could winnipeg learn from regina's downtown?

[Boreal]

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.