Party City Expands in Winnipeg and Canada

In 2019 Party City was bought by Canadian Tire and operates separately from Party City in the U.S. which started in New Jersey in 1986. The 65 Canadian stores were bought for $175 million and the plan was to double sales and then the pandemic hit. Now, Canadian Tire has expanded locations and focusing on holiday sales.

The company should not be confused with Winnipeg-based Party Stuff which has three locations in the city and has existed since since the 1950s and owned by the Glass family since 1982. Their Polo Park location on Century has been there since 1985. The family also has a Halloween shop on Regent in addition to their other Party Stuff locations.

Party City, owned by Canadian Tire, should be not be confused with the Spirit Halloween stores either. This is one of their big competitors although those stores are only in places less than half a year. It would be a mistake to think that party stores are only about the holidays certain times of year. They are for milestones and fundraisers as well as retirements and birthdays.

Winnipeg has rated two new stores of the four that are newly built for Party City. 

Locations of the four new stores:  

• Party City Kanata, 501 Earl Grey Drive, Kanata, ON 

• Party City Kitchener Sunrise Centre, 1400 Ottawa Street South, Kitchener, ON 

• Party City Winnipeg Kenaston, 1765 Kenaston Boulevard, Winnipeg, MB 

• Party City Winnipeg Polo Park, 1545 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg, MB 

The former EQ3 location at Polo Park is one location. Since the furniture store moved into the old Sears, the old EQ3 sport has looked for a permanent replacement. It held a Spirit Halloween store strangely enough. Party City should find the Polo Park spot a busy location. And for Cadillac Fairview, the store is a unique attraction.

The other location opened is the former Nygard store in Linden Woods. It seemed a big reach to find a single retailer to take over the large space but Party City has filled the whole spot.

The one stop aspect of a party store is favoured by many. Walmart and Costco just don't carry as many balloons and knick knacks, decorations. The party stores also cover other religious and ethnic celebrations well. It just don't feel like a Christmas store. Halloween though has grown into an enormous industry in the last years.

In Winnipeg's case, the expansion of some large Party City stores fills some retail holes that have remained open for some time. The loss of some major retailers with U.S. ownership was substantial. This has been mitigated by Canadian companies buying U.S. assets when the opportunities came. In a lot of cases, U.S. liquidators were only interested in shutting things down.

In the case of Party City, Canadian Tire took it over in 2019 and folded into its retail operations. It means Party City items are in Canadian Tire stores as well. This has been a successful marketing move for Canadian Tire as they can get clothing, party and other supply chain movement into their stores.

Having Canadian Tire as owner gives a huge amount of stability to Party City. The Canadian retailer is simply one of the best and has fund ways to be profitable and growing even with huge American competition. As for other competitors such as Party Stuff, there appears to be room for them as they also rent party tables, equipment that so many people need to run a successful party.  For the consumer in Winnipeg, it means many options.

Apartment Plans for 2023 McGillivary

It isn't lost on anyone how long it takes housing projects to get approved. The 2023 McGillivary project is a decade long process. It is exhausting. Initial protests were against any housing. Then it was constant changes and delays. Meanwhile, McGillivary got busier and busier in part because the municipality just a short distance down the road kept adding industry inside the perimeter and housing just outside. The fears of road capacity from apartments within city limits were no match for the capacity that McGillivary was already facing. However, it was the housing within city limits that was facing obstacles while there were few just meters down the road.

So what happened? Well, the people in neighbourhoods like Whyte Ridge and Linden Woods were getting older and their housing needs began to change. As kids moved out, parents were looking at three or four bedroom places that were too large for their needs or their lifestyle. However, the choices for staying nearby were slim. This is a problem for many in places like River Heights, Charleswood and several other neighbourhood with no multi-unit homes. People end up having to move a fair distance away which is disruptive for those who still love their old haunts.

A total of four buildings are planned. A seven storey closer to the road and three townhouses of three storeys closer to the fence line of Whyte Ridge. This is by design. Concerns in Whyte Ridge have been about taller structures just outside the fences that might overlook the yards of houses. The taller building closer to the road is the solution and the three townhouses closer to the fence offer residents different amenities. A combination of underground, under main building and above ground parking is included, visitor spots and bike lock-up.

