Winnipeg Construction X - Page 133

buzzg · #**2641** Posted **May 28, 2020, 4:06 PM**

All the awnings at the Boyd Building are being haphazardly removed by one guy. Building next door pretty much gone now. Still no word on what's happening here? Can't you not get a demo permit without plans for a build?

rrskylar · #**2642** Posted **Jun 1, 2020, 5:06 AM**

The panacea of downtown living, urbanism, downtown centric public transportation hubs etc. may all be in peril with COVID-19 and It’s emerging advent of “work from home“, the whole way we look at work may be permanently altered meaning downtowns may lose their overall appeal and any reason to live in downtown cores. Thoughts?!?

Spocket · #**2643** Posted **Jun 1, 2020, 6:12 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by rrskylar

The panacea of downtown living, urbanism, downtown centric public transportation hubs etc. may all be in peril with COVID-19 and It’s emerging advent of “work from home“, the whole way we look at work may be permanently altered meaning downtowns may lose their overall appeal and any reason to live in downtown cores. Thoughts?!?

Well, most of the world operates on a different model so really we'd just be getting more in line with global norms.

In most of the world, work can be anywhere in the city. Cities have a center but it's nowhere near as dominant over other centers in the region. A few alpha level cities have recognizable central business districts but if you look at London or Tokyo for example, what you see is a showpiece CBD but many, many other business cores throughout the region. Of course, Canadian cities are pretty small on a global scale but it seems to be that after a city hits about 2 million people or so, they start to decentralize.

But there will always be cores for business. Even if everybody is working from home, they'll still want to be closer to key services, whatever they may be. As such, what I'd expect to see is that cities build high density nodes around specific services that businesses require. Like, imagine if Office Depot was the seed that spawned a high density core of people packed in apartment towers all around it.

robertocarlos · #**2644** Posted **Jun 1, 2020, 1:09 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by rrskylar

The panacea of downtown living, urbanism, downtown centric public transportation hubs etc. may all be in peril with COVID-19 and It’s emerging advent of “work from home“, the whole way we look at work may be permanently altered meaning downtowns may lose their overall appeal and any reason to live in downtown cores. Thoughts?!?

Downtown is almost never boring.

cheswick · #**2645** Posted **Jun 1, 2020, 2:11 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by rrskylar

The panacea of downtown living, urbanism, downtown centric public transportation hubs etc. may all be in peril with COVID-19 and It’s emerging advent of “work from home“, the whole way we look at work may be permanently altered meaning downtowns may lose their overall appeal and any reason to live in downtown cores. Thoughts?!?

I don't think working from home is nearly as universally appealing as many people think it is. I'm anti-social so I'm fine working from home. But in conversations with my boss he's ready to get back to the office. Finds the work / home line is too blurred. Talking with others from work they are missing the social interaction of the work place. Find it too isolating and lonely even with the video meetings. I personally don't think this will amount to a long term complete overhaul of how things are done. Just my guess.

esquire · #**2646** Posted **Jun 1, 2020, 2:24 PM**

It might not be a situation where 60% of people are working from home so much as it is say 10 or 15% of people are working from home in the long run. And even then it's going to be office workers… a lot of jobs can't be done from home. It'll have some impact but I don't think it's going to fundamentally change what downtowns look like. Although mind you it could hit a city like Winnipeg harder than somewhere like Calgary because there is less cushion to absorb that kind of blow. Calgary has enough people living and working nearby that the shops and restaurants and hotels can probably withstand the loss of some of their many workers and residents... it's probably a lot more precarious here.

buzzg · #**2647** Posted **Jun 1, 2020, 3:44 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spocket

Well, most of the world operates on a different model so really we'd just be getting more in line with global norms.

In most of the world, work can be anywhere in the city. Cities have a center but it's nowhere near as dominant over other centers in the region. A few alpha level cities have recognizable central business districts but if you look at London or Tokyo for example, what you see is a showpiece CBD but many, many other business cores throughout the region. Of course, Canadian cities are pretty small on a global scale but it seems to be that after a city hits about 2 million people or so, they start to decentralize.

But there will always be cores for business. Even if everybody is working from home, they'll still want to be closer to key services, whatever they may be. As such, what I'd expect to see is that cities build high density nodes around specific services that businesses require. Like, imagine if Office Depot was the seed that spawned a high density core of people packed in apartment towers all around it.

I totally agree with this. I also think how others have mentioned though that as this passes it's not going to be the major overhaul like some were guessing – I think we'll see more flexible work options, but the vast majority of people will return to working in offices most (if not all) days. I think the "stay home if you're sick" mentality will stick around, and most employers will allow some/more WFH days if employees just need a day.

