Winnipeg Construction IX

[wags_in_the_peg]

the crosswalk on Main & Assiniboine (Forks entrance / Upper Fort Garry) has been turned into a street light. not sure if this is better or not...

[BubberMiley]

Originally Posted by wags_in_the_peg

the crosswalk on Main & Assiniboine (Forks entrance / Upper Fort Garry) has been turned into a street light. not sure if this is better or not...

I think it's a bike crossing like the one at the Osborne Bridge.

[bomberjet]

The old crosswalk will still be a regular pedestrian crossing, like at any other regular sidewalk. There will be a new bike lane crossing on the south side. The half signal will be activated when peds/cyclists hit the button. There are some links, etc earlier in this thread, I believe.

[oftheMoon]

Originally Posted by biguc

Nuit Blanche last year was amazing too. The weather was uncommonly nice but there were people literally everywhere, many of them doing a distinctly un-North American thing: socializing in public spaces. It was almost Berlinesque.

But I want to say, in Recluse's defence, that I don't think he's being negative. He's being incredibly positive, just not tempering his positivity with the constraints of time. He wants what he wants when he wants it--and we all do--but all these good things are coming our way, just not right away.

Nuit Blanche was incredible. Hard to describe to people, but my suggestion to anyone who hasn't been is to just go downtown on that day and they'll figure it out. People everywhere from WAG to OMS!

Sorry, but I'm giddy as a school kid at this time of year as there is so much to do! Anyway, I digress...

[CoryB]

Originally Posted by wags_in_the_peg

the crosswalk on Main & Assiniboine (Forks entrance / Upper Fort Garry) has been turned into a street light. not sure if this is better or not...

I think on high volume routes, like Main is at that point, having on-demand pedestrian activated lights like this are safer than the older style pedestrian crossing lights. There are a couple of places in Winnipeg with them now and they are relatively common in other cities.

[buzzg]

I agree with Cory, it's likely safer and will maintain a better traffic flow in rush hour. Only thing right now is the lights are all directly in front of the exit/route signage... can't read them. And they only have two, and the left one isn't even over the street, so hopefully that's just temporary because they're quite hard to notice right now.

[buzzg]

Originally Posted by Urban recluse

I can appreciate the lack of new skyscrapers in Winnipeg. What I find abhorrent is the lack of pride in existing buildings--both heritage and newer. Even cities such as St. John's and Halifax, with less growth and worse economies (although Halifax has been on an upswing recently), have beautiful downtowns with the vast majority of heritage buildings restored or redeveloped, and charming storefronts.

For Princess Street, as an example, to NOT look like (at least) this by now, is beyond ridiculous.

https://www.google.ca/maps/@47.5611611,-...-QCTeE3lOUGEma365NRhw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

It seems to me like it's becoming "trendy" for downtown building owners to fix up their buildings now... like they finally realizing their a part of something bigger. Or they just need to keep up to compete. Like even some under-the-radar projects that make a big difference overall.

The old red apartment building on smith beside the Navy building has scaffolding that just went up, my guess is repointing/sandblasting the masonry probably. Office building across the street fixed itself up, a few buildings on Graham and Broadway getting cleaned up, along with some minor upgrades in the Exchange... It's finally happening, owners seeing the value in their buildings looking good.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by oftheMoon

This is my third summer living in the Exchange and cannot agree more that critical mass is building - I've seen it first hand. Downtown is looking sharper than ever and the people are coming.

On a related note, it's really quite something how many projects are on the go right now within two blocks of Lily and James. A couple of condo projects, Manitoba Museum expansion, the Sport for Life Centre, the park-ette opposite MTC, the apartments on Market, soon the new Pumphouse project, the renovation of the Galpern Building... it's remarkable. You'd probably have to go back 100 years to get to the last time there was that much construction around there. Even the huge 60s urban renewal projects didn't cover as much ground as these new projects are.

All of this stuff will really help to take the East Exchange to the next level.

[bomberjet]

And then the on-going streetscaping projects to top it off. Very good crop of projects. Hopefully new ones will continue for years to come.

[Urban recluse]

Originally Posted by biguc

Nuit Blanche last year was amazing too. The weather was uncommonly nice but there were people literally everywhere, many of them doing a distinctly un-North American thing: socializing in public spaces. It was almost Berlinesque.

