Winnipeg's Exchange District | East/West | Development

[headhorse]

love that we’re going to let people who know nothing about urbanism, poverty or urban health, and only care about growing their profit dictate this debate

[headhorse]

also when they were going around looking for supporters, they were mostly framing it around being opposed to the parking increase and not bike lanes, so someone is telling stories

[trueviking]

I agree. I think if parking is the issue, the cost is a much bigger issue than the few spots displaced. Bike lanes get people’s passions up though.

[Wpg_Guy]

I went Xmas shopping last week in the Exchange, parked one block over from Toad Hall Toys, we had a 3 year old and a 9 week old in tow, had no issues with parking. We walked to Toad Hall Toys, then to West Coast Kids and then to eat. This was a week day in the middle of the day, no big deal. I do however do not like the $7 it cost me for on street parking but I’d rather support local.

[headhorse]

how about businesses pay for 1/2 hour of someone’s parking for every say $25 they spend at their establishment?

[Wpg_Guy]

Why is paid on street parking exclusive to only certain areas of the city? It should be everywhere, and parking lots should be taxed.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by headhorse

love that we’re going to let people who know nothing about urbanism, poverty or urban health, and only care about growing their profit dictate this debate

The problem with this is that urbanism and commerce are inextricably intertwined. Prosperous storefront enterprises are generally going to be a part of any thriving urban neighborhood.

[Authentic_City]

I think it would be a shame if the city reversed course on the exchange district bike lanes. I use them regularly and I would use them more if they formed part of a usable, functional network. The piecemeal approach to building bike infrastructure is not working, and leads to this type of conflict. It’s easy for folks to criticize them as underused, but they will never be well used unless the network is expanded. It’s a chicken and egg situation. I hope we don’t end up going backwards.

[headhorse]

Originally Posted by Wpg_Guy

Why is paid on street parking exclusive to only certain areas of the city? It should be everywhere, and parking lots should be taxed.

yeah this is a better idea than mine. why do people get to use publicly paid property to store their car? no other type of storage is subsidized like tbis

[headhorse]

Originally Posted by Authentic_City

I think it would be a shame if the city reversed course on the exchange district bike lanes. I use them regularly and I would use them more if they formed part of a usable, functional network. The piecemeal approach to building bike infrastructure is not working, and leads to this type of conflict. It’s easy for folks to criticize them as underused, but they will never be well used unless the network is expanded. It’s a chicken and egg situation. I hope we don’t end up going backwards.

the lack of driver enforcement also makes me not want to use them. there are four cars including a haul unloading parked in the lane between broadway and Assiniboine last weekend

[Authentic_City]

^true enough. I noticed quite a few cars parked in the Pembina Hwy bike lane yesterday afternoon. Also, the McDermott bike lane between Arlington and HSC is often filled with debris. Better maintenance and some enforcement of illegal parking would make the experience better for sure. But the lack of connectivity and functional network is my biggest complaint.

[optimusREIM]

Originally Posted by headhorse

yeah this is a better idea than mine. why do people get to use publicly paid property to store their car? no other type of storage is subsidized like tbis

Public lots yes. Land owners can provide complimentary parking if they want, their loss. However, lots used exclusively for parking, especially in core neighborhoods, should be taxed at a high rate. I'd rather subsidize infill than windswept lots

[buzzg]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ I like the bike lanes but now even I'm starting to wonder if they're worth the hassle... I mean, the business owners all seem to hate them and I hardly ever see anyone using them.

WAY more business owners didn't sign this dumb thing by Obby. Also, in that WFP article a few weeks ago, none of the businesses closing cited parking or bike lanes – even though the writer made it seem that way.

The Tiny Feast space is already leased for a new clothing store. Friday Knights is closing December 31 but it's because he doesn't want a storefront anymore, he's opening a studio above it in the same building.

Originally Posted by esquire

The issue is that cycling on relatively lightly trafficked downtown streets like Garry always was safe. It feels as though the vitality of the Exchange District is hanging by a thread... if a bunch of businesses close, it basically ruins the neighbourhood.

No it was not, and Garry was not "lightly trafficked" – if it was, why does it need 4 lanes anyway?

Originally Posted by rrskylar

What business owner would want bike lanes that interfere with their business, the bunch of crap that Bike Winnipeg spews is just that, the city basically bent over for a tiny but vocal minority in hacking in these very lightly (rarely) used bike lanes.

Mark my words in 5-10 years they'll all be removed as common sense returns to city hall!