The main building is U-shaped which is getting to be a common design. This is to put in as many windows and balconies as possible and fewer blank walls. The developer has said they will be putting in a fence at the back which would be a second fence since since there is one already in place for Whyte Ridge. Trees and shrubs would border the back, front, sides and parking lot. This would buffer sound as well offer more privacy and less of a concrete jungle feel. The entrances would be on the west side on Post Street and the developer paid for that as no one wanted people turning in and out from McGillivary.

The colour of the building are of the more common variety of whites, grays and blacks. Large windows and balconies can be seen from all directions. Fewer parking spaces that were first proposed are included in the plan although still remains high at 364 spots. However, 36 spots were reserved for visitors to prevent people from attempting street parking. 

Costco is immediately across the road so grocery, pharmacy and gas are seconds away, even walkable. Shopper's Drug Mart is also walking distance away. Walking cross McGillivary and Kenaston is not recommended as it is a three ring circus of danger and that doesn't look likely to change soon. Still, the residential apartments being built might be the sweet spot for living close to shopping and the amenities of Whyte Ridge and Fort Whyte.

There will be 280 units in the four buildings altogether. They will feature one, two and yes, even three bedroom configurations.  Three bedrooms in Canada have such a long waiting list that there are very few available anywhere. These are likely to be snapped up as soon as they are available.

Statistics Canada has reported inflation has gone up again and one of the things cited as causing it to rise is rent going up. The only way rent is going to stop rising is to approve more projects for housing, especially multi-unit housing. Cities and provinces can't go on a 10 or 15 year break and build nothing and then watch older units get demolished from aging, fire or converted to other uses without replacement, In Winnipeg, we have a whole bunch of houses reach 100 years of age every year for years to come. Many will be lovingly kept up, others will be demolished. What can't happen is for it to take so long to get projects approved. Moreover, we have to look at zoning that may no longer be applicable to today's buildings. Some of the rules around those go back 100 years as well. The rules are single family dwelling only neighbourhoods are pushing people out as there is no place for them to stay as they age.

It might seems like a lot of housing going up recently but the population has been rising and the right type of housing is too slow to come to market. There is simply not enough being built of any kind to keep up with demand. Changes to zoning and building codes are painfully slow. Let's hope this housing gets approved so we can see it start going up this year.

Chilli Chutney Brings Street East Indian Kitchen to Kenaston

Twice now Swiss Chalet, one of Canada's major chains, has come to Winnipeg to great fanfare and twice it has died. The closure on Kenaston and on Corydon was a quiet quitting. Perhaps it was the pandemic that did in Swiss Chalet this time or maybe the changing tastes of those in the city.

All of the Kelsey's closed in the city as well. It is and has been a tough business being a restaurateur. For Swiss Chalet though, it seems when the going gets tough, they pull out of Winnipeg. Could it be third time lucky some day? Who knows.

One thing is certain is that prime spaces have opened up and big chains are not all jumping in for their chance to claim those spots. And so it is with Swiss Chalet.

They have left a place with a relatively new kitchen and the former imprint of their name on the wall.

What has come to replace it is far different than just another chicken restaurant. Chilli Chutney will be the new place in front of big Walmart. They arrive in Winnipeg via Brandon where a location has existed there since 2005. The present owner has owned it since 2011. It is another example of Brandon-based restauranteurs opening locations in Winnipeg.

It also shows a move to more diverse food choices which have sometimes been slow to hit the suburbs. More often the best of the world is found in more central parts of the city. However, a lot of new immigrants are in the suburbs and so Ontario-based chains may not have as great appeal.

Restaurants like Chilli Chutney though will find success through a wide audience who are new to East Indian street food. And like Chinese food restaurants spread across North America over the last century, they become unique in many ways from the source country. Just like Italian food in Canada is much different than what you might get in Italy itself.

The corporate franchise system can be relentlessly the same. This can be a boon for places like McDonald's or Subway which try to be consistent on product taste, look and price. Travelling to any city in any country should be instantly familiar. And the abundance of these restaurants means you don't have to travel far to get that comfort food from that comfort place. In many cases, a community can say they have arrived when they get their first McDonald's. Likewise, people seem to want to have Tim's on both sides of the road and often a block away from each other.

Winnipeg has been lucky over the years to have such a wide variety of local restaurants and it has been the most frequent way for new immigrant families to start a business in Canada. Travelling to the U.S. usually gives you an idea of how spoiled we are in Manitoba by the variety of restaurant offerings. The relentlessness homogenous nature down in the U.S. means you have to look beyond suburbia most times to find neighbourhood treasures.

