Winnipeg | Osborne Village & Fort Rouge | Developments & Discussions

[pegster]

Originally Posted by ColdRain&Snow

This is exactly what was outlined in the "2023 Osborne Village Blueprint" that was published by Osborne Village BIZ. See page 31 in the below document.

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/6...06650/2023-Osborne-Village+Blueprint.pdf

Speaking of the BIZ, has anyone heard anything from them recently? Their "Community Updates" page hasn't been updated since August 2023. It would be really nice if they could hire even just one person to shovel the sidewalks along Osborne.

https://www.osbornevillagebiz.com/blog

There was a lot of good in that plan, even beyond the much talked about (and quashed) rearranging of the River and Osborne corner. Haven't heard much from the BIZ lately. I wonder if they ever replaced their little motorized golf cart after it got stolen...

The new Winnipeg Transit plan cuts the number of bus routes using Osborne down to two (the D19, which continues down Corydon, and the F6, which runs up to the North End along McGregor and down to St. Vital along Dunkirk), hopefully at reasonably high frequency. I wonder if this might change some of the dynamics there, but doubt it.

[EndIt]

Originally Posted by Biff

I don't understand why everything is so difficult for Osborne in the Village. Here are the other comparable streets from my rudimentary measuring on Google Earth.

Robson (Van) - 4 lane, 42' curb to curb, 80' between buildings
Whyte (Edm) - 4/6 lane, 62' curb to curb, 100' between buildings
Osborne (Wpg) - 4 lane, 45' curb to curb, 70' between buildings
Young (Tor) - 4 lane, 41' curb to curb, 70' between buildings
St Catherine (Mtl) - 4 lane, 48' curb to curb, 85' between buildings

Why does everyone complain about OV when all of these other streets have almost identical set ups and are wildly successful. I think it is just the way Winnipeg is set up and the fact that is has to be used as a major commuting route.

Robson is busy and choked with cars. Ditto for Young and Whyte.

I'm no traffic engineer but a huge issue with Osborne is traffic funneled toward the bridge. Making Osborne function as a pleasant high street while still moving people across the river is a tall order.

Yonge is busy, but you've also got traffic and commercial activity spread out on Bay, Avenue and Mt. Pleasant a block or two away (and walking down Yonge still sucks ass IMO lol).

[Mr Tall Forehead]

Originally Posted by pegster

The new Winnipeg Transit plan cuts the number of bus routes using Osborne down to two (the D19, which continues down Corydon, and the F6, which runs up to the North End along McGregor and down to St. Vital along Dunkirk), hopefully at reasonably high frequency. I wonder if this might change some of the dynamics there, but doubt it.

It's probably more likely that Public Works will argue that fewer buses on Osborne is good rationale to increase the speed limit and add more slip lanes.

[bon_vivant]

Originally Posted by rivercity

Nonsuch opening a second location in South Osborne at the southwest corner of Morley and Osborne according to their instagram - no timelines. Would replace the existing Liberty Tax business .

In: South Osborne. Out: Osborne Village.

Osborne Village Biz has lost the plot (did they ever have one?). I admire the small businesses that are sticking it out but if I owned a shop there I'd be packing up and heading south, sorry. Poor Rooster, they must be thinking: "fuck this shit".

[xubiqtss]

I'm not sure who's to "blame" for the sluggish development of the Village (I'd start with the landlords moreso than the Biz) but it's also really inaccurate to talk about businesses fleeing south...

It's great that South Osborne is getting more stuff, it's a really nice strip. But the higher density in the Village means a more walkable, pedestrian-friendly neighbourhood that has more upshot to support new businesses. Baby Baby, Shirley's, Must Be the Place, Cleocatra, Crumb Queen, etc. are all evidence of that. They lost an A&W, but who cares?

[eman]

Anybody know what is going on behind 253 River Ave. All trees, all the way to the river were cleared this week. I looked through old posts, but didn't
find anything. The land has been used for homeless encampments. Oddly, the property is only accessible by a narrow lane, not sure 2 cars could pass behind the buildings on the the street side.

[ColdRain&Snow]

Originally Posted by eman

Anybody know what is going on behind 253 River Ave. All trees, all the way to the river were cleared this week. I looked through old posts, but didn't
find anything. The land has been used for homeless encampments. Oddly, the property is only accessible by a narrow lane, not sure 2 cars could pass behind the buildings on the the street side.

Looking on the property assessment website, it looks like the address of that lot is 269 River Ave. It appears the land is already zoned for residential. Not sure what is happening there.



https://assessment.winnipeg.ca/asmtpub/e...2032378000&pgLang=EN&isRealtySearch=true

[Biff]

If it is cleared all the way to the river it could be for riverbank stabilization prior to development.

[trueviking]

Rental apartments.

[FactaNV]

Originally Posted by trueviking

Rental apartments.

One of yours?

[Jeff]

these new interest rates are sure opening the flood gates for projects!

[bomberjet]

I thought there was a proposal to demolish the smaller buildings and put up a bigger like 12 storey thingy. It was then said to be on hold.

IIRC the new build had a drive aisle along the east property line to a parkade under the building.

[Mr Tall Forehead]

There were a couple of flatbeds with long thin sheets of metal parked in front of that aisle on River earlier this week. Definitely looked like shoring material so riverbank stabilization would also be my guess.

Part of me hopes it's site prep for a new build somewhere between four to six stories, just to see how a certain someone reacts to the floor count.