But I want to say, in Recluse's defence, that I don't think he's being negative. He's being incredibly positive, just not tempering his positivity with the constraints of time. He wants what he wants when he wants it--and we all do--but all these good things are coming our way, just not right away.

Guilty. It is not negativity, but frustration over the lack of action over the expansion of the TIF. This is what works. If it were expanded, more renewal would be evident.

[Urban recluse]

Originally Posted by Pinus

Because some people are just negative in life. They focus solely on the negative and refuse to acknowledge any positive. He's an example of the dying breed of negative Winnipeggers who's sole purpose in life seems to be to wince all the time.

How anyone willingly chooses to live their life in that manner is beyond me.

Some of us have higher standards. Simple really. Others accept mediocrity.

[Urban recluse]

Originally Posted by Spocket

Maybe you're unfamiliar with Winnipeg's history.

Winnipeg has plenty of pride in its old buildings. However, unlike other cities, Winnipeg hit its stride a century ago. Then it migrated its downtown a little south. That left us with a horde of buildings that hadn't kept up with the times. Rather than tear them down, we tried our best to save them. We're not talking about a dozen buildings here, we're talking about an entire district. Demand never picked up until recently with conversions because population growth was too low to make them feasible. Not to mention that that district had become dilapidated itself which made new builds far more promising.

Choosing a city like Halifax to compare us to is very much an apples to oranges matter. Halifax has a smaller CBD footprint, fewer buildings to convert, no downtown migrating, and smaller scales to work with. And St. Johns is everything that Halifax is but on an even smaller scale.

If downtown Winnipeg had at least one street, a block where both sides were densely packed with storefronts, restaurants, etc, NOT interrupted by a surface lot, or derelict buildings, that would satisfy me at this point. Bannatyne between Waterfront and Main has great potential.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Urban recluse

If downtown Winnipeg had at least one street, a block where both sides were densely packed with storefronts, restaurants, etc, NOT interrupted by a surface lot, or derelict buildings, that would satisfy me at this point. Bannatyne between Waterfront and Main has great potential.

We can be relentlessly positive and optimistic around here, but there is no denying that this is one thing that Winnipeg lacks. That's amazing considering the size of this place.

The best we've got is McDermot between Princess and Albert, Albert between McDermot and Bannatyne, Arthur between McDermot and Bannatyne and Graham between Vaughan and Kennedy. However, those blocks are short and even still none of them are close to being perfect.

Maybe this should be a project for the Downtown and Exchange District BIZzes... their moon shot, if you will. Try and establish a one-block long ideal urban street. Doesn't have to be anything fancy or posh, no Bentley dealerships or Hermes boutiques necessary. Just a block of honest to goodness occupied buildings, preferably with storefronts, and no surface parking lots. In other words, a normal, healthy urban street.

[windypeg]

If TNS and sutton place get built as planned Carlton will actually be really good from Portage to Assiniboine. Save the WCB parking lot but those troglodytes will never give up their surface parking.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by windypeg

If TNS and sutton place get built as planned Carlton will actually be really good from Portage to Assiniboine. Save the WCB parking lot but those troglodytes will never give up their surface parking.

Yes and no... Manitoba Hydro and RBCCC mostly present blank walls to Carlton. At least it's something beyond just a surface parking lot, but it's not really a vibrant streetscape.

[biguc]

Originally Posted by Urban recluse

If downtown Winnipeg had at least one street, a block where both sides were densely packed with storefronts, restaurants, etc, NOT interrupted by a surface lot, or derelict buildings, that would satisfy me at this point. Bannatyne between Waterfront and Main has great potential.

That used to be Portage ave.

[Tacheguy]

The crushed concrete garden in front of the pumping station was full of people tonight. I guess some people don't read this msg board

[wags_in_the_peg]

Originally Posted by CoryB

I think on high volume routes, like Main is at that point, having on-demand pedestrian activated lights like this are safer than the older style pedestrian crossing lights. There are a couple of places in Winnipeg with them now and they are relatively common in other cities.

i think a raised overhead bridge for cyclists and pedestrians would be the BEST solution, unfortunately we went with an OK, and cheap solution.

[h0twired]

Originally Posted by Tacheguy

The crushed concrete garden in front of the pumping station was full of people tonight. I guess some people don't read this msg board

Probably the "artist" and his/her friends.

It was dead when I drove by it after work yesterday.

[bomberjet]

People are probably wondering the heck is going with these unsightly piles of garbage. Just like the garbage piled on QEW this morning.