Winnipeg | The Forks Market | Railside at The Forks

[bomberjet]

We'll see how things go.

Point being. I was on a call this morning and it was like listening to a robot. Catching every second word with some people. Can't work like that permanently, especially when doing data intensive things over a network.

[wags_in_the_peg]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

We'll see how things go.

Point being. I was on a call this morning and it was like listening to a robot. Catching every second word with some people. Can't work like that permanently, especially when doing data intensive things over a network.

my area of the city (norwood flats) has Bell Fibe 50 as their max available service and on the days when i WFH, if kids are home on devices or doing school, I need to turn video off otherwise its a robot meeting too.

at the cottage (lac du bonnet) area, we use Waterside Wireless and it's pretty decent for $60/month. If i was working out there more frequently (which i never have) i'd bump up to the $90 package.

[Wpg_Guy]

and so it begins:

[dmacc]

Is this even real? I can hardly believe the day has come for shovels in the ground. This is great news!

[bomberjet]

My sister works close to that area and their office was provided parking at the Forks. They were told upon return to office, they need to find new parking arrangements. No more parking for them at the Forks.

[Jeremy6]

Is that shovels in the ground or just a geotech report. Either way, progress is great to see!!

[bomberjet]

Not sure. Where they still doing geothermal? Not sure what those pipes are on the trailer. And they look similar to that pipey looking thing on the drill rig. But ya that does not look like a piling rig.

[H2man]

Exciting stuff!

...Hey where will I park for Goldeyes games now!!! *shakes fist*

[steveosnyder]

Originally Posted by TRiToNDREyJA

This is the best we've got rn.

I think, if you wanted to get the classical city centre vibe from this development they have way too much space between buildings.

Just looking at some of the smaller metro regions of France, Germany, Spain, you'd have at least 200+ lots in a 2 hectare plot in the city centre. I estimate we'll have 20.

I'm hopeful this works well. But the conceptual plan here leaves a bit to be desired.

[Hecate]

Sad really, such a missed opportunity. Such short sightedness. This is the best we can do. Condos... for rich people.

[Biff]

It is not shovels in the ground for building construction yet. That looks like geotech. The Forks has to put in all the services first. That will be a big job in itself. If that were happening there would be heavy equipment stripping the parking lots and excavating for sewer and water.

Definitely great news though. This is the first step in a string of steps.

[Biff]

Originally Posted by Hecate

Sad really, such a missed opportunity. Such short sightedness. This is the best we can do. Condos... for rich people.

Show them your proposal backed with your millions of dollars for whatever housing you would like. There is lots of room in phase 2.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by steveosnyder

I think, if you wanted to get the classical city centre vibe from this development they have way too much space between buildings.

Just looking at some of the smaller metro regions of France, Germany, Spain, you'd have at least 200+ lots in a 2 hectare plot in the city centre. I estimate we'll have 20.

I'm hopeful this works well. But the conceptual plan here leaves a bit to be desired.

Agreed. This would be fine for U of M Smartpark, but it is underwhelming for land that is pretty well right in the centre of the city.

[GreyGarden]

I'm excited to get these lots filled with housing, they're such a blight on the area and we desperately need a shot of the arm of people.

I'm a little worried that the area is going to look a little strange with so much new development though. From what I understand, based on the different renderings floating around and the messaging from the Forks, the development will be a lot of one-off buildings. But I wonder if the development would work better with a more repetitive and cohesive design vision. Thus, a bunch of buildings that look similar and are built with similar materials. My main concern is that we're going to end up with a jumbled mish mash of Osborne Village style stilt apartments. A lot of really amazing urban neighbourhoods are really repetitive.

That all being said, I'm really excited to see this project finally getting some legs. I think regardless of execution, it'll be a major improvement on the area. The Forks have been dolling out winning ideas for a while now so I'm willing to trust them a bit on this one.

[Hecate]

I wouldn’t put any housing there at all. There’s no need for it to be there in the first place. The forks has existed and thrived for thirty years without housing. It doesn’t need it now. Who determines what builders get to participate? Is it a lottery?. All I see is free government land being offered to private condo developers. Most of whom are probably friends with the forks board members.

[EdwardTH]

Originally Posted by Hecate

I wouldn’t put any housing there at all. There’s no need for it to be there in the first place. The forks has existed and thrived for thirty years without housing. It doesn’t need it now. Who determines what builders get to participate? Is it a lottery?. All I see is free government land being offered to private condo developers. Most of whom are probably friends with the forks board members.

Yeah, why have productive land with much-needed housing and generating revenue when you can just have an empty gravel lot instead!

Also it's not free. The whole point is to create a revenue source for the Forks.

[EdwardTH]

Originally Posted by Hecate

Sad really, such a missed opportunity. Such short sightedness. This is the best we can do. Condos... for rich people.

Look, normally I'm 100% with you in pushing back against the conservativism of this forum. We should all be advocating for more transitional and affordable housing in the city. But you're gonna have to accept the fact that regular Joe's need places to live too. Stop pretending any new housing that isn't explicitly geared to low-income is for "rich people"... how much do you think these are going to sell for? Million-dollar condos don't exist in Winnipeg.

You can advocate for more affordable housing without this weird and misguided belief that any new non-affordable development is inherently evil. I dunno if these are to be condos or rentals but even if they're condos, many will likely be rented out. More units supplied to the rental market = lower pressure on rents for everybody, across the spectrum. If you don't build these units, then the people that would have moved into them move into existing buildings instead, driving up the rent there and making them unaffordable for existing tenants.

Tearing down low-rent housing to build high-end condos is a problem, but that's not what's happening. Building new condos on a parking lot is a win-win.

[GarryEllice]

Originally Posted by Hecate

I wouldn’t put any housing there at all. There’s no need for it to be there in the first place. The forks has existed and thrived for thirty years without housing. It doesn’t need it now. Who determines what builders get to participate? Is it a lottery?. All I see is free government land being offered to private condo developers. Most of whom are probably friends with the forks board members.

It's not that the Forks needs housing in order to thrive, it's that Winnipeg needs more residents in the core in order for our downtown to thrive (or at least in order to be less of a creepy deserted wasteland), and adding housing at the Forks is one of the most promising ways to deliver that.

The Forks is a place where lots of people might be interested in living, even those who would otherwise avoid downtown. And it's a place where true mixed-use development can be successful, because the shops and restaurants will be patronized not only by the residents but also the large numbers of people who visit the Forks. This makes the odds of achieving a true urban village vibe greater at the Forks than anywhere else in downtown.

It's a unique opportunity to significantly beef up the urban life of our downtown. We might end up with a neighbourhood where you can actually go for a stroll in the evening without wondering if the apocalypse has hit.

What would you like to see there instead? Just keep the parking lots? Or turn it into that sacred idol known as "green space"? Or are you the one who suggested that we use the land for sports fields? A vibrant mixed-use neighbourhood will bring far more life to the downtown than any of those things.

[bomberjet]

People: We need to fill parking lots!

*Parking lots getting filled in.*

People: Nooooo! Not like that!


Trying to replicate European villages to a tee is not what to do. If all that stuff gets built, hopefully with ground floor restaurants and such. It'd be amazing.

Maybe a long walkway with building lined both sides would be cool too. Sure. Having smaller courtyards is also cool IMO.

[steveosnyder]

Originally Posted by GarryEllice

What would you like to see there instead?

Doesn't need to be European dense, but something like around La Vivrière in QC would be good. Small courtyard, a few parking spots surrounded by mixed scale buildings.