Quote:
Originally Posted by scryer
I should rephrase; it's not as dense as it should be. It's obviously a very nice area and dense I suppose (for Winnipeg standards) but I can see the area building up even more than it is. I'm just saying that the areas can do better and that it's a little shocking to see an area with high retail demands go to waste.
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I hear you. I'd love to see the intensity of Osborne just south of River carry further south. The corner of Stradbrook and Osborne is terrible, for example. It's too bad none of the city's crooked firehall deals included the Osborne station, which is a clear hindrance to development. Without it, I wouldn't be surprised to see a mixed use building pop up on the surface parking lot or strip mall that share that corner.
I'd also like to see some serious upzoning around confusion corner. Gertrude east of Osborne would be a great spot for some highrises to bring some population to the area, which would help support the thin retail offerings around there.
And if the city could have somehow not fucked up tremendously by letting surplus land just south of the rapid transit station turn into a Mcdonalds and gas bar, we might even have a chance of connecting South Osborne to the village. As it is, that's a dream.
Quote:
Originally Posted by scryer
Watch yourself, those "annoying suburbanites" contribute to the areas' economy and liveliness. Osborne and Corydon are one of the only reasons suburbanites go downtown. Don't get your suspenders in a knot because people from different areas of the city legitimately enjoy Osborne and Corydon. It's a good thing that there is some movement between Winnipeg's suburbs and they contribute to the area's economy  .
Authentic City: Maybe it's a personal thing I have but I don't think that Osborne (disclaimer: although a nice area) holds a candle to Gastown or Queen Street. Winnipeg is a different city but it can hold itself to similar standards that the other major cities hold themselves to. |
The meat of a neighborhood is supported by the people who live there. This means the basic services people use day-to-day--groceries, convenience stores, liquor stores--and the establishments that become institutions--in Osborne's case, think of the Toad and GST. And people from the suburbs go to the Toad and GST precisely because they're part of the neighborhood.
Now, when you start treating neighborhoods like drive-in, disneyland playgrounds for suburbanites and tourists, you crowd out and create a hostile environment for the locals who supported those establishments and made them somewhere worth going in the first place. In the case of Osborne Village, this already happened a few years ago when Hi-fi and Noir brought in a flood of suburban idiots who made the neighborhood dangerous and unpleasant.
It's something that's been the bane of trendy neighborhoods everywhere: Trendy people live in a neighborhood, trendy establishments open to serve them, suburbanites flood the neighborhood and turn it into an unliveable cesspit.
It's funny that you mention Gastown and Queen street. Gas town is terrible. I mean, it's nice looking, but it's not a neighborhood, and it has a bunch of stores selling shitty Canadian tourist shit. Maple leaf tchotchkes, or whatever. T-shits with mooses and beavers on them. If a place like that ever opened on Osborne, I'd burn it to the ground. Gastown is a tourist trap off east Hastings. Nobody lives there. Nobody in Vancouver goes there. It doesn't have the services to support a population in their day-to-day lives.
Queen street isn't as bad, but would you want to live near it? Go a few blocks north and you'll find a better neighborhood street in College, replete with the services people need, and some fun places to go.
My point is, why destroy the city's best neighborhood for the sake of a few tourist dollars? Winnipeg will never draw masses of tourists, and selling out Osborne village will put Winnipeggers out, more than it will draw anyone in. Actively courting tourists is always a huge mistake, anyway, but I won't get into that here. Unless you want to.