Winnipeg Construction

[Spocket]

Originally Posted by Cam

Does anyone have an idea on the timeline for the RT90 widening?

Tomorrow .
They're going to line the route with construction workers on both sides and then have them pull the curbs until the road is sufficiently wide .

Okay , all joking aside , you'll have to check with the city or try Google to see if anything comes up .

[Kinguni]

Originally Posted by Cam

Does anyone have an idea on the timeline for the RT90 widening?

There is no timeline and probably won't be until the Kapyong lands are dealt with.

[drew]

Yeah, I agree. I'd love to see a small, fresh offerings grocer in the immediate vicinity as well. As the population grows, I think an "urban fresh" format store like Sobeys has in downtown Toronto would work well - much smaller than a traditional grocery store, but fits in with the surroundings, and offers all the fresh food and produce you'd expect elsewhere. I think that type of model would fit the market well...

^ Where I live in Wolseley, there is a Family Foods, De Lucas and several smaller corner stores, butchers, bakeries etc. within easy walking distance.

However, aside from odds and ends, we do the bulk of our grocery shopping at Superstore on Sargent.

I would like to use the walkable options more, but a combination of terrible hours, and (generally) higher prices relegates these places to the sidelines in the grocery shopping experience of my household.

[Riverman]

Originally Posted by 1ajs

we need some sorta hardware store downtown...

There used to be small hardware stores scattered throughout the older neighbourhoods but they have all closed up shop except for Pollacks. The downtown Canadian Tire was a great store but I guess they couldn't make a go of it.

There are a bunch of small Home Hardware franchises scattered throughout Toronto, such as in Roncie, Little Italy and Cabbagetown. These are similar neighbourhoods to what we see in Winnipeg, why couldn't such a franchise survive here? Maybe because there are so few carless people here?

[Mininari]

Originally Posted by Spocket

Tomorrow .
They're going to line the route with construction workers on both sides and then have them pull the curbs until the road is sufficiently wide .

Okay , all joking aside , you'll have to check with the city or try Google to see if anything comes up .

I think it was listed as a priority to be completed by 2017... but it also depends on the final final final (post appeals) court decision on the Kapyong Barracks.
Who knows when that will be.

[Bdog]

Originally Posted by Riverman

There are a bunch of small Home Hardware franchises scattered throughout Toronto, such as in Roncie, Little Italy and Cabbagetown. These are similar neighbourhoods to what we see in Winnipeg, why couldn't such a franchise survive here? Maybe because there are so few carless people here?

Don't forget my old go-to spot - Wiener's Home Hardware in the Annex haha...

[Riverman]

Originally Posted by Bdog

Don't forget my old go-to spot - Wiener's Home Hardware in the Annex haha...

To me Annex = Sonic Boom!

[1ajs]

Originally Posted by rypinion

Which is great, but not the norm. I would love to be able to walk to the grocery store, but the fact that I 'have' to drive doesn't make me worse off than the average suburban grocery shopper.

ever wonder up william to the market? or into china town? no further then i am am on foot...

[headhorse]

I found this on the Prairie Architects site...

http://www.prairiearchitects.ca/residential?project=Porter-Condos&id=203

it looks like a great project.

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by Bdog

Don't forget my old go-to spot - Wiener's Home Hardware in the Annex haha...

Still going. Used to go there sometimes. The densities are so high and the population so transient around here that (carless) people are always needing to do little projects in their apartments etc.

[1ajs]

Originally Posted by headhorse

I found this on the Prairie Architects site...

http://www.prairiearchitects.ca/residential?project=Porter-Condos&id=203

it looks like a great project.

O WOW PRARIE has come outa its dark ages :O

[trueviking]

that project has been around for a while....i wonder if it is still alive...hopefully it is....i have always thought if i had any money i would buy that building...it is perfect for condos....windows on 3 sides, perfect location...narrow floorplate.

i wonder what walls of vines looks like in real life in winnipeg, 6 stories up.....how many years will it take to grow in?.....8 months a year it could be pretty scary....will they grow on the north side?....vegetation looks good in computer renderings but this isnt victoria.....better make sure the walls behind are nice too...and it has a irrigation system.

i dont know how much i love adding floors to the tops of exchange district buildings....could ruin a nice building if not done well...prairie has a habit of falling short in the details....notice the cornice on the crocus building and the union tower addition...both are a bit awkward.

that being said, i dont mind their addition to the top of the building at bannatyne and rorie.

[pastorm]

We have to make the assumption that people who live downtown dont have cars. Therefore everything must be within walking distance for life to be sustainable down there. I know many have cars, but the assumption needs to be there

[drew]

Originally Posted by trueviking

i dont know how much i love adding floors to the tops of exchange district buildings....could ruin a nice building if not done well...prairie has a habit of falling short in the details....notice the cornice on the crocus building and the union tower addition...both are a bit awkward.

that being said, i dont mind their addition to the top of the building at bannatyne and rorie.

