Quote:
Originally Posted by blueandgoldguy
It's just one thing, but snow-clearing in Winnipeg is considerably better than in places like Regina and Saskatoon. I'm sure he can name more when he gets a chance.
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Snow clearing was the first I noticed - we are told in Regina and Saskatoon that such levels of service would drive up taxes to extremely high levels, yet my relatives have always paid much lower municipal taxes. The city even clears the sidewalks there?! (I remember bumper shining on the small skid steers they used to use when I was a kid).
The roads are generally in far better condition there, probably because a lot of them are made of concrete instead of just thin membrane. I don't think its as cost effective today as when they were built a half a century ago, so I don't expect roads will be concrete here except the few they install at busy intersections where traffic closures are problematic. I think you even have traffic markings on most roads there (though I'll admit in the past two years S'toon has done a really good job at applying these here).
I'm not sure if service has regressed much in the past 10 years in Winnipeg, but I also noted that garbage collection was done every week even in winter? They also had recycling collection a decade before it was offered in Saskatoon.
I can't really comment about parks, police and fire services there, as I really don't have much to compare with - I suspect the city hires a lot more lifeguards there. If fire response time is targetted better than four minutes there then you are ahead of us. Police services are probably the same too.
IIRC, you also pay less for water, sewer and electricity, but I haven't tried to compare rates or levels of service (outages, main breaks etc) - I do know that for a long time both NDP and SP Saskatchewan governments have touted much cheaper utilities here, but when I compared to my aunts, uncles, cousins that all live there I am skeptical of the claim made here. And as for the cost of living, if you didn't buy real estate here when it was cheap (pre-2007) then I think you are way farther ahead in MB - the boom does nothing to help feed your kids, especially when the city "raises taxes to pay for new infrastructure" to service all the new developments.
I also suspect transit is actually a useable service there? My mom was a SAHM and never even had a drivers license until I was a teenager, we got around on bus just fine there, has transit service regressed? In S'toon fare is expensive for the level of service.
Just my rant, and my perception is probably becoming obsolete, comparing the situation here now, to there from before. I just don't think its a bad thing at all for Winnipeg to not be lumped in with Calgary or Vancouver or other boom towns - its a totally different vibe there, reminds me much more of established places like Montreal, Quebec City or Halifax.