Winnipeg Construction X

[1ajs]

polo needs to diversify or die and cf sees it kenistons become the new place to go

[armorand93]

Originally Posted by 1ajs

polo needs to diversify or die and cf sees it kenistons become the new place to go

Agreed, totally agreed. Plus 1ajs, Cadillac Fairview already lost one mall in this city. They can't afford to lose their remaining one here & be shut out of Winnipeg. The oversaturation without any further residential or industrial developments to give the commercial a reason to exist, would be a catalyst for a retail apocalypse, along with destroying the whole area in such a case.

Not only that, a future in St James or even St. Matthews for young people is virtually non-existent. If there was more residential, more jobs, upgrading the area to something other than Boringville... it might improve. But without anything to keep people around, they're all leaving. Just like most of the people i ever knew in Winnipeg - a vast chunk have all left to the rest of Western Canada, and its been accelerating like crazy.

Without further developments and foresight to develop areas to actually KEEP young people in Winnipeg (and maybe a slew of security guard jobs and WPS new hires to keep away the meth addicts), theres barely any reason for young people to stay - because once they have car access, find post-secondary outside Manitoba with no 2-year waiting lists, or find work out of province, they all leave. Half my family left, high school friends mostly left, and not just outside of the Perimetre - i mean, they left the province and aren't looking back, even if Pallister all paid us $100,000 to haul our asses back to Winnipeg, I'd never take it. And its sad.

[Pinus]

Originally Posted by armorand93

Agreed, totally agreed. Plus 1ajs, Cadillac Fairview already lost one mall in this city. They can't afford to lose their remaining one here & be shut out of Winnipeg. The oversaturation without any further residential or industrial developments to give the commercial a reason to exist, would be a catalyst for a retail apocalypse, along with destroying the whole area in such a case.

Not only that, a future in St James or even St. Matthews for young people is virtually non-existent. If there was more residential, more jobs, upgrading the area to something other than Boringville... it might improve. But without anything to keep people around, they're all leaving. Just like most of the people i ever knew in Winnipeg - a vast chunk have all left to the rest of Western Canada, and its been accelerating like crazy.

Without further developments and foresight to develop areas to actually KEEP young people in Winnipeg (and maybe a slew of security guard jobs and WPS new hires to keep away the meth addicts), theres barely any reason for young people to stay - because once they have car access, find post-secondary outside Manitoba with no 2-year waiting lists, or find work out of province, they all leave. Half my family left, high school friends mostly left, and not just outside of the Perimetre - i mean, they left the province and aren't looking back, even if Pallister all paid us $100,000 to haul our asses back to Winnipeg, I'd never take it. And its sad.

Why are you posting here, regurgitating the same melodramatic anti-Winnipeg rhetoric over and over again, like a parrot? Do you realise that you have nothing constructive to add and that you are only aggrevating local posters?

Seriously dude, stick to the Calgary threads. No one cares to listen to your continual whinging anymore.

[GarryEllice]

Originally Posted by Pinus

Why are you posting here, regurgitating the same melodramatic anti-Winnipeg rhetoric over and over again, like a parrot? Do you realise that you have nothing constructive to add and that you are only aggrevating local posters?

Seriously dude, stick to the Calgary threads. No one cares to listen to your continual whinging anymore.

Yeah, it's completely delusional. Polo Park is not dying. It is not under risk of dying. If it did die, it wouldn't cause St. James to depopulate. And if it was under risk, housing is not going to save it. It's a good thing to have, but it takes far more than a few apartment buildings to support a huge regional shopping area.

CF has a vast amount of land there and they know they can't fill it all with retail, so residential it is. That's about all there is to it. It will be good for Polo Park and good for the city, but it's not some kind of make-or-break situation.

[esquire]

^ I for one am enjoying the highly dramatic apocalyptic doomsday scenarios that armorand keeps conjuring up

[BlubberMiley]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ I for one am enjoying the highly dramatic apocalyptic doomsday scenarios that armorand keeps conjuring up

That's nothing.

I predict when the population reaches 8.5 billion, there will be a catastrophic event, and the Earth's ability to sustain human-produced GHG will be severely tested, and will result in numerous events that will cause hundreds of millions to flee from their respective countries and push northward.

The end result could be to see an all out war, and human beings killing off each other. The US may invade us outright, if as predicted, areas of the USA (most notably the Southwest US) become uninhabitable for humans, and they migrate to Western Canada.

[esquire]

^ That's pretty dire.

So you're saying we better let CF build residential at Polo Park to accommodate the hordes of desperate outsiders pushing their way into Manitoba as they fight for survival in the face of ecological cataclysm?

