equation. As for history, I think you'd find that most of the places you think you're talking about aren't as historic as you might think compared to Winnipeg. They're in "old" countries but the cities themselves aren't necessarily all that old at all. My city was more or less founded by the Japanese during their occupation during WWII. It existed prior to that but as a village on the frontier. Winnipeg sits on a trading point that's existed for thousands of years and was established as a city in the late 1800's.

I have no clue what you're talking about in terms of lifestyle. People in Canada, even the poorest, live far, far better than the average person here in "advanced" China. Know how people in the countryside sleep here? Each home has a little fire in a sort of "room" for the fire. That fire heats the bed and they sleep on top of that. But if you put a mattress on it, the heat doesn't come through properly so they may just have a blanket or two underneath. And running water? Forget about it. Not that you'd want to drink it anyway since it's full of heavy metals that will eventually clog up every organ you have and boiling it doesn't fix that problem. But fortunately, your toilet doesn't need running water because it's literally a hole in the ground. Oh, it won't stink up your place because it's outside so you've got that much going for you. Not that most people here that are in the countryside (or the city for that matter) seem to care where they go to the bathroom. Walk right past a perfectly functional bathroom and piss on the wall of the place...totally acceptable here. And for fun, you have your choice of going to a restaurant or not going anywhere. This is in a city of millions, by the way. Yeah, I have no clue what you're talking about but I don't think you do either.

[Hecate]

Originally Posted by Spocket

I have no clue what you're talking about in terms of lifestyle. People in Canada, even the poorest, live far, far better than the average person here in "advanced" China. Know how people in the countryside sleep here? Each home has a little fire in a sort of "room" for the fire. That fire heats the bed and they sleep on top of that. But if you put a mattress on it, the heat doesn't come through properly so they may just have a blanket or two underneath. And running water? Forget about it. Not that you'd want to drink it anyway since it's full of heavy metals that will eventually clog up every organ you have and boiling it doesn't fix that problem. But fortunately, your toilet doesn't need running water because it's literally a hole in the ground. Oh, it won't stink up your place because it's outside so you've got that much going for you. Not that most people here that are in the countryside (or the city for that matter) seem to care where they go to the bathroom. Walk right past a perfectly functional bathroom and piss on the wall of the place...totally acceptable here. And for fun, you have your choice of going to a restaurant or not going anywhere. This is in a city of millions, by the way. Yeah, I have no clue what you're talking about but I don't think you do either.

Sounds like you’re describing the living conditions on some of the reserves around here. Not much different at all. There are Canadians who don’t have running water.
I find it funny that you choose to compare life in Canada with only the lives of poor people in rural China. How would Canada compare with Korea or Japan? The technologies and quality of life in those countries is far beyond ours. The reality is Canada is falling behind and we can see this just by looking at our healthcare system. People are having life transforming surgeries in Thailand (See Humboldt broncos player who is no longer paralyzed) People from Canada are going to India, Thailand, and Mexico for surgeries. People in Asia are spearheading research and development, we’re over here building new offices for bureaucrats. Has it ever taken Korea or Japan, over ten years to build a wing of a hospital?

[rrskylar]

Originally Posted by Hecate

Sounds like you’re describing the living conditions on some of the reserves around here. Not much different at all. There are Canadians who don’t have running water.
I find it funny that you choose to compare life in Canada with only the lives of poor people in rural China. How would Canada compare with Korea or Japan? The technologies and quality of life in those countries is far beyond ours. The reality is Canada is falling behind and we can see this just by looking at our healthcare system. People are having life transforming surgeries in Thailand (See Humboldt broncos player who is no longer paralyzed) People from Canada are going to India, Thailand, and Mexico for surgeries. People in Asia are spearheading research and development, we’re over here building new offices for bureaucrats. Has it ever taken Korea or Japan, over ten years to build a wing of a hospital?

And why would you choose to live somewhere without running water, seriously!

Life is about choices, an immigrant may choose to leave SE Asia or anywhere else impoverished for a better life, would they seriously move somewhere in Canada without running water or the chance for gainful employment?

Enough of the BS!

[Hecate]

Originally Posted by rrskylar

And why would you choose to live somewhere without running water, seriously!

Life is about choices, an immigrant may choose to leave SE Asia or anywhere else impoverished for a better life, would they seriously move somewhere in Canada without running water or the chance for gainful employment?

Enough of the BS!

What bullshit?

Do you blame people in China for not having running water? Do you ask why they would live there? I’m sure all their reasons are the same as any persons on a reserve. No education, don’t know any different, fear, lack of opportunities.

I know of at least one person in my neighbourhood who has no running water. He is not on a reserve. His pipes froze and he can’t afford to replace them being single and owning his own home.

There are people all over the province and country in the same boat.

[rrskylar]

Originally Posted by Hecate

What bullshit?

Do you blame people in China for not having running water? Do you ask why they would live there? I’m sure all their reasons are the same as any persons on a reserve. No education, don’t know any different, fear, lack of opportunities.

I know of at least one person in my neighbourhood who has no running water. He is not on a reserve. His pipes froze and he can’t afford to replace them being single and owning his own home.

There are people all over the province and country in the same boat.

Thought we were talking about Canada not some totalitarian hell hole where profits come before people. If you can't afford upkeep on a home maybe you have no business owning one, no one ever said home ownership is a right and this is why the rental market exists.

Anyway don't think there is even a conversation here, have a nice life!

[Hecate]

He’s been my neighbour for years was born and raised in this community, operates his own business and back in the summer the contract he had wasn’t renewed because he had to increase his operating costs due to carbon pricing. He lost his job and has been trying to make ends meet. He runs his business out of his home. He could not operate his trucking business out at an apartment. You citiot.

[rrskylar]

Originally Posted by Hecate

He’s been my neighbour for years was born and raised in this community, operates his own business and back in the summer the contract he had wasn’t renewed because he had to increase his operating costs due to carbon pricing. He lost his job and has been trying to make ends meet. He runs his business out of his home. He could not operate his trucking business out at an apartment. You citiot.

Well, I feel for the guy because of his business difficulties from the Trudeau/Soros scam called carbon pricing which is completely idiotic!

What F’in govt. would penalize its own citizens for heating their homes or running a business (think farmers, transportation of goods and everything else)

This is what happens when people are dumb enough to allow elitist pricks to run the country!