Okay, let's talk turkey :
I'm going to keep my tone as neutral as possible out of respect for you but I'll tell you about what living in China has taught me : Most of what people on this board talk about in terms of planning is utter shite. They say they want denser neighborhoods but aren't willing to give up even the slimiest, most decrepit, fire-hazard of a crackhouse to get it. Always on and on about how neighborhoods are damaged by any changes. They say "Yeah, let's build mid rises everywhere !" but what they mean is "Let's build mid-rises everywhere but nowhere near where I live, lived, or will ever want to live."
They talk about the character of a neighborhood as though it's immutable. As if St. Boniface is actually only populated by French-speaking people. As if the North End is somehow better off by looking like a slum in some parts because that's what gives it its character. As though Point Douglas was always some run-down district full of fire hazards where even the burned out husks of buildings deserve preservation.
Well, now I live in China and here are the basics of living in super-dense communities : Firstly, there's plenty of sunshine. They don't pack them all side by side. If somebody in Canada or China wants sunshine then they'll have to leave their home. That's the biggest impediment to getting your vitamin D right there. So walk outside for fifty feet and tan your brains out. Problem solved.
Traffic. Yup. I realized not too long ago that China is easily the most generous country in the world. Why do I say that ? Because they're SO generous that they gave away every single fuck they had when it came to driving and now they clearly have none left. Yes, it's a giant clusterfuck. However, here are the perks : Subways, elevated LRT, buses every 2 minutes, and taxis are both cheap and plentiful. How can they do that ? Density. There aren't any houses but that doesn't mean everybody lives in a 50 storey tower either. Most buildings are 6 floors which, if you actually notice, isn't as much higher than a two-storey home as a lot of people think.
Street life : It's not even a question of culture because you see the same thing in Manhattan. Either way, it's absolutely everywhere. That sense of community and vibrancy you get when you're on Corydon in the summer ? It permeates every street and back alley here. Yes, you have to deal with crowds in some places during peak hours. On the other hand, you don't need to hop in your car and drive for 30 minutes to get that same community energy. That high density makes every area a bustling hub.
Convenience : Nothing you need is ever more than a few hundred meters away. Most of the time it's literally an elevator ride away. I go downstairs and walk fifty feet and I can get a hair cut, medicine, fresh produce, snacks, do my banking, go to school (were I a student) get tech gadgetry, dine out (with plenty of options to choose from) buy a bike, go to the gym, sit in a park, etc. I'm not exaggerating. It really is that close.
So why do I mention any of this ? Because it wasn't always like this. I can also go to the fringes of the city that haven't been rebuilt and see what this place all looked like 30 years ago. It was an absolute cesspool. Open sewers, garbage everywhere, no room for transportation services even if there were any, and so on. So what happened ? China decided that it didn't like what it had and wanted something better. It razed all those old dumps and replaced them with modern construction that facilitated growth and prosperity. The key point is that it did what was necessary and I can assure you that people are definitely better off.
Well, Winnipeg suffers from this idea that if something is old it must be good. No P.O.S. shack can be torn down in Winnipeg without somebody having a problem with that plan of action. We can't change anything. Oh, sure we talk about how we all want change but that's all we do is talk. Nobody is prepared to sacrifice anything at all for the sake of something better. We're just fine with everything the way it is. We like never changing. Why, if we could, we'd rebuild the city exactly as it was 100 years ago. Because that would actually work /s.
We want rapid transit but won't accept that the only way to make it feasible is by tearing down low density housing and replacing it with high density. Damages the character of the neighborhood, you see. We want a new arena but we can only build it exactly where the old one is and god forbid we tear down an unusable eyesore and put it downtown where it's most conducive to facilitating street life. Can't have that because some other place tried it and they failed. We'll stick with the giant old empty block thank you very much. We want more people downtown. Rather than building places for them to live or doing anything to encourage developers to follow suit, we chastise developers who try, renege on deals we made with them, accuse the city of corruption when a developer actually does manage to do it, and complain that any proposal is junk and should never see the light of day anyway. Until it's built ; then it's a great addition.
And no progress can be made without making necessary changes. People who don't live in the neighborhood or have never lived in it are telling me what a loss it is to the community that we're losing a strip club that kept us all up at night for years with their "high end" Harley-riding clientele, a Chinese food delivery joint, Timmie's that didn't exist 15 years ago, and about a dozen half rental houses that are just this side of condemnation anyway. And we claim that this is going to damage the character of the neighborhood. No it won't. We won't have to wait an extra half hour for trains that keep us from getting to our neighborhood. On top of that there are people telling me that there are no traffic problems in the first place. Anybody who says that clearly doesn't live in the neighborhood or has never spent any appreciable amount of time in it. So you'll excuse me if I completely dismiss their opinion of traffic concerns at that corner.
If people want to put a complete moratorium on urban boundary growth in the city then fine. Go nuts. Won't stop people from moving in and one way or another there are going to be more people who are going to tie up traffic. If we all want to pretend that it can all be fixed with pixie dust and a charming ditty then fine, ask Santa for a new Red Rider BB gun while they're at it. People who actually want problems fixed understand that you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet and that's all there is to it. We can put lipstick on this pig all we want but the goal is damage mitigation rather than completely innocuous alteration of the city's infrastructure facilities. Seems to me that the city has done what it can do in that respect.
Of all the forums I go to on this board, nowhere is the absolute disgust with change as palpable as it is here. People here will opine on the merits of a fucking lean-to as opposed to a block of condominiums rather than accept that one is clearly better than the other for the vast majority of people. The cynicism, apathy, resistance to change, and downright negativity towards any development is always focused on what we're losing rather than what we're gaining. It's EXACTLY what keeps holding Winnipeg back.
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