Quote:
Originally Posted by Hecate
Lol then why respond??? Seriously you think downtown Winnipeg is lacking CRU’s, there’s a dead mall across the street from a dead department store… down the street from another dead mall and a dying concourse. Lol. Portage and many surrounding streets are full of dead storefronts. Ohh and there’s that dead mall at Fort Garry place too. One parkade on smith street ain’t gonna make it or break it. Just look at the monstrosity that is the convention centre… entire building could have been ringed with shops… but you have two square blocks of dead zone.
And if you want people especially families to abandon suburban living… maybe… just maybe, you might want try providing them with some of the amenities of living in a suburb. Like not having to move your car at two in the morning because it’s snowing. Or having to walk your friend back to their car because they’re scared at night. Yeah having appropriate parking… that’s clearly to much to ask of a place where you 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵 live.
Do you own a car? Lol.
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Ok. Let’s do it.
Yes. Downtown Winnipeg is severely lacking in storefronts and buildings that connect to the street. You can walk for blocks without passing a shop. Downtown Winnipeg has fewer storefronts than any city in Canada.
Internal shopping Malls are not storefronts. They were poor attempts to do this thing you suggest, out suburbing the suburbs. Which always fails. Downtowns only succeed by being urban. Providing street life, walkability, social connection, and urban energy. The goal is not to provide what the suburbs can. It’s to provide what the suburbs can’t.
I am not saying that parking should be banned. The point being made is in urban areas parkades should not be allowed to front a sidewalk.
Look at the building directly across the street from this one. The old Place Louis Riel. A huge two level parkade but at the sidewalk it is completely fronted by storefronts. Every one of them full. Every one of them providing the things that attract people to living downtown. Two unique restaurants (one with constant line-ups), a flower shop, a print shop, a clothing store. This new parkade could have expanded that success.
The argument that one parkade won’t hurt is a poor one. There are many street fronting parkades in downtown including a giant one built for Glasshouse that actually removed a nice series of storefronts. How about the Lombard parkade? It could have been an opportunity to make that a great street, but instead it created a dead zone. I can go on. It should never be allowed ever. If we want downtown to succeed we must demand new development contribute to creating a public realm that attracts people to an urban lifestyle.
Agreed about the convention centre though. 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵.
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