I personally worked in offices for three different companies before going solo, and all of them had flexibility to WFH if and when it was needed. I really think it's just going to force a lot of more traditional employers to catch up to what the younger workforce is looking for in flexibility and trust.

GreyGarden · #**2648** Posted **Jun 1, 2020, 4:13 PM**

I'm nervous that we'll lean into being a car-city even more now. I think thats my main concern coming out of the pandemic. I feel like public transit will take a long time to recover. If lots of those people make the shift to cars, thats a lot of extra cars on the road. That will definitely bleed into the built environment - more front-facing parking lots and wider roads - just overall uglier city building. Whats making me even more concerned is that plenty of Canadian cities are rolling out strategies to move people around but Winnipeg has stayed pretty quiet.

I noticed on Richard Florida's twitter a few days ago that he laid out his predictions for the medium term future of cities.

https://twitter.com/Richard_Florida/...10479337697282

To summarize, overall he predicted that cities - especially great cities will recover. But in the medium term, he predicts that there will be less demand for condos and even less for retail and office space and that overall there will be less demand for urban living from families and the affluent. Furthermore, cities will likely experience disinvestment and economic stress - especially 2nd and 3rd tier cities.

It'll be really interesting to see how Winnipeg weathers this storm. There didn't seem to much demand before the pandemic for urban living amongst Winnipeg's affluent and families. Most of the urban types I see and know are younger people. But I think if we can hang onto those people and try and build space that attracts more families and people with money to spend we'll be okay. However, we were struggling fiscally before the pandemic, so we'll see.

As for office space, I echo what everyone else has been saying. I suspect that before the new year most people will be going into work everyday again. There might be a shift in the tech sector. I think what the pandemic might have taught us is that employers can be more flexible then they previously thought. People can stay home because they're not feeling great and still put in a decent days work. That being said, I won't expect to see any new office construction for a long time - however, I wasn't expecting to anyways before the pandemic.

drew · #**2649** Posted **Jun 1, 2020, 4:18 PM**

This morning was noticeably busier downtown, at least with respect to traffic - I actually had to wait for the lights to walk across some side streets along Portage.

The sidewalks however still remain mostly zombie apocalypse. Including some dude walk along with a metal broom handle (sans broom) that had the end sharpened. Good times.

cheswick · #**2650** Posted **Jun 1, 2020, 6:13 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by drew

This morning was noticeably busier downtown, at least with respect to traffic - I actually had to wait for the lights to walk across some side streets along Portage.

The sidewalks however still remain mostly zombie apocalypse. Including some dude walk along with a metal broom handle (sans broom) that had the end sharpened. Good times.

I have family who is a high up for a local credit union who was back to the office this past week. The large anonymous company I work for downtown has said July would be earliest people would head back to the office.

buzzg · #**2651** Posted **Jun 1, 2020, 6:28 PM**

The Pollard's new beer garden beside Fortune Block is going to be called The Beer Can. Hoping to open in June.

https://www.instagram.com/thebeercanwpg/

wags_in_the_peg · #**2652** Posted **Jun 1, 2020, 6:53 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by buzzg

The Pollard's new beer garden beside Fortune Block is going to be called The Beer Can. Hoping to open in June.

https://www.instagram.com/thebeercanwpg/

that's awesome, 17 minute walk from my house in Norwood Flats! I hope they allow dogs. and I also hope they have security so many of the unpleasant folks are kept out. (not being rude, just stating the facts)

rrskylar · #**2653** Posted **Jun 2, 2020, 4:56 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by drew

This morning was noticeably busier downtown, at least with respect to traffic - I actually had to wait for the lights to walk across some side streets along Portage.

The sidewalks however still remain mostly zombie apocalypse. Including some dude walk along with a metal broom handle (sans broom) that had the end sharpened. Good times.

And regular people just don't want to come downtown anymore, can never understand why!

buzzg · #**2654** Posted **Jun 2, 2020, 4:59 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by wags_in_the_peg

that's awesome, 17 minute walk from my house in Norwood Flats! I hope they allow dogs. and I also hope they have security so many of the unpleasant folks are kept out. (not being rude, just stating the facts)

It’s fully fenced off. Also since the Winnipeg Hotel has been closed, haven’t seen as many people loitering around south Main.

armorand93 · #**2655** Posted **Jun 2, 2020, 10:58 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by rrskylar

And regular people just don't want to come downtown anymore, can never understand why!

Maybe its those greeting parties of hammer-wielding methheads...

dmacc · #**2656** Posted **Jun 2, 2020, 4:18 PM**

Has there been any progress on the 187 Smith renovation?

buzzg · #**2657** Posted **Jun 2, 2020, 8:01 PM**

Assuming you’re talking about 185 Smith, it’s chugging along well. Exterior removal seems to be complete and lots happening inside.

Thread: https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=240240