Winnipeg - Of Interest

[Peggerino]

Originally Posted by kalabaw

Sorry to hijack this thread, but I just don't know where else to post this.

After 6 years here in Winnipeg, I finally decided to buy a house. It's mostly so the kids have a yard to play in rather than being scooped up in an apartment. We currently live downtown, very close to Union Station... so not the best but not the worst neighborhood.

What do you guys think of the West Broadway neighborhood, around Furby, south of Broadway but north of Westminster? I know there is current resurgence of this neighborhood, but do you think it is a good area for kids?

Your comments would be highly appreciated. Thanks!

Hey! I live in WB around Balmoral/Spence. Overall, I think it's a great neighbourhood and fine for children. There's a park here with a playground, skatepark and some other stuff where lots of children play and it's not that uncommon to see children walking on the street unsupervised (imo a sign that it's relatively child-friendly). WB definitely still has a bit of a rough edge to it, (as evidence by the shooting today at Balmoral and Younge ) but in my two years of living here that's been the only incident me or my partner have really witnessed/heard. In future years I could see the neighbourhood continuing its upward trajectory as gentrification continues and more normies move in. Plus it's right next door to Wolseley of course which to me feels like would be a utopian place to be a child.

[kalabaw]

Originally Posted by Peggerino

Hey! I live in WB around Balmoral/Spence. Overall, I think it's a great neighbourhood and fine for children. There's a park here with a playground, skatepark and some other stuff where lots of children play and it's not that uncommon to see children walking on the street unsupervised (imo a sign that it's relatively child-friendly). WB definitely still has a bit of a rough edge to it, (as evidence by the shooting today at Balmoral and Younge ) but in my two years of living here that's been the only incident me or my partner have really witnessed/heard. In future years I could see the neighbourhood continuing its upward trajectory as gentrification continues and more normies move in. Plus it's right next door to Wolseley of course which to me feels like would be a utopian place to be a child.

Thank you for your response. Really appreciate it! We saw the taped area earlier when we were driving around just so we could get a better feel of the neighborhood. It was a little concerning to see especially since we are deciding to put an offer already.

[esquire]

Are there any other neighbourhoods you are considering, kalabaw, or are you set on West Broadway?

Originally Posted by Highwayman

I actually like those vintage lights and they are an almost identical match to the original. I'm guessing you like the ugly half rusted semi modern crap ?

Doing those lights was one of the best things they did to downtown. Another would be to return the hanging lights across portage.

Yeah, the vintage lights are pretty corny. I can live with that style in the Exchange District but they seem silly next to the kinds of modern buildings you see on Portage.

[GreyGarden]

Originally Posted by kalabaw

What do you guys think of the West Broadway neighborhood, around Furby, south of Broadway but north of Westminster? I know there is current resurgence of this neighborhood, but do you think it is a good area for kids?

I live in WB but south of Westminster, right around the corner from where the shooting was last night. I love living here. I think it's one of the only really complete neighbourhoods in the city. Plus, when you walk around you'll see more and more houses being renovated and occupied by young professionals and families. But it certainly still has that rough edge. I'd say I live on a very nice street with multiple houses being renovated, a stones throw away from good coffee, bagels, a pharmacy, grocery store, fried chicken, transit, etc, but there's still a row of crack houses down at the end of the block. So it's a bit of a head scratcher, because with so few walkable areas in the city, one would think that the demand to live here would be higher. That being said, when I walk around I don't feel menaced. There are poor people here, but I haven't really seen any gang stuff. Given the shooting it's obviously happening, but it's not all that visible.

On paper I'd say the neighbourhood is gentrifying, but it's happening at such a slow pace that it doesn't feel all that extreme. But it is happening, all of my friends who are entering careers in the upper income levels love the area and want to stay here.

I'm renting right now but will definitely be looking to buy in the neighbourhood in the next 3-5 years.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by GreyGarden

On paper I'd say the neighbourhood is gentrifying, but it's happening at such a slow pace that it doesn't feel all that extreme. But it is happening, all of my friends who are entering careers in the upper income levels love the area and want to stay here.

It does feel like WB has been changing very slowly, no one can complain that gentrification is sweeping the area or anything like that. I remember when one of my friends bought and renovated a house to live in on Langside, south of Broadway around 20 years ago... it seemed kind of revolutionary at the time. Maybe it's not quite as revolutionary an act anymore, but WB still feels like it has that 'up and coming neighbourhood' identity just as it did then.

[GarryEllice]

Originally Posted by esquire

Yeah, the vintage lights are pretty corny. I can live with that style in the Exchange District but they seem silly next to the kinds of modern buildings you see on Portage.

