Winnipeg Construction IX

[Urban recluse]

Like can you imagine if...lol

[1ajs]

Originally Posted by esquire

Are you Kreskin? That's exactly the building I was thinking of when I wrote that post

yep thought that same when i read that. but also thouht of wrha at logan and main

[wags_in_the_peg]

Originally Posted by esquire

As I alluded to in one of my earlier posts, one of the elephants in the room is that French immersion effectively acts as a parallel system for parents who want to stream their kids out of mainstream classrooms. Sort of a private school on the public dime.

It's not really about the French so much as it is about getting your kids into a more elite group of classmates.

1st off nothing to do with construction. 2nd, are you serious? my kids are in French immersion and it has nothing to do with "private school on public dime". we have just as many low income kids, just as many troublemaking kids, and just as many successful kids coming out of the program.

perhaps you are referring to the DFSM - the "all-French" school division?

[wags_in_the_peg]

Originally Posted by CoryB

In terms of French immersion it is extremely rare for any children with special needs to be in the class room as the added burden of needing to learn a second language just further compounds what is a difficult process already.

WRONG - my kids have been in french immersion since K and are now grade 5&7 and both have had special needs kids in their classrooms

[wags_in_the_peg]

Originally Posted by optimusREIM

Small courtyard which opens up on one end perhaps? Maybe facing the burt.

i drive by that lot at 430-500 everyday, it's tough to dodge the vagrants pouring out of the MLCC, Malborough or Giant Tiger. it ain't a lot on my radar that i would develop if I owned it

[optimusREIM]

Originally Posted by wags_in_the_peg

i drive by that lot at 430-500 everyday, it's tough to dodge the vagrants pouring out of the MLCC, Malborough or Giant Tiger. it ain't a lot on my radar that i would develop if I owned it

But think about it, if it were developed you'd think that the added influx of people would address the problem. It's still fairly close to the exchange and to portage.

[h0twired]

Originally Posted by optimusREIM

But think about it, if it were developed you'd think that the added influx of people would address the problem. It's still fairly close to the exchange and to portage.

First get rid of the MLCC on Ellice, the Quest Inn, Giant Tiger and convert the Marlborough back from being an SRO.

I walk past the Air Canada building everyday and see dozens of empty bottles of Westminster Sherry and compressed air cans in the planters.

Someone needs to clean up that area.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by h0twired

First get rid of the MLCC on Ellice, the Quest Inn, Giant Tiger and convert the Marlborough back from being an SRO.

I walk past the Air Canada building everyday and see dozens of empty bottles of Westminster Sherry and compressed air cans in the planters.

Someone needs to clean up that area.

Compressed air cans? Are wild and crazy IT guys using them to blow the dust out of keyboards between swigs of sherry?

(OK, I admit I'm sheltered and have no idea what those cans are used for...)

Seriously though, the stuff you mentioned is oriented more towards Portage Place/Central Park. A building on that big triangular lot would probably be more oriented towards Portage and Main... I don't think vagrants would be any more of an issue there than they are in, say, Old Market Square.

[biguc]

You force people to the fringes of society it's no wonder they hang out drunk in parking lots.

Just when I was thinking we were managing some good discussion here lately, being spirited but civil, you guys chime in with two enduring Winnipegisms: social change with a wrecking ball and making faulty (but totally not racist, oohhhh noo, never racist) assumptions about people based on their race.

Thanks for reminding us what city we live in, and that nothing good can possibly happen here.

[drew]

Originally Posted by biguc

You force people to the fringes of society it's no wonder they hang out drunk in parking lots.

Just when I was thinking we were managing some good discussion here lately, being spirited but civil, you guys chime in with two enduring Winnipegisms: social change with a wrecking ball and making faulty (but totally not racist, oohhhh noo, never racist) assumptions about people based on their race.

Thanks for reminding us what city we live in, and that nothing good can possibly happen here.

In terms of what could possibly be causing this particular lot from being developed into something big and expensive, or really anything at all - he isn't wrong. Let's not kid ourselves here.

Poverty isn't racist.

But poverty in that particular area, and the businesses and buildings that exist to support it or make money from it, also keep property values suppressed.

It's something that needs to be addressed, and discussed. We can't just stick our heads in the sand, all the while bitching and moaning why certain areas just can't seem to attract development.

[Urban recluse]

This area is a haven for vagrants, etc based on the environment: too many surface lots, and too much vacant space, and underutilized buildings: Peck Building, the former Tim Horton's building, the Lindsay Building, the St. Charles, the Argyle Building, 340 Donald,

Giant Tiger is not a problem, rather an amenity (Byward Market has one) I agree about the liquor store (sad, but true), and the Marlborough.

The area needs development, and fast!

[TimeFadesAway]

Originally Posted by Urban recluse

This area is a haven for vagrants, etc based on the environment: too many surface lots, and too much vacant space, and underutilized buildings: Peck Building, the former Tim Horton's building, the Lindsay Building, the St. Charles, the Argyle Building, 340 Donald,

Giant Tiger is not a problem, rather an amenity (Byward Market has one) I agree about the liquor store (sad, but true), and the Marlborough.

The area needs development, and fast!

Isn't the Lindsay building apartments?

[Urban recluse]

The entire main level is vacant.

[biguc]

Originally Posted by drew

In terms of what could possibly be causing this particular lot from being developed into something big and expensive, or really anything at all - he isn't wrong. Let's not kid ourselves here.