They don't interfere with their business. I'd like to see a study or any proof from them. I own a business in the Exchange, they're great. If anything – again – the city just needs better signage to direct people to the street parking hubs. There's way more street parking spots now than before the bike lanes.

If there's one thing here I will side with them on, it is that parking rates were raised too much too quick.

Originally Posted by headhorse

love that we’re going to let people who know nothing about urbanism, poverty or urban health, and only care about growing their profit dictate this debate

Welcome to Winnipeg.

Btw, I have still yet to see a SINGLE vehicle that wasn't a police, city, or hydro vehicle use the new loading zone on Main. My desk window looks right at it, I watch it all day.

[headhorse]

Originally Posted by optimusREIM

Public lots yes. Land owners can provide complimentary parking if they want, their loss. However, lots used exclusively for parking, especially in core neighborhoods, should be taxed at a high rate. I'd rather subsidize infill than windswept lots

I was more so referring to street parking in residential neighbourhoods

[optimusREIM]

Originally Posted by headhorse

I was more so referring to street parking in residential neighbourhoods

Residents pay taxes, if they want to park a car on the street and theres a free spot I don't see why not. However, I do think that the restrictions imposed for non residents in an area make a lot of sense.

[joshlemer]

Originally Posted by Authentic_City

I think it would be a shame if the city reversed course on the exchange district bike lanes. I use them regularly and I would use them more if they formed part of a usable, functional network. The piecemeal approach to building bike infrastructure is not working, and leads to this type of conflict. It’s easy for folks to criticize them as underused, but they will never be well used unless the network is expanded. It’s a chicken and egg situation. I hope we don’t end up going backwards.

Maybe some parts of Winnipeg's bike lanes are very piecemeal, but this recent drama headed up by Obby seems to be mainly about Bannatyne and McDermot which both have dedicated bike lanes all the way from Waterfront until HSC (on McDermot, even past HSC), so doesn't seem very piecemeal to me. I guess you could have a point about the one-block bike lane on Arthur though.

I think that on the bigger picture though, urbanists should not choose bike lanes in the exchange district as their hill to die on. There are just way bigger fish to fry. It's already pretty safe and comfortable for cyclists to bike through the exchange -- traffic is already slow and there are lights every block. More important would be getting dedicated bike lanes in more extremely hostile, car-dominant sections of the city (Kennaston, Portage, Main, the gaps in coverage on Pembina).

[michelleb]

Business owners always complain when new bike lanes are installed. In every city. Same with parking rate changes.

Listening to them is pointless because they don't have any data to back up their claims. They don't really know why sales are down - and they can't. They don't even know how people are arriving at their store, unless they force every single customer to take a survey for a year.

The extremely long construction period over the past couple years certainly hurt them, but Obby's group isn't even mentioning that. Odd.

[davequanbury]

Originally Posted by trueviking

I agree. I think if parking is the issue, the cost is a much bigger issue than the few spots displaced. Bike lanes get people’s passions up though.

I would have to agree. Its 100% perception. The active transport infrastructure was not built to meet an existing need, it was build to facilitate future growth in non auto modes of transport. Of course it is going to look underused, its new! Any loss of parking spots could easily be mopped up by building multi level parking on a surface lot. To suggest the bikes lanes have to go is laughable and, sadly, quite cynical.

The other perception issue is that people don't seem to realize that parking at a big box store or mall also requires walking. When people aren't willing to walk from one street to the next in the exchange it just shows off their suburban bias.

[OTA in Winnipeg]

^^

[Hecate]

I’m not really sold on the bike lane thing, I think it’s important to have active transport corridors but I think the city didn’t put enough thought into it. It’s winter for most of the year, it doesn’t make sense, at least to me, to dedicate so much of our infrastructure to a few people on bikes. It’s really stupid when you think about it. When my ex had to leave Canada because his visa was denied we had to clean out his apartment on Assiniboine. The lack of parking and the bike lane made it a fucking nightmare. I couldn’t imagine owning a business in front of a bike lane and having to deal with that crap every day. It would make deliveries and pick ups a constant hassle. Maybe they could have cleaned up some of the alleyways downtown, lit them up nice and use those as bike corridors, instead of closing down lanes and taking away parking and loading zones. Regardless, I think it would be neat to see the alleys in the exchange cleaned up and Made more pedestrian friendly. Might encourage business and restaurants to open up along them and create a more unique environment in the area.