No way. I love the lights on Portage. As Highwayman said, they're an almost perfect replica of the lights that were originally there, before being replaced by standard suburban-style cobra heads in the 60s. They give the street a distinctive look, a sense of continuity with the past, and more character than any off-the-shelf modern solution.

It's not like grafting a faux-olde-worlde decoration onto a new development, which I agree would be corny. But Portage is a street with history, and these lights have been part of the street for most of its history, aside from an ill-advised gap during downtown's decline in the late 20th century.

[zalf]

What's up with the street lights on Wellington near Academy, by St Mary's and Munson Park? They're purple. Not white with a blueish cast, but Stranger-Things-poster purple. Admittedly, these photos look more blue than it does to the eye, but you get a sense of the intensity.

[cllew]

Could be a problem with the LED drivers in the fixtures or Manitoba Hydro is trying out a new color profile.

[GarryEllice]

Originally Posted by zalf

What's up with the street lights on Wellington near Academy, by St Mary's and Munson Park? They're purple. Not white with a blueish cast, but Stranger-Things-poster purple. Admittedly, these photos look more blue than it does to the eye, but you get a sense of the intensity.

Malfunction due to manufacturing defect. Happening in other places too, e.g. South Carolina, Kansas, Wisconsin

[kalabaw]

Originally Posted by esquire

Are there any other neighbourhoods you are considering, kalabaw, or are you set on West Broadway?

We were looking at the West End as well, anywhere south of Wellington and west of Arlington. St James was also an option and we even looked at some houses in Elmwood / East Elmwood.

Wolesley would also be an ideal location, but I don't think my budget will allow me to live there.

[DavefromSt.Vital]

This appears to have been shot behind Dakota Collegiate:

https://twitter.com/i/status/1405882490116579329

Andy6, is this what you used to do back in the day?

[Biff]

He looks just like me back in my high school football days…other than he is black, has dreads and can do a back flip. The Oreo in the milk - exactly the same as me.

[GreyGarden]

Air Canada gradually calling its staff back to the office starting Nov 15:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...alflow-organic

Does anyone know if this will include employees working at 355 Portage?

[1ajs]

Originally Posted by GreyGarden

Air Canada gradually calling its staff back to the office starting Nov 15:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...alflow-organic

Does anyone know if this will include employees working at 355 Portage?

air caanada has squat for employees in wpg anymore mostly data centers in that building now for various entities. ive spent time crawling under the floors in there running fiber heh

[wags_in_the_peg]

Originally Posted by 1ajs

air caanada has squat for employees in wpg anymore mostly data centers in that building now for various entities. ive spent time crawling under the floors in there running fiber heh

wrong, I know numerous customer service reps and a few in finance

[BuildUpWpg]

Originally Posted by cllew

Could be a problem with the LED drivers in the fixtures or Manitoba Hydro is trying out a new color profile.

Calgary uses LED lights with a warm color profile. Very easy on the eyes.

[1ajs]

Originally Posted by wags_in_the_peg

wrong, I know numerous customer service reps and a few in finance

o?

cdn tire has a data ccenter in there manitoba health as well so shrug?

[trueviking]

Originally Posted by esquire

Yeah, the vintage lights are pretty corny. I can live with that style in the Exchange District but they seem silly next to the kinds of modern buildings you see on Portage.

Except the lights on Portage Avenue are authentic. They’ve been there for more than a century. The ones in the Exchange District are from a catalogue in the 1980’s.

[The Jabroni]

Originally Posted by 1ajs

air caanada has squat for employees in wpg anymore mostly data centers in that building now for various entities. ive spent time crawling under the floors in there running fiber heh

I was involved upgrading their phone system a few years ago, from the old Nortel Meridian system Option 61C cabinets (that took up a whole room in the basement level) to a Cisco CME IP phone system throughout the whole building.

We also did the Air Canada Cargo building, and the airport terminal where Air Canada operates.

Telus is the national contract for Air Canada, and I was one of the handful of local contractors who did the project with them back then. I wasn't involved crawling underneath the floors, but was involved crawling underneath desks to deploy the IP phone sets. I think there was close to 500 in total at the Air Canada Building alone for each of the phone sets. It might have been higher though.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by trueviking

Except the lights on Portage Avenue are authentic. They’ve been there for more than a century. The ones in the Exchange District are from a catalogue in the 1980’s.

I guess it depends on what you mean by "authentic"... the lights on Portage are faithful reproductions of the original but they aren't the actual originals. They were installed there in the late 90s after many year of Portage having conventional light standards...my memory is foggy but I want to say around 98/99.