In this case, a unique offering has come to suburbia. The shopping around south Kenaston has had to pivot post pandemic. As a number of stores have closed or moved to other areas, a long line up national replacement stores is not in the cards. And so it goes with restaurants too. Across the road from Chilli Chutney is a Sobeys and a Costco and in the same parking lot is a large Walmart.

Traffic is not really a problem with three grocery stores, two home improvement store and a Canadian Tire in the area. But that wasn't enough for a Swiss Chalet to survive. It will be interesting to see a Manitoba-grown restaurant take on this spot and introduce a new concept. 

Aqua Essence Changes What a Mall Can Be

One of the lasting problems from the pandemic has been the shortage of trained professional teaching and lifeguarding in swimming. Covid itself closed pools up for a very long time. Kids often were not getting those valuable lessons which statistics have shown can lead to drownings. With 100,000 lakes and retention ponds, creeks and rivers everywhere, learning how to swim is so important.

Aqua Essence started off as business using city-owned pools. It also happened at people's pools and Winnipeg Beach's Camp Massad outside the city. The pandemic though meant a lot of kids got swim lessons through Zoom in the family bathtub with help of instructor. Not easy with 40 instructors prior to closures working all over and then suddenly nothing.

Owner Rishona Hyman looked for over a decade for a location for her business.  Oddly enough, it arrived when SmartCentres Winnipeg Southwest tried to figure out what to replace some of the closed big box stores with. A long waiting list of retailers was not in the cards. Addition-Elle closed 74 stores in 2021 and those leave gaps not easily filled.

The opening of the Outlet Collection mall down the street has seen a few stores migrate and relocate. Innovative thinking was required but many landlords had to be convinced. And in some cases, desperate enough to listen.

The pool in the 8,000 square foot former Addition-Elle is L shaped and stainless steel. A first for Manitoba. The fears of mould due to humidity is less and the chance for deteriorating of infrastructure diminishes. Most landlords present an empty shell with services connected so the fear that drastic changes could not be reversed weighed on the decision.

In the case of privately owned pools, Winnipeg is way behind Toronto where you find many of them. We have been lucky to have large indoor pools like Pan Am and Eldon Ross, which also has a 1,500 square foot basin pool. But swimming lessons have been left to more private means with non-governmental organizations like Canadian Red Cross getting out of the business.

The convenience of an instructional pool in a big box mall is not the least bit counter-intuitive. And on cold winter days learning to swim in 34 C heated waters with a parent near by or in the water makes sense to a landlord if it fills a spot and brings people to the area.

This is a great Winnipeg business story and an indication of what malls can become. There are still empty spots to fill which will require more innovative thinking. I have a feeling though that many of these malls have more parking than they require. Don't be surprised if some density is added with some residential in the near future.

The End of Lowe's in Canada

Lowe's parent company in the U.S. has sold the Lowe's/Rona in Canada to a private equity firm. The Lowe's name no matter what will no longer exist in Canada in 2023. The last time there was a series of closures in 2019, Manitoba was not affected. Given the dire condition of the company and the conditions of removing the Lowe's name, it seems unlikely that the company would like to have two Ronas on Kenaston.

I personally like Rona and here in the west, it operates much like Home Depot. This was a reflection of the days when it was Revy and started off with larger stores. But that is not what Rona has been like, especially in Quebec. It was small hometown feel and all had all manner of operations that were grass roots, independent dealers and stores not so large.

Certainly Lowe's could run a big store like we saw in Winnipeg. However, their corporate structure wasn't easily replicated in Canada. And just like Target, they have retreated with heavy losses.

In the end, Lowe's was paid $400 million U.S. to walk away. Their losses look to be $2 billion U.S. New owners Sycamore Partners will probably take a while to figure out their strategy. Not all of their assets are corporate. There are a lot of independent associates in their network. 

The independent dealers number around 210 stores and it is expected some might leave for one of three other buying groups. It depends on what the new owner Sycamore Partners does. They already own Staples in Canada but how the manage independent dealers will be the real test.

As for the 70 Lowe's brand corporate stores, they will all become Ronas or another name other than Lowe's.

