Winnipeg | Osborne Village & Fort Rouge

[buzzg]

Originally Posted by Jeff

while i hope the best for osborne, the exchange still needs the incentives, and i hope it thrives more than OV it is really tunrning into something. Osborne is turning into a "through-fare" traffic disaster only. the intimacy is gone. walk along it and it is a wasteland... Osborne is a DUMP!

I like going out on Osborne, but yes, it is a dump. I pray that the city just fell insanely behind on the streetscaping project, because if it's almost done and the result is just repaved sidewalks, those poorly-thought-out light boxes and some concrete cylinder seats — they f*cked up big time.

Originally Posted by cutchemist42

Good write-up there biguc.

So is the space Black Rabbit occupied too big to make a bar/restaurant work? (Similar to the problem the old Dylans/StJames Tap House location has?) Shame because the patio is great.

It was a combo of a very high rent (big building, big lot) and just an inability to run a restaurant properly. Gave away an absurd amount of food; had some delicious, innovative dishes when they opened then just went down to pretty much pizza and sandwiches.

Originally Posted by drew

My memories of Corydon as a 16-25 year old seem to be of it being a much more "place to be" type vibe for eating and drinking. Of course, I am WAY out of the game now. But I spent a lot of fuzzy evenings there back in the day.

Osborne has always been a bit of a mix to me of retail, food and booze. I think American Apparel opening up was cool in terms of having a big chain there - but obviously wasn't really an accurate reflection of what kinds of retailers that stretch can expect to support long term.

Both streets need to refocus on local, small time businesses. Go back to the basics. Both areas have huge local populations just waiting to be drawn back in. OV especially has had a never ending amount of higher density infill over the past decade.

It really is remarkable to me how with the amount of people that were already living there, the development in the last 5 years and currently underway, that the strip is in the shape its in. Kind of baffling tbh. My only hypothesis is that it's still a lot of "slum" landlords that just don't give a shit. I know a few of the building owners that are like that. Clearly the Moxley's rentals guy is in no rush to improve the street.

I think it's really going to take one big new building right on the strip (ie: Gas Station WITH RESIDENTIAL) to kickstart anything and spur more investment. Maybe the new building(s) at CC will help, but it's pretty far away from the main drag.

[Urban recluse]

I shake my head all the time over this.

[biguc]

Moxley's is just the kind of neighborhood focused business that serves the community we were talking about, though. He could stand to make a nicer fence along the front of his lot, but if you live in the village, his services are invaluable. There are at least a half dozen spots on Osborne I'd change before messing with a proven success.

[Urban recluse]

For the market to have not driven them out speaks volumes. My idea of what I want OV to be does not include that type of business, and especially not that shabby building, but again, the market is what it is. I will not fault the business, but the market.

[biguc]

Sorry it's a neighborhood and not Main st Disneyland.

[OverUnder]

As someone who actually lives in the area I would rather have it stay as a neighbourhood and not become the bar hopping district for Linden woods kids (at least not any more than it already is...). It's best attribute is the diversity of stores and services in the neighbourhood.

[esquire]

It's too bad there isn't a secondary retail strip in the Village for stuff like Moxley's. I guess there's the area closer to Donald, but that's a little more car-oriented.

[1ajs]

that antique shop is a real drain was much better as a ice cream shop sigh

[emeraldeyes]

Love the antique shop!
I would think the locals in the neighbourhood would too. There's always cool and affordable stuff in there.

[esquire]

^ Nothing wrong with antiques per se, but their store, along with several others on that strip between Stradbrook and Corydon, are pretty run down and project a certain down at the heels image for the are.

[emeraldeyes]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ Nothing wrong with antiques per se, but their store, along with several others on that strip between Stradbrook and Corydon, are pretty run down and project a certain down at the heels image for the are.

Yes I would agree that the storefront could use some sprucing up. Proper signage and gleaming windows would be an improvement.
And less crappy-looking stuff in front of the store on the sidewalk as well.

