Chinatown redevelopment plan 2019

[bomberjet]

No offence but (lol i know) south pembina is just a plain jane shit hole suburban area filled with strip malls. These recent apartment projects are filling the need to allow people stop living 10 international students to a basement. Just the same as any other suburban area, nothing special. Its just another said example of the downtown emptying out.

[BAKGUY]

I still hope there is some way to get the area going somehow.
The few remaining eateries say they are busy.
No doubt Covid exacerbated a worsening situation here and The Bay Downtown.

Also, there are a few newer residential developments that have brought some more people.
More will come.
So Ho flats looks nice.
Does anyone know why Marketlands has stalled?
So many write ups in the news about all the $$ that have been allocated.

I drove by today and it looks so barren between The Exchange and Chinatown on King, Princess etc...
I went to one of the restaurants in Chinatown and each time I go they say they are busy & keep increasing their hours
since the onslaught of covid devastated them and so many everywhere.

If you want to get technical, Winnipeg is One Weird city Period.
Our Chinatown is a mess crunched in narrow strip malls, then spread all over the place barely facing Pembina.. Just a mess, Disjointed, non cohesive..hideous. No character but Winnipeggers don't mind that.
Corydon is no longer Little italy.. More Fusion..Sushi town..
Heck, we are proud not having a bustling Downtown and our new Downtown is Polo park region...embarrassing to investors, visitors.
These are some of the very reasons Winnipeggers love to hate their city.
Little pride for the reasons above and just a quick park & dash to wherever we go, uncaring of the esthetics
We need to strive for better.

[trueviking]

Chinatown doesn’t exist anymore. Hopefully new development will bring some life back to the area but it won’t be connected to any Chinese theme. That area of downtown has gotten much worse over Covid with homelessness being so exacerbated.

Marketlands hit the same development challenges everything else did. Should start construction in the spring or summer.

[thebasketballgeek]

Originally Posted by BAKGUY

If you want to get technical, Winnipeg is One Weird city Period.
Our Chinatown is a mess crunched in narrow strip malls, then spread all over the place barely facing Pembina.. Just a mess, Disjointed, non cohesive..hideous. No character but Winnipeggers don't mind that.
Corydon is no longer Little italy.. More Fusion..Sushi town..
Heck, we are proud not having a bustling Downtown and our new Downtown is Polo park region...embarrassing to investors, visitors.
These are some of the very reasons Winnipeggers love to hate their city.
Little pride for the reasons above and just a quick park & dash to wherever we go, uncaring of the esthetics
We need to strive for better.

I agree with most of your comment, except that I’d argue our new downtown will be the strip of Pembina from Bishop to Bison once Southwood lands redevelopment gets going next year. Although transforming a stroad is a decades long process atleast there’s a direction towards making the area more pedestrian friendly with the new Transitway infrastructure.

Also, who exactly is proud of not having a bustling downtown? I think in general Winnipeggers would rather have a vibrant downtown, it’s just that it appears the city is struggling with huge amounts of apathy right now.

In terms of aesthetics sure the strip malls on our stroads are bland and boring, but imo a large part of that had to do with conforming to setback requirements and parking minimum requirements. If Gillingham is serious about removing parking minimums on Portage & Pembina while allowing C2 & C3 zoning to have residential it opens up a lot of opportunities for more “aesthetic” development that faces the street with CRUs. The Arc and it’s phase 2 building under construction should be more of what we expect from new builds.

[Luisito]

It's actually a miracle any of the Chinese businesses are still open in that area. The amount of crap they have to deal with in that area is sad. The alleys between king and main are disgusting. Specially the alley infront of Sun Wah supermarket. In the summertime that area can really look like zombie apocalypse. We shouldn't have to deal with this in a city of only 800,000.

Also the closing of the fabric store on Main and logan was not good. At least that corner was kept clean, now it's just filthy.

[zalf]

I can't find it, but I recall (but can't find the post) someone posting on this board a couple years ago that some local Filipino business association was floating the idea of concentrating its shops in Chinatown. Basically trying to manufacture a Little Manila on the bones of Chinatown.

It's a shame it hasn't materialized. Not sure if it was done in by the pandemic or simply didn't get buy-in from the member businesses.

[Luisito]

Originally Posted by zalf

I can't find it, but I recall (but can't find the post) someone posting on this board a couple years ago that some local Filipino business association was floating the idea of concentrating its shops in Chinatown. Basically trying to manufacture a Little Manila on the bones of Chinatown.

It's a shame it hasn't materialized. Not sure if it was done in by the pandemic or simply didn't get buy-in from the member businesses.

Sounds like an interesting idea, but i don't know why they would invest in that area when it's in such bad shape.

Seems like the garden city area would be much better suited for a "Little Manila". Or maybe somehere in the west end? I am surprised we don't already have a little Manila. We definitely should.

[borkborkbork]

Originally Posted by Luisito

Sounds like an interesting idea, but i don't know why they would invest in that area when it's in such bad shape.

Seems like the garden city area would be much better suited for a "Little Manila". Or maybe somehere in the west end? I am surprised we don't already have a little Manila. We definitely should.

Right? Pinoy families are already concentrated in the North End. Easier to attract them south to the Exchange with a cluster of restaurants and services, than to try and encourage mainland Chinese who have their stores, services, communities etc. in Fort Richmond or Waverley West, to somehow return to a downtown that doesn't offer them the lifestyle they want

[esquire]

I would find it very unlikely to see any kind of interest in investing in Chinatown among the Filipino community... realistically, why would there be any? It's in a very dilapidated state, it's far from home and there is no real connection.

