Western Expresso

[Riverman]

Originally Posted by Bdog

Are there any moderate viewpoints on this board anymore? I can live in a house and still see the appeal for some to live in an apartment (less maintenance, possibly closer to work, etc.). One can also live in an apartment or condo and still see the appeal of a house (privacy, more space, investment, customize/reno as you see fit, yard)... I don't get why some on here can't even come close to understanding the other side (not aimed specifically at you Windy). There are pros and cons to both, like with most things in life...

I merely said apartments are not suitable for some people. Is that not a moderate viewpoint?

[OTA in Winnipeg]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ So we know what the OTA in your handle stands for

I put up rabbit ears for a while and I'm impressed with the signal quality... what is lacking here is channel selection. Winnipeg is too far from the border to pull in the US networks, and the local lineup of CBC, Global, Joy TV (or whatever it's called) and, if you have the right kind of antenna, CTV, is kind of weak.

The OTA dish channel lineup is obviously more tempting, but it all seems pretty hobbyist oriented and more techy than I care to deal with. If someone came up with a simple piece of hardware you could use to access all that stuff, they'd get rich in a hurry.

One antenna is facing S/SW grabbing CTV, broadcasting directly south of the city, and CITY, based in Elie, which are both still VHF. It also grabs UHF channel Hope TV on 35 which is religious television station that broadcasts religious programming 24 hours a day. Bleh, even God (should he/she/it exist) wouldn't mind the occasional National Geographic every now and then ya know? The other antenna, pointed directly at Portage and Main, grabs CBC English and French, and Global HD and SD, all now UHF. I used to be able to grab KNRR and other US channels from time to time but is a pretty rare occurrence this last while. I wish any of these stations, notwithstanding what CKND is doing with its SD channel, would start using their sub channels, especially CBC which could flood the airways with Canadian documentaries.

I can dream.

[rrskylar]

Originally Posted by Riverman

I merely said apartments are not suitable for some people. Is that not a moderate viewpoint?

You should see what some of the tenants try to do in the parking lot of a buddies rental block, think Trailer Park Boys meets Monster Garage.

[Riverman]

Originally Posted by rrskylar

You should see what some of the tenants try to do in the parking lot of a buddies rental block, think Trailer Park Boys meets Monster Garage.

When I was in my first year of college we lived on the top floor of an old block on Wolsely. On the first or second floor below lived someone that liked bringing folks home after the bars closed.

In the basement below that lived a fellow named Reggie Mental, he had a popular punk band called Playground X. He wanted to sleep after he got home from work at the same time.

If the partying went on for long he would wail on the radiator pipes with a hammer whilst screaming for them to shut up. It resonated through the entire building. He was good at screaming too as he did it for a living. It worked every time - he did sound quite scary, but he really was a nice fellow.

That and the guy beside us that beat his girlfriend made us buy a house and move out. That was my taste of apartment living.

[windypeg]

Originally Posted by Riverman

I merely said apartments are not suitable for some people. Is that not a moderate viewpoint?

Well you actually said "Apartments are not suitable for most people." Whereas I would argue only some people truly need houses, garages and yards. I know it may seem like I'm making a fuss over semantics but we have an obsession with single-family homes and a huge stigma against apartment living that really doesn't do us any favours by promoting urban sprawl and low-density. Some people will want their houses and that's fine but we don't need to stigmatize multi-family residential the way we do.

Also the loud, drunk and violent neighbours can usually be avoided by moving to a higher-income building. Used to get that all the time until I moved. It's no different with houses, if you buy a house on Selkirk ave you're going to have some interesting neighbours.

[Riverman]

Originally Posted by windypeg

Well you actually said "Apartments are not suitable for most people." Whereas I would argue only some people truly need houses, garages and yards.

So what do you think the ratio is in Winnipeg for house/apartment living? 100 to 1? 200 to 1? 500 to 1?

There is a reason for that. And it is not due to some "stigma". Apartment living is just plain awful, for many reasons.

My point is, my good man, is that is not seen as desireable here. You may like it - that's great!

Originally Posted by windypeg

If you buy a house on Selkirk ave you're going to have some interesting neighbours.

I doubt that many owners on Selkirk live in their houses.

[rrskylar]

Looks like UBER is coming with EPC endorsing the new taxi cab bylaw. The sooner the better, welcome to choice!

[LilZebra]

I'm as "excited" about Uber as I'm excited about globalist corporation G4S administering the (Greater) Winnipeg Parking Authority.

[rrskylar]

Originally Posted by LilZebra

I'm as "excited" about Uber as I'm excited about globalist corporation G4S administering the (Greater) Winnipeg Parking Authority.

Come on choice is always good and if it gets the city’s cab companies to clean up their act all the better.