[buzzg]

Originally Posted by biguc

Moxley's is just the kind of neighborhood focused business that serves the community we were talking about, though. He could stand to make a nicer fence along the front of his lot, but if you live in the village, his services are invaluable. There are at least a half dozen spots on Osborne I'd change before messing with a proven success.

It's not the business I have an issue with, it's its appearance and moreso the location of the lot. There's tons of "light industrial" land in the area that's not right on Osborne. Could even go just south of the tracks, where the auto glass place is, etc.

Originally Posted by esquire

^ Nothing wrong with antiques per se, but their store, along with several others on that strip between Stradbrook and Corydon, are pretty run down and project a certain down at the heels image for the are.

This is my biggest beef with the area. Not the type of businesses at all, more the way they look and present themselves. Hell Broadway in West Broadway (an area many would still consider low income or desirable) looks immensely better than most of Osborne. So many storefronts have be redone and new businesses move in, with no incentives.

I'd like to think (and do believe) that the new streetscaping and BIZ branding improvements help to drive that – as businesses see the area/public space improve, they want to be part of that. This is what makes me the most angry about the insanely underwhelming "improvements" to the OV streetscaping. They're barely noticeable.

[windypeg]

Would be nice if shopkeepers even took enough pride to tidy up the streets in front of their stores and not just leave the hundreds of cigarette butts their patrons leave sitting there. Seems like there's no sense of community there at all, it's more like "not my property, not my problem."

[jmt18325]

Winnipeg is actually a pretty clean city, outside of spring

[emeraldeyes]

[QUOTE=buzzg;7632116]Broadway in West Broadway (an area many would still consider low income or desirable) looks immensely better than most of Osborne. So many storefronts have be redone and new businesses move in, with no incentives.

[QUOTE]

The West Broadway/South Sherbrook BIZ does offer some grants/rebates for storefront improvement.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by windypeg

Would be nice if shopkeepers even took enough pride to tidy up the streets in front of their stores and not just leave the hundreds of cigarette butts their patrons leave sitting there. Seems like there's no sense of community there at all, it's more like "not my property, not my problem."

Originally Posted by jmt18325

Winnipeg is actually a pretty clean city, outside of spring

I think you two are both right. For the most part, Winnipeg is pretty clean, but the mentality that exists in other places where stores, offices and residents go the extra mile to take care of the surroundings just doesn't exist here... it's "the city's job". I concede that I'm as guilty of this as the next guy, I give my stretch of sidewalk a quick pass with a broom or snowshovel once in a while but that's it.

It can be quite jarring to go to another place, quite typically in Europe or Asia, and see a shopkeeper carefully sweeping the sidewalk in front of his shop in the morning, or something else like that. Not a common sight around here.

[biguc]

Isn't that what they pay OV BIZ for?

As for Moxley's, it is best suited for a secondary strip. It might work on River; Villa Cabrini has some nearly permanently vacant retail spaces next to the ANAF. Part of me wonders if Moxley (if there is such a person) owns the entire building, since his business uses a pretty large lot. I'm sure someone could entice him to sell.

Moving to Donald or South of the tracks wouldn't really work though. Moxley's works because it's convenient--one of those rare conveniences in Winnipeg that can save you a trip to the suburbs.

[1ajs]

Originally Posted by biguc

Isn't that what they pay OV BIZ for?

As for Moxley's, it is best suited for a secondary strip. It might work on River; Villa Cabrini has some nearly permanently vacant retail spaces next to the ANAF. Part of me wonders if Moxley (if there is such a person) owns the entire building, since his business uses a pretty large lot. I'm sure someone could entice him to sell.

Moving to Donald or South of the tracks wouldn't really work though. Moxley's works because it's convenient--one of those rare conveniences in Winnipeg that can save you a trip to the suburbs.

the owners in his 70's or 80's when he dies it will change

[borkborkbork]

Just got a letter in the mail that TD Bank on Osborne is closing. Another vacancy that will be tough to fill...

[esquire]

With all these closings and hardly anything opening up to fill the gaps, Osborne Village is in entering an alarming state of freefall. How can an area like that not have something basic like a bank? Corydon is losing its Scotiabank, so this makes for a double whammy.

I wonder if a credit union might step in to fill the void?