Chinatown redevelopment plan 2019

[Luisito]

Originally Posted by NewIreland

God, there is so much doom and gloom on this site. Sure, Chinatown needs some help, but it's not dead. The last time I was there I had a delicious dim sum at Sampo, a delicious coffee and dessert at Impression Delight (new business), did some shopping at Sun Wah and Kim Tuong and finally my favorite bakery in the city (Maxim) for some pineapple buns. I love our Chinatown and support it as much as I can. Logan Corner, Kum Koon and Noodle Express all seemed to be doing well, and Soho Flats is filling up with quite a few Chinese students going to RRC.

Is the place across the street from logan corner still open? Sumhay I think it is called?? I used to eat there often when I moved to Winnipeg.

[BAKGUY]

Originally Posted by Luisito

Is the place across the street from logan corner still open? Sumhay I think it is called?? I used to eat there often when I moved to Winnipeg.

Sumhay @ 225 Logan Temporarily closed

[Luisito]

Hope they open up again soon. Would be sad to see yet another business leave the area.

[bomberjet]

Kum Koon is da bomb. I also sometimes go to the dim sum place across the street above the market, which IIRC is closing.

[GreyGarden]

I’ll be really upset if Kum Koon and Sun Wah supermarket close. It’s really good dim sum and Sun Wah saves me from a trip to the burbs. I usually go for noodles or dim sum and hit a Chinese grocer when I have to go to south Winnipeg, but it’s really nice having a central option.

[BAKGUY]

Logan Corner is one of the best in the city.
Kings Palace was good but they gave up from all the necessary covid restrictions.
I did love Golden Terrace and it seems it is open again now or about to. I think A small Chinatown will coexist amongst other offerings much like Corydon was known as Little Italy ha more sushi places than Italian now.

[OTA in Winnipeg]

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[Luisito]

Never been to Kum Koon but everyone says its really good. I should try it out soon.

They were in the news a while back for making some customers pay before being served. Apperently they were having issues with some people eating there any leaving without paying.

[BAKGUY]

Originally Posted by Luisito

Never been to Kum Koon but everyone says its really good. I should try it out soon.

They were in the news a while back for making some customers pay before being served. Apperently some people were eating there any leaving without paying.

The place ( K K ) is truly beautiful inside but not I nor most of my friends, family are into their food. To each their own.

[esquire]

I don't often go to Kum Koon, but it is a top notch restaurant. Best dim sum in town.

[post_man]

Originally Posted by BlackDog204

Go to Calgary or Vancouver's Chinatown to see a lively district.

Winnipeg and Edmonton's Chinatown's are rundown, and hardly anyone goes there if you subtract the homeless population.

No denying Chinatown in Winnipeg is not lively. The reasons Asian people don't move to the area anymore are the same as the reasons nobody else does. Still, the businesses attract a lot of people, but they just go into the shop or restaurant, then come out and go home. The businesses that still attract people, are mainly Asian owned and operated.

There has been and will continue to be a lot of new apartment builds and conversions in the immediate area, attracting younger and more moneyed people, and a city with foresight would be investing in revamping the cultural/commercial areas in anticipation of this.

[BAKGUY]

Originally Posted by post_man

No denying Chinatown in Winnipeg is not lively. The reasons Asian people don't move to the area anymore are the same as the reasons nobody else does. Still, the businesses attract a lot of people, but they just go into the shop or restaurant, then come out and go home. The businesses that still attract people, are mainly Asian owned and operated.

There has been and will continue to be a lot of new apartment builds and conversions in the immediate area, attracting younger and more moneyed people, and a city with foresight would be investing in revamping the cultural/commercial areas in anticipation of this.

I agree, the city or BIZ needs to act fairly swiftly as developments keep coming and be part of the reason people will want to live there.
So be it part Chinatown and mixed with other offerings is fine. Corydon is not exactly a true little Italy for years anymore.Still referred to that way but many Greek, Sushi places etc.. Plus, if the Chinatown area starts gaining momentum, perhaps some Asians will want to invest. Money is Money.

[BlackDog204]

Originally Posted by NewIreland

God, there is so much doom and gloom on this site. Sure, Chinatown needs some help, but it's not dead.