The Polo Park and Garden City areas are much closer to large concentrations of Filipino residents and that's where you see a lot of businesses catering to that community.

I think Chinatown will just gradually get subsumed into the West Exchange.

[Luisito]

From wikipedia about little manilas around the world.....

Winnipeg's Filipino population is largely concentrated in the West End and North End areas of the city. The neighborhood around Sargent Avenue and Arlington Street is 45% Filipino,[5] and the neighborhood around Sargent Avenue and Wall Street is 47% Filipino.[6][7]

There were reports of a proposal to establish a Filipino cultural district and is seeking community consultations.[8]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Manila#Canada

I wonder what the percentage of Filipino residents is in the Garden city area? The area along McPhilips from Burrows to about Leila seems have a lot of Filipinos. Either place, the West end or along McPhilips would be a cool place to have a new cultural district.

[BlackDog204]

Originally Posted by esquire

I'm not that optimistic about Chinatown's prospects because I don't think much of the Chinese community really cares that much. To recent arrivals, what is Chinatown besides a small cluster of restaurants on the edge of a dodgy part of town?

Revitalizing Chinatown will only work if it caters to non-Chinese ethnic groups, considering there are hardly any Chinese that live in that area, or do business there. Maybe encourage Metis or First Nations business. Even Filipino. Everyone in Winnipeg knows that the real "Chinatown" is along the Pembina Highway stretch in close proximity to the University.

You look at Edmonton and Calgary's Chinatowns and they're small, but they at least have a critical mass and can attract investment. Ours simply doesn't have that.

Not true with Edmonton. Their Chinatown is arguably worse than Winnipeg's. Edmonton has the exact same problem, and the city is attempting to revitalize their version of Chinatown, since nobody goes there, due to the massive homeless and drug addicted residents. Crime scares business away in that area.

[BlackDog204]

Originally Posted by Luisito

From wikipedia about little manilas around the world.....


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Manila#Canada

I wonder what the percentage of Filipino residents is in the Garden city area? The area along McPhilips from Burrows to about Leila seems have a lot of Filipinos. Either place, the West end or along McPhilips would be a cool place to have a new cultural district.

The Filipino population has to be significant in the areas you mention, especially the Maples. I did notice the huge influx of Sikhs in the far northwest area of Winnipeg when I visited last.

[Luisito]

Originally Posted by BlackDog204

The Filipino population has to be significant in the areas you mention, especially the Maples. I did notice the huge influx of Sikhs in the far northwest area of Winnipeg when I visited last.

Seems to me that there is a significat number of Pinoys in that area from Mc Philips all the way to Tyndall park. You are right though, the maples and the northwest of the city in general, specially those new housing developments have a lot of Sikh folks. Perhaps a little India or a little Punjab district will emerge?? I also see a lot of Sikh people/businesses around Gateway and McLeod in the EK area.

[BlackDog204]

Originally Posted by trueviking

Chinatown doesn’t exist anymore. Hopefully new development will bring some life back to the area but it won’t be connected to any Chinese theme. That area of downtown has gotten much worse over Covid with homelessness being so exacerbated.

Marketlands hit the same development challenges everything else did. Should start construction in the spring or summer.

Amazing how similiar the Edmonton CBD is to Winnipeg's.

-Chinatown is a ghost town, inhabited on occasion by the homeless and drug addicted population. I rarely see any Chinese (or Asians) in that area.

-With the exception of the new "ICE District" (similar to True North Square), Edmonton downtown is deserted after 6 PM.

-The homeless problem is much worse in Edmonton than in Winnipeg. In summer I drove through the area, and must have seen at least 200 tents along the west edge of Chinatown. It's like a Third World shanty town.

[BAKGUY]

The Maples & Tyndall Park have always had a large concentration of Filipino persons.
Garden City more so lately.
However, I have also heard pre Covid and also on here some thread? that The Filipino community was interested in creating a Little Manila or Pinoy town adjacent to Downtown on Sargent or Ellice, never Chinatown.Possibly near it.
I recall a street dissecting Chinatown going west more towards Isabel ??
There are several people of Filipino descent in the Sargent / Ellice area as well.
How nice this would be if it ever came to fruition

[post_man]

Originally Posted by BlackDog204

I rarely see any Chinese (or Asians) in that area.

Where are you looking?

[BlackDog204]

Originally Posted by post_man

Where are you looking?

Go to Calgary or Vancouver's Chinatown to see a lively district.

Winnipeg and Edmonton's Chinatown's are rundown, and hardly anyone goes there if you subtract the homeless population.

[esquire]

There is zero critical mass in Chinatown anymore. To the extent that anyone goes "to Chinatown" anymore, people generally drive in, go to whichever restaurant of the four or five left they're headed to, then leave.

[NewIreland]

Originally Posted by esquire

There is zero critical mass in Chinatown anymore. To the extent that anyone goes "to Chinatown" anymore, people generally drive in, go to whichever restaurant of the four or five left they're headed to, then leave.

God, there is so much doom and gloom on this site. Sure, Chinatown needs some help, but it's not dead. The last time I was there I had a delicious dim sum at Sampo, a delicious coffee and dessert at Impression Delight (new business), did some shopping at Sun Wah and Kim Tuong and finally my favorite bakery in the city (Maxim) for some pineapple buns. I love our Chinatown and support it as much as I can. Logan Corner, Kum Koon and Noodle Express all seemed to be doing well, and Soho Flats is filling up with quite a few Chinese students going to RRC.

[esquire]

^ I don't think it's a question of doom and gloom but rather a natural evolution of things. I would not expect Chinese people to forever remain in a ghetto that someone dreamed up 125 years ago or whatever. Things change, people move on. The area will get put to some other use.