Competition is important to every industry. The lack of it is demonstrated in things like concert ticket sales where only was seller can't help itself from somehow selling tickets to scalpers.  Taylor Swift fans confronted by $34,000 seat sales know too well. The same is true for hardware stores. Rona and Home Depot compete on price, location, service and selection. Lose one of the players and watch all those areas become less favourable to the consumer.

Watch for Lowe's signs to disappear soon. As for the big Lowe's store along Kenaston? The future doesn't look bright.

Mr. Mike's Steakhouse Casual Kenaston Reopened

Mr. Mike's SteakhouseCasual is under new ownership as of October 2020 and is back open within pandemic standards. Delivery is the order of the day until restrictions are dropped.

I got tip about this. I waited because after I heard the tip was told that a deal might be in place once restaurants opened. But we here we are in July. Mr. Mike's SteakhouseCasual is closed and it won't be re-opening.

Even before the pandemic, there were rumours of trouble. At $25,000 per month rent you have to be busy from day 1. By January rent was not being paid.

Perhaps Keg-like prices without Keg-like service was just not going to work in a city like Winnipeg that loves its steaks.

Vita Health and Mark's Warehouse Coming to Linden Ridge

The last few areas of Linden Ridge mall are set to be developed in 2019. The new Lowe's will see two buildings constructed across from their parking lot. This is quite a coup for the mall as Kenaston Common just north of their location will be seeing a contraction as Payless ShoeSource and HBC Home close there. In all, three HBC Home and eight Payless will close in the city this year.

The new construction appears to be triggered by two major retailers locating in Linden Ridge namely Vita Health and Mark's Warehouse.

Both retailers should find a market for their goods in the growing area.

Once the buildings are complete, Linden Ridge will be more or less fully developed in their very slow and steady approach over the last few decades.

Mr. Mike's SteakhouseCasual Coming to Winnipeg

Many keep asking what the development around Kenaston and McGillivary is as they drive by. The answer is at least two restaurants, one with a drive-thru. No word yet on the drive-thru but the stand alone restaurant is Mr. Mike's SteakhouseCasual. They are shooting for an April opening but might sneak open a bit earlier.

The Burnaby, B.C.-based chain has been expanding rapidly in western Canada and has already opened up two locations in Manitoba in Winkler and Dauphin. The location in Winnipeg will be 5,200 square feet.

The restaurant started in Vancouver in 1960 and had gone through a few changes but it aims to occupy the market that is less expensive than what The Keg owns. They also serve burgers, pastas and salads but alas, no salad bar anymore.

The Linden Ridge Shopping Centre also has Lowe's Home Improvement store opening soon. It has taken a long time to get the mall nearly fully leased. It would seem that some time in 2018, the last areas will be completed for development since the land became available in the 1990s.

Mr. Mike's fills a void in the price friendly restaurant market and should do well in Winnipeg.

The Canadian Brewhouse Now Open on Kenaston

There have been quite a few restaurants in the Linden Ridge Mall over the year. Wow Hospitality has tried everything from Italian to Mexican over many years but nothing has stuck. Meanwhile Asoyama across the lot from the location seems to have staying power.

Given the growing population of south Winnipeg and the huge boom around IKEA, it seems a natural that a number of restaurants would congregate in the area. The Pancake House has opened in recent months in the parking lot next to the Odeon VIP Theatre. A Montana's opened in the IKEA parking lot.

A number of Winnipeggers though have been asking: Do we get something new that hasn't been here before? The answer is yes.

The Canadian Brewhouse has opened in the old Los Chicos location this past month. The Alberta-based sports bar and restaurant has never had a location in Manitoba before. A combination of burgers, wraps and pizza seems to be the winning formula for this grill.

Despite the fact that no Canadian hockey team is in the play-offs, Canadians still seem to want to go to sports bars and the Canadian Brewhouse is filled with TVs covering the games.

Let's see if this is the restaurant to stick at that location in the Linden Ridge Mall.

Lowe's to Buy Rona in Friendly Deal

The Kenaston Lowe's Cancelled?

There was an announcement today that the number 2 home improvement company in the U.S. Lowe's is making a friendly purchase of Rona in Canada for $3.2 billion. This is a familiar story as this courtship has been attempted before sometimes with the government of Quebec stepping in and saying no.

