Winnipeg Construction X

[BigG]

Appreciate that perspective. Thanks.

[EndoftheBeginning]

25-31 Riel Avenue proposal - 4 storey, 82 units, 4 commercial units at ground level.

Edit - deleted // see page 1

[headhorse]

^ I do agree that the days of cheap shopping at big box stores/malls is coming to an end. especially when most of these retailers are mass producing things that can easily be found online. I don't think this is a bad thing, I think we'll hopefully see a shift to more local manufacturing, small scale neighbourhood retail, and localization of the economy. Malls are going realizing this which is why they need to diversify their offerings.

as for the WAA, unless it wants to start actually paying for the land it uses and stop accepting massive subsidies for air travel, it should be quiet. it'll be a great day when air travel starts to fall and regular rail travel returns to the prairies/north america

[Wpg_Guy]

Originally Posted by EndoftheBeginning

25-31 Riel Avenue proposal - 4 storey, 82 units, 4 commercial units at ground level.

You could save yourself some copying and pasting it’s posted on page 1 of this thread.

[pspeid]

Originally Posted by morty

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.

Well said! IMO this needs to be the message that Winnipeg puts out to the rest of the country. We're not just "affordable housing" because it's not worth living here. We're affordable housing in a lot of mature attractive neighbourhoods with great entertainment options for young singles and families.

[rkspec]

Originally Posted by buzzg

The Newport reclad has been moving at a crazy pace – they have 6 crews working on it some days, two sides have two crews working at once.

[dmacc]

^It really brightens up the building.

[rkspec]

gonna look pretty sharp i think

[pspeid]

^^ Looking good! Guess they want the cladding done before the snow flies?

[Wpg_Guy]

https://www.instagram.com/p/B1-il6kgCb0/

[Wolf13]

Originally Posted by 1ajs

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

Not entirely. While southwest part of the city is growing, the long term future for any city has been its core. Most cities already realize this, and Winnipeg is getting it.

We're going to see some activity in the south but it's supreme interest (although downtown is growing at the same rate) will wane, and Winnipeg's downtown (in fairness, because there's so much more to develop) will continue to thrive.

While Polo is not downtown, it's the perfect combination of both. small drive from downtown, on Portage and Route 90, tons of housing to the east and west, by airport, amazing location and industrial access. Since downtown will continue to grow, Polo remains the closest major retail destination. Kenaston doesn't have that long term apppeal. Furthermore, everyone in the city will visit Polo. 1/3 of the city won't bother with south Kenaston.

This of course requires Polo to continue evolving, and it will. After all, they're trying to add multi-family. Which is diversifying.

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.

Originally Posted by GarryEllice

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.

While dramatic, he's not off on some perspectives. We still have to be able to discuss these things without going all "keep your Cgy whining away"... but not that he's right all the time either...

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.

1. While "losing" a mall is a blemish, companies don't always sell due to failure, but due to profit. Whether they fetch a good price, or they could use that money to make more money elsewhere. Nobody "needs" to be in any market, they just need to make money.
2. While the immediate area isn't fully developed, Winnipeg has healthy industrial, manufacturing, transportation industries, and being by the airport and route 90, Polo isn't far removed at all.
3. It wouldn't immediately doom the mall, but it would be a foolish missed opportunity if residential density wasn't sought. Moreso that residential would be a catalyst for retail, than its absence would be a catalyst for retail's doom
4. Winnipeg is still not good enough at keeping its people here, so I agree here, mostly.

Originally Posted by GarryEllice

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

Originally Posted by 1ajs

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

It's not dying, but it would be missing a big opportunity to develop. It's like the barriers at P+M aren't killing the intersection, but they're sure preventing growth.

Originally Posted by 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.

Bingo.

Originally Posted by pspeid

Well said! IMO this needs to be the message that Winnipeg puts out to the rest of the country. We're not just "affordable housing" because it's not worth living here. We're affordable housing in a lot of mature attractive neighbourhoods with great entertainment options for young singles and families.

True, but we also have to sell the opposite to the people already here... to get out of our NIMBY asses, acknowledge that higher density housing is part of the future of any meaningful city at all, and that downtown is the place to be. One of the reasons we're a little behind is because we're still stuck in this outdated suburban mindset that renting is bad, owning good, and that we all need a big yard and everything should be quiet and dull.

[bomberjet]

Originally Posted by Wpg_Guy

ALT Photo

I quite like how the street scene turned out at the corner of Donald at Portage. Browns, the hotel and Tims. Nice feel to it. Every single street front should be that way.

[blueandgoldguy]

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.

Anyone else here in their 20s and 30s, who have had half their family and most of their high school friends leaving the province? Does anyone else find this is common from their own personal experiences?

[Wpg_Guy]

Originally Posted by blueandgoldguy

Anyone else here in their 20s and 30s, who have had half their family and most of their high school friends leaving the province? Does anyone else find this is common from their own personal experiences?

I can count over ten classmates that have left. My school was small too.

[armorand93]

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.

And this is why Winnipeg can't have nice things - its that "oh, this idea is complete bullshit and will change my city drastically if its implented, therefore i'm totally afraid of it and it must NEVER come to fruition!!!" mentality, along with the brutal government ham-handed approaches to developing the city and the province overall.

Without former Winnipegger opinion, from someone who lived right across from Polo 20+ years and then suddenly getting a shock treatment of how the rest of Canada operates, the mentality never changes, and consequently, ideas like these dont come to fruition, because anyone with a drastically new idea (especially a new idea which costs more than a toonie) in Winnipeg usually gets shut down for wanting to go outside of the box.