[LilZebra]

Uber drivers complain of not getting paid proper wages.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbms9bCcqUg

Customers complain of Uber drivers stealing their belongings, such as cellular phones, and not giving them back.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NO4c09-oDwM

[rrskylar]

Originally Posted by LilZebra

Uber drivers complain of not getting paid proper wages.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbms9bCcqUg

Customers complain of Uber drivers stealing their belongings, such as cellular phones, and not giving them back.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NO4c09-oDwM

Taxi drivers complain of not getting paid and being verbally abused by cutomers

Customers complain of being — assaulted by taxi drivers

Everyone complains about something, i'll take a vetted Uber driver over a stinky, dinky cab any day!

[windypeg]

Originally Posted by Riverman

So what do you think the ratio is in Winnipeg for house/apartment living? 100 to 1? 200 to 1? 500 to 1?

There is a reason for that. And it is not due to some "stigma". Apartment living is just plain awful, for many reasons.

My point is, my good man, is that is not seen as desireable here. You may like it - that's great!



I doubt that many owners on Selkirk live in their houses.

What are these many reasons exactly? I live in a concrete building and I've never heard my neighbours. My hydro costs next to nothing. I have access to a pool and a gym full of brand new equipment that I almost certainly wouldn't own myself. I never have to shovel or mow grass. If a pipe bursts, somebody else takes care of it. I may pay for it indirectly over time but I don't have to worry about up-front maintenance costs. My landlord bought me new appliances last year, I didn't have to go out any replace them myself. I don't much care if I have a garage or a yard. If I want green space I am in easy walking distance to 3 parks, a community centre and the river trail (and any other amenity you could want), plus a large balcony overlooking the Assiniboine. I even have a garden plot close by. What's the downside? What's so hellish about it?

I mean yeah, if you live in some dirt cheap dive with paper-thin walls, it —. So don't live in one of those buildings. If you live somewhere like that you likely don't have the finances to buy a house anyway so it's a moot point.

[Bdog]

Originally Posted by Riverman

So what do you think the ratio is in Winnipeg for house/apartment living? 100 to 1? 200 to 1? 500 to 1?

In Winnipeg? About 60% of dwellings are actually houses. For Canada as a whole, the ratio is closer to 50/50...

[Riverman]

Originally Posted by Bdog

In Winnipeg? About 60% of dwellings are actually houses. For Canada as a whole, the ratio is closer to 50/50...

Where does that come from? It sounds ludicrous.

[Authentic_City]

Originally Posted by Riverman

Where does that come from? It sounds ludicrous.

Stats Canada, Type of Dwelling, by CMA

http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recens...e.cfm?Lang=Eng&T=104&SR=1&S=2&O=A&RPP=25

Under "View", switch to % distribution.

Canada is 53.6% single detached housing.

In 2016, 62% of dwellings in Winnipeg were single detached.

By comparison, in the Vancouver CMA, it's only 29%, Montreal CMA is 32.7%, and Toronto CMA has only 39% single detached housing.

Singled detached dwellings are much more common in smaller cities were land is cheaper and more plentiful.

[Riverman]

I see where this is skewed. It is just by dwelling, not by population.

[Authentic_City]

^True, household size is, on average, larger for single-detached houses than for other dwelling types. In Winnipeg, about 71% of the population lives in single detached houses. By contrast, in Vancouver CMA, only about 41% of the population lives in single detached.

Private households by structural type of dwelling, by census metropolitan area

https://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/famil124f-eng.htm

edit:

The above numbers are from the 2011 Census. In 2016, the numbers are 70% for Winnipeg, and 36% for Vancouver CMA.

http://www5.statcan.gc.ca/olc-cel/olc.action?objId=98-400-X2016016&objType=46&lang=en&limit=0

[rrskylar]

How to encourage more people to come downtown by Brian no balls Bowman,
let’s start by charging more to park street side that way people can more readily find parking because no one will park as long.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by rrskylar

How to encourage more people to come downtown by Brian no balls Bowman,
let’s start by charging more to park street side that way people can more readily find parking because no one will park as long.

I have a feeling there will be some unintended consequences as a result of this change, but I'm not quite sure what exactly those will be.

-Will it make surface lots more valuable now that the effective hourly going rate for parking has gone up by a hefty amount?

-Will it encourage the development of parking structures now that monthly rates will presumably increase somewhat in reflection of the increased hourly rates?

-Will downtown suffer as parking rates continue to rise while free parking remains the rule pretty well everywhere else in Winnipeg outside of hospitals, tertiary education facilities, and the airport?

-There was a good point made in the Free Press today by the owner of Toad Hall Toys... she pointed out that retailers like her with a presence downtown are being punished, yet other busy areas like Osborne Village, Corydon, etc. continue to have free parking. Is it time to level the playing field a bit by introducing parking meters in other central neighbourhoods outside of downtown proper?

[windypeg]

Originally Posted by rrskylar

How to encourage more people to come downtown by Brian no balls Bowman,
let’s start by charging more to park street side that way people can more readily find parking because no one will park as long.

Because up until now cheap parking has made our downtown such a booming retail destination ....