Rona is different than Lowe's in that it has large corporate stores as well as very small dealer stores. It would appear that an offer was made that has satisfied both the corporation and government of Quebec. The cash offer is double the company and it appears that the Rona brand or style will be disappearing in the immediate future.

 Last year Lowe's announced they were building a store at Linden Ridge Shopping Centre. It is difficult to say how far along that process construction has began or whether that job will now be cancelled.

Manitoba, unlike every province in the west, has no Lowe's yet. It would seem odd if the one store planned might be built just down the street from their latest acquisition. Lowe's has 42 stores in Canada and it is certain that there will be more but details of how the combined Quebec-based corporation operates remains uncertain. It could be that Manitoba may not see for the Lowe's format for some time to come.

The low Canadian dollar makes it possible for other U.S. retailers to expand into Canada and build their networks. However, it always makes it difficult for them sent profits back. Still, if the goal is to be around for the long haul, the investment can pay off very nicely with an operation that produces returns for decades to come. Rona looks to be that type of investment for Lowe's.

Lowe's Home Improvement Coming to Linden Ridge Mall

Linden Ridge Mall

A number of media sources have confirmed that Lowe's Home Improvement will finally be coming to Winnipeg. They had initially said there were going into Seasons of Tuxedo and had plans drawn up but somehow nothing happened.

I have written about Linden Ridge Mall once before about how they were one of the original builders on Kenaston in the 1990s but had seen other developers scoop up big names for their own projects along the street. In the last year and a bit the mall has made a renewed effort to fully develop their site. It would appear that a 106,000 square foot Lowe's beside the Co-Op Gas should do that.

Manitoba is one of the few provinces to not have a Lowe's. The competition between Rona. Home Depot and Lowe's should be keen.

There will be still be some adjustment to the closure of many retailers in the last months and nearly four months of a contracting Canadian economy. Still, it is clear that Kenaston is the most important street for retailers in Manitoba. Lowe's felt there was no choice but to be somewhere on Kenaston.

Original Pancake House Coming to Kenaston

The first Original Pancake House Pembina

The city has approved for a 5500 square foot Pancake House to be built on the west side parking lot of the Odeon VIP Theatre at Kenaston and McGillivary. Over the years the Original Pancake House has expanded to Polo Park and The Forks.

The Kenaston area has been sadly lacking good breakfast and brunch places for a sit down meal. IKEA and Perkins have been built in the last years but many other places don't really get started till noon hour.

A few years back there was a bit of a commotion when it looked like House of Pancakes was going to move into Seasons of Tuxedo. The company adamantly said there were no plans for that despite a map showing that this was precisely what was proposed. No doubt that Winnipeg's love for pancakes in the Kenaston area spurred Original Pancake House into action.

Pancake House site across from Costco

The proposed site across from Costco on Columbia Road and in the parking lot beside the Odeon VIP Theatre is likely to be successful. St. Gianna's Catholic Church is right across the road as well.

It is a known fact that churchgoers love pancakes.

The big question is how will be people in Whyte Ridge react? When there was a proposal for apartments just a short distance away, they reacted with anger and signed a petition in the thousands.

Several years back the people in Linden Woods were up in arms about a Keg restaurant going up across the street from the housing development. The fear was that the smell of steak would make dogs nuts in Linden Woods.

Could the smell of pancakes waft into Whyte Ridge and turn non churchgoers into churchgoing people? I hope city council remembers to examine this issue closely as they did when they rejected the first plans for The Keg on Waverley.

I say good luck to The Original Pancake House in their quest for their Kenaston location!

Atmosphere, Marshalls Coming to Linden Ridge Shopping Centre

Marshalls, Atmosphere, SportChek, Petsmart, Dollar Tree

No official announcement yet but here is what is going up beside The Brick at Linden Ridge Shopping Centre.

Marshalls is looking to expand fast in Winnipeg and their second location in the city will be in the southwest of the city in the mall.

Winnipeg will get its first Atmosphere. The retailer is a sports equipment and outdoor fashion store with no locations outside of Quebec and Ontario.

Also added to the list of stores opening is a large SportChek, a Petsmart and Dollar Tree.

There is still room for development of the site but this represents one of the largest expansions of retailing for this mall in a number of years.

It is a coup for this developer to grab Marshalls and Atmosphere because clearly, they seem well suited for Seasons of Tuxedo down the street. However, the second and third phase of that mall are barely under way or still on the books.