^ to make these projects feasible, you often need to increase the number of units in the building. These older blocks are "usually" over built, especially after they are converted from warehouse to residential loading. Therefore adding floors is pretty much the only option with these smaller buildings.

[flatlander]

Originally Posted by drew

^ to make these projects feasible, you often need to increase the number of units in the building. These older blocks are "usually" over built, especially after they are converted from warehouse to residential loading. Therefore adding floors is pretty much the only option with these smaller buildings.

I agree with both comments, but note that the Exchange has a long history of vertical expansion, mostly if not exclusively for industrial use. But like any project, it must be done right. To prohibit vertical expansion doesn't seem consistent with the neighbourhood's history.

[1ajs]

Originally Posted by Riverman

There used to be small hardware stores scattered throughout the older neighbourhoods but they have all closed up shop except for Pollacks. The downtown Canadian Tire was a great store but I guess they couldn't make a go of it.

There are a bunch of small Home Hardware franchises scattered throughout Toronto, such as in Roncie, Little Italy and Cabbagetown. These are similar neighbourhoods to what we see in Winnipeg, why couldn't such a franchise survive here? Maybe because there are so few carless people here?

the canadian tire didn't meet cdn tires corprat mandate of a store anymore so they closed it cause they wernt alloud to tare down the rest of the houses they had started to tare down to build a bigger store otherwise it would still be a canasian tire but much larger

anyhow all those small lumber stores that shut down were because people retire and the kids don't want anything to do with it.. we allmost lost pollocs to this.. though some were just plane out bought out by the compitition and shut down...

[1ajs]

Originally Posted by pastorm

We have to make the assumption that people who live downtown dont have cars. Therefore everything must be within walking distance for life to be sustainable down there. I know many have cars, but the assumption needs to be there

aww what about the residential nieghborhoods surrounding downtown?

[Spocket]

Originally Posted by pastorm

We have to make the assumption that people who live downtown dont have cars. Therefore everything must be within walking distance for life to be sustainable down there. I know many have cars, but the assumption needs to be there

Why ?
I think that what you mean is that you want for people who live downtown to do so without cars . Designing the area for a life without cars may sound nice in theory but in practice you're going to have a really tough time getting people to buy into the idea . I get the point I think you're trying to make which is that we want it to be unfriendly to cars but you've got to think beyond that .

People like their cars . They won't give them up for the sake of idealism (most of them won't anyway and besides , if you're living downtown for the sake of idealism then you probably don't own a car to give up in the first place) The point however is that if you're trying to get people to live downtown , you need to provide them with certain accommodations for their lifestyles . One thing that's probably a given is their desire to own a vehicle . Almost every suburban family has at least one car and the richer people get the less likely they are to be living without a car . It may not be what we want but it is the reality . So basically , if we're applying common sense the assumption should be that people DO have cars and they WILL want to use them .

I get your point , I really do . I agree with it up to a certain point . Nevertheless , even for urban aficionados such as ourselves , we can't ignore reality . The reality is that if we don't give car owners something to accommodate their lifestyle , they won't buy into what we're hoping to build .

[trueviking]

Originally Posted by flatlander

I agree with both comments, but note that the Exchange has a long history of vertical expansion, mostly if not exclusively for industrial use. But like any project, it must be done right. To prohibit vertical expansion doesn't seem consistent with the neighbourhood's history.

good argument.

im not opposed to it...just opposed to it not being done right.....the white stucco hat on the streetside rendering might have been terrible in reality....as i fear this might be...they may have expanded vertically in the past, but did they rely on plants to hide the cheap construction of the walls?

there are some very good examples in gastown that show how to add on to a heritage building vertically...the key is setbacks and glass....

[Bdog]

Originally Posted by Spocket

Why ?
I think that what you mean is that you want for people who live downtown to do so without cars . Designing the area for a life without cars may sound nice in theory but in practice you're going to have a really tough time getting people to buy into the idea . I get the point I think you're trying to make which is that we want it to be unfriendly to cars but you've got to think beyond that .

People like their cars . They won't give them up for the sake of idealism (most of them won't anyway and besides , if you're living downtown for the sake of idealism then you probably don't own a car to give up in the first place) The point however is that if you're trying to get people to live downtown , you need to provide them with certain accommodations for their lifestyles . One thing that's probably a given is their desire to own a vehicle . Almost every suburban family has at least one car and the richer people get the less likely they are to be living without a car . It may not be what we want but it is the reality . So basically , if we're applying common sense the assumption should be that people DO have cars and they WILL want to use them .

I get your point , I really do . I agree with it up to a certain point . Nevertheless , even for urban aficionados such as ourselves , we can't ignore reality . The reality is that if we don't give car owners something to accommodate their lifestyle , they won't buy into what we're hoping to build .

Very true. Of the people I know that live in the exchange, I can only think of 1 that is without a car. She lives on Waterfront, and despite not having a car, she still opted to buy the parking spot, because it's nearly impossible to get a good return on your investment without owning a parking spot (for condos at least). Osborne Village is probably the only neighbourhood in the city that one could live very comfortably without a car...