[Biff]

^^^Good marketing material there - "Get your unit before the southern hordes invade -selling now"

[GarryEllice]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ I for one am enjoying the highly dramatic apocalyptic doomsday scenarios that armorand keeps conjuring up

It's like the teenage angst version of city planning

[1ajs]

world economy is a mess and were not as well positioned today as we were in 2008 to handle it... but time will tell

as for polo the area is dieing when they moved the stadium that was the nail in the coffin province wanted to see the same thing CF wants to do and it got shut down by waa. our airport is important peic of infrastructure not somthing u mess around with

[GarryEllice]

Originally Posted by 1ajs

world economy is a mess and were not as well positioned today as we were in 2008 to handle it... but time will tell

as for polo the area is dieing when they moved the stadium that was the nail in the coffin province wanted to see the same thing CF wants to do and it got shut down by waa. our airport is important peic of infrastructure not somthing u mess around with

Please explain how the Polo area is dying. Which retailers have left, which buildings are sitting vacant?

[1ajs]

Originally Posted by GarryEllice

Please explain how the Polo area is dying.

its slow give it a few more years u will see it hard to explane

[GarryEllice]

Originally Posted by 1ajs

its slow give it a few more years u will see it hard to explane

LOL, so this is just your crystal ball talking?

[esquire]

Yeah, I don't get this whole Polo Park is dying thing. It's still by far the largest retail shopping hub in the province. The worst you can say is that it isn't growing at the same rate that it was before, but there's no way that was going to happen in any event.

FWIW I get that the airport's operations can't be compromised, but we have to ask if we really want the WAA being the tail wagging the dog here. WAA should have to make a better, more compelling case for their position than simply saying "we disagree".

[1ajs]

Originally Posted by GarryEllice

LOL, so this is just your crystal ball talking?

no.

look when u come and go from the city like i do thee days from the north u start to notice things

[GarryEllice]

Originally Posted by 1ajs

no.

look when u come and go from the city like i do thee days from the north u start to notice things

Can you name any of these things?

[pspeid]

Wow...This whole "Polo Park is becoming a wasteland" thing was totally out of left field for me (and many of us), but I suppose it's proponents have been meditating on this for quite a while. IMO...having such a hate on for PP, and by extension Winnipeg, goes way past "liking" or "disliking" a place, it's getting into the realm of illness. I mean, I don't "like" stuffed peppers, but I don't get whipped into a fury if other people say they DO like them, or feel boiling outrage over the fact stuffed peppers exist.

[Biff]

I can chime in...they have new roads, Buy Buy Baby just built a new store, PF Chang's is building a new restaurant, there will be some more announcements for the old Stadium site development, Polo Park Sears should start renovations later this year, lots of renovations happening to buildings down St James, many new hotel developments in recent years.....Hudson's Bay Home store is vacant.

[bomberjet]

Polo Park is dieing, but a large national development company wants to build hundreds of residential units.

The nature of retail is continual development. Stores close, stores open. That's just the way it is. Polo Park area is no different than it's ever been. Minus an arena and stadium which isn't a huge deal IMO.

That's my crystal ball.

[morty]

Originally Posted by armorand93

Not only that, a future in St James or even St. Matthews for young people is virtually non-existent. If there was more residential, more jobs, upgrading the area to something other than Boringville... it might improve. But without anything to keep people around, they're all leaving. Just like most of the people i ever knew in Winnipeg - a vast chunk have all left to the rest of Western Canada, and its been accelerating like crazy.

I'm young-ish and live in St. James. It's really a great place to live for younger people. There's been a lot of positive momentum lately with younger families moving in. Older housing stock and downsizing seniors = cheap housing. We've got some great public services, like easy access to Assiniboine Park, Sturgeon Creek trails, Centennial Pool (fantastic pool and gym), and decent transit as far as Winnipeg goes. K-12 education is all great, and enrollment seems to be going back up at many St. James SD schools.

There's also been a bunch of new businesses opening up recently, like La Belle Baguette, Underdogs, Yafa Cafe, and Little Goat. The moratorium on multi-family residential definitely hurts, but there's already a large amount of residential along the Silver Heights stretch of Portage. Within that housing stock, you can find something to fit any price range - cheap grungy apartments all the way to nice newly renovated suites.

Winnipeg is one of the few cities in Canada left where young people can still realistically afford a single family home. Staying in Winnipeg is made even more appealing once one realizes that our mature neighborhoods have a hidden soul and charm that can't be easily duplicated elsewhere.