New Tuxedo Housing Development

New Tuxedo development alongside Seasons of Tuxedo

Slender triangle lot that was not part of Seasons of Tuxedo

A good use of old CN Rail land

Pre-Con Builders has built many buildings over the years and had a little bit of controversy along the way. The multi-family dwelling they proposed along McGillivray caused Whyte Ridge to explode in anger despite the fact that the development was outside the fence line of the area and not even on an access road to the neighbourhood. Meanwhile, the massive St. Gianna's church gets built with a crypt inside right on access road by the fence and it escapes notice of those in Whyte Ridge.

Wisely, city council stood up to the hysteria and the development was approved.

For Pre-Con though, they no doubt figured there was easier developments to do that wouldn't result in hundreds of angry protestors. In the recent year, they focused on Wilkes Avenue in Winnipeg. The four story apartment Wilkes Place was recently completed near the Italian Caboto Centre.

It should be noted that former industrial and city land along Wilkes and Sterling Lyon has exploded in multi-unit housing in the last decade.

Pre-Con's Wilkes Place development

The city isn't wrong in thinking that some sort of public transit along this route to connect to the Parker Lands isn't out of the question. I don't know the merits of the dogear rapid transit skip over to Parker. Obviously, a full environmental study and further consultation needs to be done. What won't stand, however, is the demand to do nothing along Parker.

The neigbourhood has done all it can to discourage east and west traffic as well as keep the land along Parker to themselves. Parker Avenue could be the worst road in the city. The city can ill afford to overlook this land for the overall functioning of the city.

But back to Pre-Con and their building plans.

Companies such as Pre-Con have been looking at the potential pieces of land all over Wilkes and Sterling Lyon. The building of IKEA, Cabela's and the rest of the Seasons of Tuxedo site left one small 13 acre segment of CN Rail hands left to buy. It is a triangle section on the north side of Sterling Lyon Parkway east of Shaftesbury.

In the last couple of years, many a person has probably driven past that section and thought how it was ripe for development. My personal view was that it would be commercial development...shops and restaurants.

Pre-Con has taken a different view. Today they have gone before the Assiniboia Community Committee to ask for approval for building 592 multi-family units in seven different buildings. There would be three 7 story units and and four 4 story buildings. Also on site, some small commercial development possibly including  restaurants.

There are plans for two acres of landscaping and transit terminal for city buses.

This is a plan that should proceed as it re-utilizes industrial land using existing infrastructure, it increases density by probably a minimum of a several hundred people, it creates options for those looking to locate near work in the Seasons of Tuxedo area or Tuxedo Business Park or if people are downsizing from homes in Charleswood, Linden Woods, Tuxedo, River Heights and beyond.

All in all a fairly good project to proceed on.

One possible bone of contention: Shaftesbury Blvd. One traffic report has suggested it is a priority for a multi-million twinning. This project and a few others coming down the pike probably make this road an even higher use throughway.

Approve this project but don't ignore Shaftesbury. And for pete's sake, don't ask for a traffic light afterward for the development if no thought was given to turning lanes. I already foresee issues with people wanting to turn left and head east down Sterling Lyon from the site.

Building set up for new Tuxedo Yards development

There is a possible outlet to Seasons of Tuxedo and the traffic lights on their property. This could be a good possibility rather than adding yet another traffic light on Sterling Lyon.

In any event, an excellent project, good use of land and infrastructure, terrific on increasing density and creating housing options when so many other areas surrounding are single family dwellings.

Bridgwater - Waverley West

Back in 2009, some critics of Waverley West were giving an earful about the slow development of the area and that demand was not there and it was simply drawing people from elsewhere. With only around 75 housing starts there and no firms stats on just how much the city was growing, it was a fairly easy conclusion to make.

Winnipeg's slower growth, it was assumed, was going to mean that any new neighbourhood built was going to de-populate established neighbourhoods and contribute to sprawl. There was evidence in the 1980s and 1990s that this was happening.

What the statistics show is that Winnipeg's population is indeed growing and at a faster pace that we have seen in decades. This has led to demands for more housing. The changing demographics also have altered in some cases what sort of housing people are looking for. The biggest example of that is Waterfront Drive where no population existed a few years back and where the next census is likely to reveal thousands live there now.