[FactaNV]

Originally Posted by Mr Tall Forehead

There were a couple of flatbeds with long thin sheets of metal parked in front of that aisle on River earlier this week. Definitely looked like shoring material so riverbank stabilization would also be my guess.

Part of me hopes it's site prep for a new build somewhere between four to six stories, just to see how a certain someone reacts to the floor count.

Why would Brent Bellamy do this?

[WpgRocksDude]

To reply to the points regarding the Biz:

There's essentially been a full staff turnover since the 2023 Osborne Village Blueprint was published, though (as far as i'm aware) most of the ideas and points in the blueprint are still upheld.

Many aspects of the biz (especially the website) have kinda been put on the backburner while new staff gets adjusted and other priorities get sorted. The amount of safety issues that came up over the summer was also a big priority that required a lot of attention, slowing down pretty much all other biz work. Though, there is a website overhaul and revamp currently in the works that should be rolled out throughout the spring and continually updated going forward.

The little motorized golf cart has been replaced since getting stolen, the stolen one was actually crashed and totaled... rip

The slip lane project at River & Osborne is still something that the biz is pushing for, but is facing a lot of resistance from the city.

As far as pushing for more development in Osborne, there's not a lot in the biz's capacity to do so. Many potential businesses have been scared off by steep rental costs and landlord issues. The biz essentially has no say in what kinds of businesses move into the village, but are more so responsible to support the ones that choose to do so, and that already exist. It may not seem like it, but there were many more new businesses open in the village than closures over the past year.

Resources for the biz are surprisingly very limited. Despite the neighbourhood's size, the effective biz zone boundary is smaller than most other biz zones in the city, with most of the encompassed properties being residential (which don't contribute to the levy/biz budget). For reference, the OVB budget is about 1/10th the amount of the downtown biz. None of the OVB staff have full-time positions (currently a total of 4 people), as there's just not enough in the budget to afford it. Some biz functions (ie graffiti removal) have to be outsourced to the West End Biz, as they have the staff and capacity to do so. In a neighborhood like Osborne that sees so much action, it really is so much to do, so little time (working hours & money).

Sidewalk snow clearing is definitely an issues that is being looked into.

Keep raising ideas/concerns in here, the biz does see it. (I may or may not be one of the new biz staff members, and may or may not check this forum almost daily...)

[Jeff]

the new xmas decor that was installed on the decorative streetlamps was a nice touch, btw ^^^

[ColdRain&Snow]

Originally Posted by WpgRocksDude

To reply to the points regarding the Biz:

There's essentially been a full staff turnover since the 2023 Osborne Village Blueprint was published, though (as far as i'm aware) most of the ideas and points in the blueprint are still upheld.

Many aspects of the biz (especially the website) have kinda been put on the backburner while new staff gets adjusted and other priorities get sorted. The amount of safety issues that came up over the summer was also a big priority that required a lot of attention, slowing down pretty much all other biz work. Though, there is a website overhaul and revamp currently in the works that should be rolled out throughout the spring and continually updated going forward.

The little motorized golf cart has been replaced since getting stolen, the stolen one was actually crashed and totaled... rip

The slip lane project at River & Osborne is still something that the biz is pushing for, but is facing a lot of resistance from the city.

As far as pushing for more development in Osborne, there's not a lot in the biz's capacity to do so. Many potential businesses have been scared off by steep rental costs and landlord issues. The biz essentially has no say in what kinds of businesses move into the village, but are more so responsible to support the ones that choose to do so, and that already exist. It may not seem like it, but there were many more new businesses open in the village than closures over the past year.

Resources for the biz are surprisingly very limited. Despite the neighbourhood's size, the effective biz zone boundary is smaller than most other biz zones in the city, with most of the encompassed properties being residential (which don't contribute to the levy/biz budget). For reference, the OVB budget is about 1/10th the amount of the downtown biz. None of the OVB staff have full-time positions (currently a total of 4 people), as there's just not enough in the budget to afford it. Some biz functions (ie graffiti removal) have to be outsourced to the West End Biz, as they have the staff and capacity to do so. In a neighborhood like Osborne that sees so much action, it really is so much to do, so little time (working hours & money).

Sidewalk snow clearing is definitely an issues that is being looked into.

Keep raising ideas/concerns in here, the biz does see it. (I may or may not be one of the new biz staff members, and may or may not check this forum almost daily...)

Thanks for the update! Glad to hear that there is lots of work going on behind the scenes.

[trueviking]

Originally Posted by FactaNV

One of yours?

Not one of mine. I'm not sure what the massing will be. Most likely a 6 storey.

[WpgRocksDude]

Originally Posted by Jeff

the new xmas decor that was installed on the decorative streetlamps was a nice touch, btw ^^^

Thank you thank you,

Still working on getting more of them up to span down to confusion corner. Unfortunately 2 of those light poles were casualties from the crash in front of Rooster...

The big shipment of xmas lights that was placed late in the summer didnt arrive until after xmas, and the white ball lights were the most thematically ambiguous of the bunch so they'll likely be left up all year. There will be more festive lighting ready to be put up for next winter.

[Jeff]

Originally Posted by WpgRocksDude

Thank you thank you,

Still working on getting more of them up to span down to confusion corner. Unfortunately 2 of those light poles were casualties from the crash in front of Rooster...

The big shipment of xmas lights that was placed late in the summer didnt arrive until after xmas, and the white ball lights were the most thematically ambiguous of the bunch so they'll likely be left up all year. There will be more festive lighting ready to be put up for next winter.

good to hear! can't wait to see it next season. give the corydon biz a run for its money.