It's not dead. It's just song the Pembina Highway strip. Did you expect Jews and Eastern Europeans to be confined to the North End forever. People migrate. There is no point in throwing money at a concept that is doomed to fail.

Unless you WANT the Chinese away from the suburbs. I just fail to understand why you consider non Caucasian groups moving to more affluent areas of the city "Doom and gloom."

[NewIreland]

Originally Posted by BlackDog204

Unless you WANT the Chinese away from the suburbs. I just fail to understand why you consider non Caucasian groups moving to more affluent areas of the city "Doom and gloom."

Not taking the bait... please move along.

[davequanbury]

I'm pretty sure that Chinatown moving to the suburbs represents a success story.

The only reason Chinatown was ever north of city hall was because this was already an unsavoury area and folks from Asian countries were basically corralled in there by economics and bigotry.

I'm happy to drive Fort Richmond to get my Dim Sum!

[esquire]

Originally Posted by BlackDog204

It's not dead. It's just song the Pembina Highway strip. Did you expect Jews and Eastern Europeans to be confined to the North End forever. People migrate. There is no point in throwing money at a concept that is doomed to fail.

Good analogy... I mean honestly, what would people say if the city spent good money trying to promote synagogues and Jewish delis on Selkirk Avenue? They'd say that ship sailed long ago, time to move on. Same thing with Chinatown.

[cllew]

Originally Posted by esquire

Good analogy... I mean honestly, what would people say if the city spent good money trying to promote synagogues and Jewish delis on Selkirk Avenue? They'd say that ship sailed long ago, time to move on. Same thing with Chinatown.

ETZ Chayim synagogue is moving from West Kildonan to somewhere in south Winnipeg as most of their congregation now lives in that area.

[BlackDog204]

Originally Posted by cllew

ETZ Chayim synagogue is moving from West Kildonan to somewhere in south Winnipeg as most of their congregation now lives in that area.

Once the Jewish Community Campus opened in 1997, that was the death knell for many old businesses in yhe West K area. They were nice old shops with character, but the demographics would have doomed them eventually.

Most young Jewish people migrated to Tuxedo/River Heights 50 years ago, and Garden City/west K is mainly elderly Jews now.

[post_man]

Originally Posted by esquire

Good analogy... I mean honestly, what would people say if the city spent good money trying to promote synagogues and Jewish delis on Selkirk Avenue? They'd say that ship sailed long ago, time to move on. Same thing with Chinatown.

I really did not have "having to prove that there are Asians in Chinatown" on my bingo card. It's especially funny that you joke about synagogues and delis when there is literally a Chinese church (and a Vietnamese one), and five? six? dim sum restaurants, and an Asian grocer and butcher within walking distance of each other, not to mention the smattering of other small Chinese businesses in the area.

While it's obviously no longer the centre for living or business, it still very clearly has a defined role. The problem is not that Chinatown isn't Chinese enough. It's that the actual area it's in has turned undesirable. Certainly not helped by the long standing myth that there are no groceries, only stabbings and vagrants.

Are you suggesting that, as the West Exchange is growing again, the City not lean into its unique and historic cultural and architectural character? We should just whitewash it? Hopefully you're not suggesting the City do nothing. The expression is "if you build it, they will come", not "nobody came when there was nothing, so fuck it". People are already coming for what there is, and there will only be more people in the near future.
It really doesn't matter if the new growth is predominantly one nationality or another, there is an opportunity here that has been a long time coming.
Asian people don't need to be pandered to. This is not a matter of "Hey, we fixed your Chinatown, come back?" They'll move where they want to, open businesses where they want to, just like anybody else. It's 2022. But the neighbourhood does need turning around, and part of that is going to fall on the City.

We don't hesitate to hurl money at mass-produced single-family sprawl and strip malls, but revitalizing a dense historic urban neighbourhood with a truly unique-in-the-city vibe is crazy?

[blueandgoldguy]

How many restaurants did Chinatown have at its peak? I'm trying to remember...around 10 - 12? Pembina Hwy probably has a few dozen at this point although that's over several kilometres and not in an area that is less than 1/2 square mile like Chinatown.