Now, I am going to get into the overall and sometimes divisive debate in regards to urban versus suburban versus exurban versus rural. Suffice to say, it is difficult to to tell people where and how they can live. Truth of the matter is that even the oldest neighbourhoods started off as developments including Point Douglas. A great deal of thought needs to go into how the city develops because a too heavy handed approach will be ignored and a too light approach will result in a Sim City meltdown of the community.

The attractiveness of Point Douglas from early on, for example, was diminished by the quickly rising wealth of the city and an increase in house size.

This has been a trend that has manifested itself decade after decade although some evidence suggests that the trend could be changing due to an ageing population, smaller families, expense, transport energy cost, cultural mores and a whole host of other factors.

As mentioned, changes in people needs and desires is a moving target. And this has meant that a need and a desire for a development like Waterfront Drive arose.

The breakdown of Waterfront Drive home-owners is young professionals, people who have sold larger primary homes and want luxury but not on the size scale they might have had in Tuxedo or Linden Woods and lastly, people who work downtown.

However, this is not about urban versus suburban. It is about needs and wants in the population and how to manage those desires in terms of planning and costs.

The one thing I will say is that the government must ensure that the costs of such neighbourhood expansion are built into the development or it will not sustain itself and end up costing money later on. In other words, if taxes shoot through the roof as they did in the 1980s, there will be an inevitable exodus of tax dodgers running to places just outside city limits.

However, if you don't address the needs and wants of the population with a development they like, you may also have an exodus of people outside of the city jurisdiction. And if poor city planning turns existing neighbourhoods into speedways to the suburbs, the older neighbourhoods will lose desirability and possibly become run down.

There is an element within the city that wants a sub-division like Bridgwater. It is no use getting angry at people who don't want to buy a re-sale market home, want a yard, want something new and so on and so on. The psychology of this is well documented if not well understood by those who don't share the thinking.

So, it is a balancing act for a city to provide disparate people who have various incomes and several needs and want, the right make-up for a successful community.

In terms of Bridgwater, the expense of getting there is not fully costed. Route 90/Kenaston has not even given a budget for replacing the St. James Bridge or expansion of the road to three lanes in each direction. Already, tens of millions has been spent on expanding around Kenaston Commons and Ikea. All told, it may that costs climb to few hundred million. That isn't just idle talk either. The cost of a road construction as a rule of thumb is $1 million per kilometer. Add the cost of the bridge is and it is huge money.

Why bring this up in relation to Bridgwater? Well, the success of the place could and will be affected by people trying to get in and out of there. If everything bottlenecks, there will be a rising fury about it and people may just decide to bypass the area for housing, shopping and recreation.

The synchronized lights have rarely worked since being installed and more and more traffic lights go up all the time. More businesses have gone up in the business parks along Kenaston all the time. Canadian Western Bank is under construction by Tim Horton's in the GoodLife Fitness parking lot. It is a zoo in the that area every evening.

So, back to Bridgwater...

It is proceeding rapidly now. Just how fast? Well, I see clients with street names listed that I don't have a clue where they are. You can't even Google where they live since it was just a field a few months ago.

And what of the development itself?

What special attractions does it offer that will inspire the same loyalties we see in those who live in River Heights, Charleswood, St. James, Wildwood Park or Transcona?

For example, River Heights has its stately homes and tree-lines streets, Charleswood has the ditches, gravel roads and rural feel, St. James was the first to have winding roads and larger yards, Wildwood Park with its backlanes and front of the house facing a park and Transcona with its affordable homes and community ties.

Well, it would appear that the the winding road one might expect in Linden Woods and Whyte Ridge are there. Likewise, the lakes and parks with trails. However, the community also has sidewalks for the streets which have not been in style in nearly fifty years. A component of green space forest exists and trails runs through it. And like a lot of suburbs, fencing and berms for sound and visual privacy surround the neighbourhood.

So what else is new? Well, unlike its suburban counterparts, there are condos and townhouses within the fencing of Bridgwater. The big fights about a condo going up in Linden Woods are not happening here because there multi-unit buildings are up even before the regular housing is. Significantly, the condos are up near the entrances to the sub-division. If residents do seek to use transit, there may be numbers to support it just outside on Waverley.

One of the things promoted in the development is the idea of a town center. Most suburbs shun anything of the kind. A few critics have scoffed at the whole thing.

To be continued in part 2.