Poverty isn't racist.

But poverty in that particular area, and the businesses and buildings that exist to support it or make money from it, also keep property values suppressed.

It's something that needs to be addressed, and discussed. We can't just stick our heads in the sand, all the while bitching and moaning why certain areas just can't seem to attract development.

Hey, I said it's not racist! I know how pissy people in Winnipeg get for saying anything is racist. So, believing that the Marlborough is SRO because aboriginal flood refugees stay there, that can't be racist.

Anyway, poor people aren't all vagrants. Buying ugly clothes and frozen food at Giant Tiger doesn't make one a shit stain on society. Most people drink, it's a shame some have to drink in a parking lot where we can all see how miserable they are. Not everyone is lucky enough to have whiskey, a den, and Tom Waits records. Some get by with XXX sherry, a parking lot, and the shrill tones of the Cadets singing their only hit, "get the fuck out of here or I'll call the real police".

Anyway, like Unknown said, people make a mess of this area because there's no reason not to. Put a bunch of storefronts and a thousand people on the block and the asozialen will no longer go there.

By the logic presented here, it's amazing the south Charleswood development is happening. Teenagers have bush parties there. Someone must have cleaned the area up because it's littered with beer cans, drug bags, and probably N02 cans too. But what do you know, establishing private property does clean up the area!


Anyway, this block is 1 block from portage on 2 sides and across the street from the Exchange. The LC is blocks away, and Quest Inn even further.

[oftheMoon]

Originally Posted by Urban recluse

This area is a haven for vagrants, etc based on the environment: too many surface lots, and too much vacant space, and underutilized buildings: Peck Building, the former Tim Horton's building, the Lindsay Building, the St. Charles, the Argyle Building, 340 Donald,

Giant Tiger is not a problem, rather an amenity (Byward Market has one) I agree about the liquor store (sad, but true), and the Marlborough.

The area needs development, and fast!

The area is literally a gateway from the downtown SHED to the Exchange District but it's the least desirable way to get there. And yes sadly, the single biggest issue is the LC and secondly the Marlborough.

If any "fear" or feelings of "discomfort" exists in downtown, it begins from that area. If one was out at MTS concert etc. and then wanted to go enjoy the Exchange after, a walk up Smith to Ellice or along Ellice may make them think twice about doing it again.

Development in that area will change it. Social issue are not going away, but will coexist better if watered down somewhat with progressive development.

[drew]

Originally Posted by biguc

Anyway, like Unknown said, people make a mess of this area because there's no reason not to. Put a bunch of storefronts and a thousand people on the block and the asozialen will no longer go there.

And there's the rub. How do you encourage this development while acknowledging the social issues that are preventing it?

You can't just wish these storefronts and people to reality. And really, the way Portage/Ellice have developed recently is not helping matters. That stretch of Ellice is basically Portage Avenue's back alley, complete with a parking lot dead zone on the south side.

[EndoftheBeginning]

Interesting to read in the Riel Committee minutes that the architects for 110 Innovation Place (75,000 sq ft) at UofM had to resubmit plans in order to meet the new energy code. They had originally designed almost 100% glass curtain wall on all four sides as shown below.



In order to meet code, they needed to reduce the elevation of the building (67' down to 56'), add spandrel glazing to the upper floors, add terracotta cladding to the south side, recess the entries and they had to add a solid wall area to the east side (zinc cladding). So three of the four sides lost their full glazing treatment in order to meet the energy code.

[biguc]

You guys are flat wrong about the Marlborough. The Regal Beagle is too expensive to be a dive bar, and its clientel is mostly middle class aboriginals. It seems to have some place in the LGBTQ community too.

Originally Posted by drew

And there's the rub. How do you encourage this development while acknowledging the social issues that are preventing it?

You can't just wish these storefronts and people to reality. And really, the way Portage/Ellice have developed recently is not helping matters. That stretch of Ellice is basically Portage Avenue's back alley, complete with a parking lot dead zone on the south side.

Phased development. The podium alone could house about 200 people and would eliminate the void and all the problems that come with it.

Living in a modern place on the edge of the Exchange sounds good to me. One half of that equation worked for Glasshouse, and Skycity has gotten traction too. Both of those places are way closer to sketchy places.

The city is growing by about 10k a year. They're going to live somewhere. Time to retire the no-growth fatalism and accept that we can make things better.

[h0twired]

Originally Posted by drew

Poverty isn't racist.

But poverty in that particular area, and the businesses and buildings that exist to support it or make money from it, also keep property values suppressed.

Thank you.

This is my main issue with the Liquor Mart on Ellice in general. They sell and heavily stock products that fuel alcoholism. Now granted, ANY alcohol can result, but if you are intentionally stocking cheap foul booze at a specific locations one must consider their motives and thought process behind it.

Now I am not a fan of minimum drink prices and generally feel that people should be able to do what they want to their own bodies, but there comes a point where the province selling alcohol isn't exactly helping the problems in certain areas.

Ever try to buy a bottle of Stone Cold in your area? Of course not. You probably don't live in a poor area. You have to go there to get some.

[biguc]

I agree with you on that. The LC loves to go around pretending it's the wholesome guardian angel of drinkers, protecting us from ourselves and unscrupulous bar owners. Then it turns around and sells bum wine and Stone Cold Stunners in poor neighbourhoods.