I'm just curious, so wheres *your* ideas for Polo? I haven't seen very many from you, actually. Its more of a contribution to the discussion when you actually have ideas and foresight, not a penchant to bitch about someone who dares to actually think of speaking their opinions - especially after growing up in St James, and seeing it all first-hand, it gives me a unique perspective as to what would work for Polo, and what wouldn't, from a guy in his 20s whose seen the neighbor east of Deer Lodge, virtually tank.

[armorand93]

Originally Posted by 1ajs

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

The Ellice Industrial park, Empress north of Sargent, the decay is very noticeable in the older part of St James, and around the industrial areas.

The days definitely coming. Things looked better as a kid, but the decays slowly setting in. Anything to fix it now, actual incentive to fix it, would turn it around a complete 180 - but of course, it depends on private sector will, and turning hamhanded approaches into actual change, versus what I mentioned in my previous reply.

Typing these from phone, hard to merge replies.

[blueandgoldguy]

Originally Posted by armorand93

And this is why Winnipeg can't have nice things - its that "oh, this idea is complete bullshit and will change my city drastically if its implented, therefore i'm totally afraid of it and it must NEVER come to fruition!!!" mentality, along with the brutal government ham-handed approaches to developing the city and the province overall.

Without former Winnipegger opinion, from someone who lived right across from Polo 20+ years and then suddenly getting a shock treatment of how the rest of Canada operates, the mentality never changes, and consequently, ideas like these dont come to fruition, because anyone with a drastically new idea (especially a new idea which costs more than a toonie) in Winnipeg usually gets shut down for wanting to go outside of the box.

I'm just curious, so wheres *your* ideas for Polo? I haven't seen very many from you, actually. Its more of a contribution to the discussion when you actually have ideas and foresight, not a penchant to bitch about someone who dares to actually think of speaking their opinions - especially after growing up in St James, and seeing it all first-hand, it gives me a unique perspective as to what would work for Polo, and what wouldn't, from a guy in his 20s whose seen the neighbor east of Deer Lodge, virtually tank.

I dunno. The poster I quoted below seems to think otherwise.

Originally Posted by morty

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.

[armorand93]

Originally Posted by morty

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.

Last reply to these goes to you lol, dont wanna completely spam the SSP.

I will agree, its cheap. For sure cheap. Schools - depends, some of them are jokes (St James versus Sturgeon), but middle schools and elementary are solid. No complaints there.

The thing is though - wheres the jobs for St James? I used to apply all over the place, from Ass Downs to Polo, and I'd rarely ever get callbacks, let alone a job. And this is coming from a born and raised St James guy. Its ridiculously hard to find employment in St James. If you know people, you could. And i did know people - tons. But still was never able to find work. If i found work, I'd have to spend hours on Kenaston on the 78 in traffic if i did, or go across to Transcona or other parts of the city. It was insane, especially on transit.

St James needs to generate jobs. It might be cheap housing, but without the jobs and steady employment to generate $$$ to buy those houses, its just a poverty trap. And seeing the other poverty traps across Winnipeg, one of the key reasons these exost and develop, is lack of opportunity, lack of investment and lack of jobs. And unless Winnipeg can generate alot more jobs, alot more prospects, the cycle continues and it keeps declining and declining.

From someone who has lived in those grungy apartments, trust me man - St James and Winnipeg overall, needs more opportunity, more jobs, and maybe better enforcement of fair-hiring laws - because if my friends keep getting rejected jobs because they're Cree or Metis, and being forced into miserable and unfulfilling work, in a city with one of the largest urban Aboriginal populations in Canada - in which quite alot are on the poverty line or drastically below it - then that is a massive problem that needs to be actually addressed. And the solution, is employment, investment and maybe kciking a few racists out of office.

[armorand93]

Originally Posted by Wpg_Guy

I can count over ten classmates that have left. My school was small too.

Elementary: significant chunk left for BC or Alberta, some to Sask, a few to the Interlake

Middle: majority stayed, but a few left for Edmonton and a couple for the States

High: scattered across Western Canada, quite a few in BC and Alberta, some moved to Sask as well. The ones who stayed in Winnipeg... their lives haven't been the best, lets leave it at that. Quite a few have moved to China surprisingly, for work as teachers.

University and college friends: some stayed in Manitoba, but again, others left for other, greener Western Canadian pastures...

Since I moved here, I've met all sorts of ex-Manitobans, particularly from Carberry, Brandon, Winnipeg, one guy from Vita - Winnipeg might have the biggest drain, but across the province, its still a significant situation of people leaving. And nothing is being done to remedy it. They might be able to bring in all sorts of skilled workers from overseas, but the government doesn't seem to grasp the concept of lifting up others, and not squishing them down in poverty traps, red tape, taxes and otherwise self-destructive behaviour which is costing Winnipeg and the province of Manitoba untold amount of opportunity.

[BAKGUY]

I actually believe having The polo Park vicinity filed with more residential mid and hi-rises will also be good for Downtown.Some working there might prefer to live downtown and some vice versa. With close proximity, they each can have a benefit . Many will be close enough to use public transit or and economical ride share bill.
This will be great catalyst to kick start the stagnation and decreased population in the area and St James.
Added to that, more people, better transit scheduling, more entertainment opportunities, rest bars clubs..and yes...jobs...plus keeping people near the main shopping hub. Works for nearly all.For those it does not work for, well, we seldom shop or visit where u do.