Biggest Goodlife Fitness Coming to Bishop Grandin Crossing

I have been following Bishop Grandin Crossing moves through city planning but it has been a long, slow process. It goes back nearly five years now on the site of the old Sugar Beet Lands proximate to the north of Bishop Grandin as it connects to the west of Pembina Highway. It is easily seen on the drive on Bishop Grandin between Waverley and Pembina Highway.

The Bus Rapid Transit overpass has been under construction along with the route these past two years. It nears completion even now. The long planning process and master plan for the site is done and now we are getting an idea of who the new residents of this mixed office, retail and housing development will be.

Make no mistake about this. Bishop Grandin Crossing is as massive a development as Seasons of Tuxedo is. It involves an extension of two city streets into the site as well as access to Bishop Grandin. It will also include bike paths, sidewalks and of course, the BRT station. It is huge.

The first confirmed tenant of the site will be Goodlife Fitness with the largest location in Manitoba at 60,000 square feet. To put that into perspective of the other clubs: the bigger Goodlife Fitness buildings in Winnipeg are around 25,000 to 30,000 square feet.

This move by Goodlife has been long in the making but hastened by the announcement of Altea Fitness being built in Bridgwater which will also be 60,000 square feet. Lest anyone think there is not enough people to sustain either gym or will possibly feed of the other gym locations, keep this in mind: the population is going up in the area in the tens of thousands.

Bishop Grandin Crossing will house a great many residential buildings with a few thousand people calling it home. Moreover, this is an invitation for people just across the river in St. Vital to have access to services like Goodlife that have yet been able to find space in the packed suburb.

Is there a limit to all this growth? Sure there is. The area that might be affected is Kapyong Barracks. If the thinking there was retail, it might not be able to find what they are looking for. More on that in another post.

As for Bishop Grandin Crossing, all the pieces are now being put together and having a major national gym like Goodlife locate there is just the beginning.

Altea Active Fitness Coming to Bridgwater in 2019

There was talk about it in July at a zoning meeting but no major announcement till now that a major fitness center was set to be built in Bridgwater. It will likely be the second largest fitness facility in Manitoba at 80,000 square feet and costing $30 million. The largest gym in the city in the University of Manitoba's Active Living Centre at 100,000 square feet.

Bridgwater is one of the fastest growing parts of the city and as such, there is growing demand for services and shops. There have been complaints about the lack of city provided recreation in the area. Local officials have assured that this won't be left completely to the private sector to provide.

The Altea appears to be a branching off by the principals of the Movati Fitness group from Ontario. David Wu and and Michael Nolan have been spokesmen  in regards to the company. Nolan was once Canada's most decorated decathlete till retire a number of years ago.

The three floor gym is aimed at families. No price point has been suggested yet but back in July it was indicated that it was in the range of Winnipeg's YM/YWCAs.  The amenities will feature a all women's fitness area, a children's play area, a saltwater pool and splash pad, climbing wall, yoga, weight room and cardio, a Himalayan salt inhalation room, skating and a ninja course.

The competition for fitness members is likely to get heated between Shapes, Goodlife and Altea in the next several months. And this can only be good for everyone in Winnipeg.

Save on Foods Coming to Bridgwater Center and St. James Street

Left, Save on Foods location

As reported here, Save on Foods is coming to Winnipeg. Billionaire Jimmy Pattison (who owns the grocer among other holdings) announced three locations and more to come at the former Zellers at Northgate Shopping Centre. Around a thousand people came to hear Pattison and his execs in person talk about the west coast grocer moving into the Winnipeg market with possibly 12 stores.

Any why not? The U.S. owners of Safeway tucked tail and ran back to the U.S, and sold their interests to Sobey's. The government forced a bare minimum of stores to be sold in the interests of competition but did nothing about all of the warehousing and manufacturing that Safeway had in the west. Subsequently, Winnipeg has been hit hard by Safeway lay-offs. The ice cream plant and now the enormous distribution plant on King Edward/Route 90 are being closed and a few hundred employes shown the door.

The only reason that Sobey's has probably not shut down even more Safeway stores is that they were possibly nervous that Co-Op might pick up even more than the four stores they have now.  Now they have even more to contend with now that Save On Foods has come to town.

In addition to the Northgate Shopping Centre where part of the old Zellers will become a store, Save on Foods will be building a store from the ground up in the Bridgwater Centre area of Waverley West and at the old Future Shop location on St. James street opposite Polo Park. All stores should come on street sometime in the fall of this year.

Old Future Shop location, future Save On Foods

The conversion of the old Future Shop on St. James is a brilliant stroke as it comes on the heels of all the roadwork to improve access. A very large Safeway and Real Canadian Superstore are close by but this store will be the closest to Polo Park than any other grocer.

Future Save on Foods at Bridgwater Centre

The move into the Bridgwater Centre is a real coup because it is totally new and the shoppers will be totally new. An entire population is developing around the area and their local store won't be Safeway, Sobey's or Co-Op. It will be a Save on Foods.

All roads lead to Save on Foods

Save on Foods is likely going to need a distribution center of their own as they continue their growth of possibly 20 stores in Manitoba and the same in Saskatchewan.

The site of the new Save on Foods

There will be hundreds of jobs created with the arrival of Save on Foods. The biggest plus though is that competition between grocers will be keen and that can only be good for everyone in Manitoba.

New High School and Dorms for Lee Boulevard Waverley West

South East Collegiate

 

Back in October I pointed out how much development was happening opposite the Waverley West lands near Lee Boulevard. I pointed out then that a major condo development was slated to go up on the corner of Waverley and Lee.

I also indicated that Lee Boulevard had become a centre for First Nations health and education through the South East Tribal Council. A high school as well as personal home centre have been in place from 1995 and 2011 respectively.

Field where new school will be built

The latest news is that the high school will be re-locating to a spot just in front of the personal car home. It is possible the thinking is of having more students attend the school as it will come with 156 two bedroom dorms. The present population of the school is 160 students. By my reckoning that will really increase the amount of students in the school.

School site

 Meanwhile, South Pointe and Bridgwater are no where near approving a school to be built for high school students.

The issue of traffic along Waverley and through the Waverley West area will continue to grow. Expect some woes associated with that.

However, an expanded First Nations school is a good thing.

Ridgewood South

I have waited a bit to comment on Charleswood's Ridgewod South development. There was a lot of noise but no substantial plans till now.

It is a thin sliver of south Charleswood inside of Wilkes as it widens out as a triangle to the Perimeter Highway. Altogether it is 800 acres (325 hectares) and has over 100 different owners, it is Qualico that is trying to shepherd the process through city hall.

The site potentially could have 2,400 to 4000 home and possibly as many 5,700 to 8,800 people along a 6 kilometer stretch.

There have been various hearings in the community and several assurances gives in regards to keeping the characteristics of Charleswood intact.

The timeline of the project is 15 years and done in 11 phases.

There is no budget for road expansion in the area. None of this will work if the Willian R. Clement Parkway is not expanded to Wilkes Avenue for between $60 and $80 million. There also needs to improvements all along Wilkes, Shaftesbury Blvd and a whole host of other streets.

Agreement seems to be in place about recreation use and the Harte Trail. The developers also agree to leaving 10% of land with outstanding natural features intact. Lots of walking and active transportation routes will be in place. There will be no additional schools.

The issue of water drainage and natural habitat is a difficult one. There is little doubt that further discussion will occur on this subject alone.

However, first and foremost if the traffic along Wilkes and through Charleswood will grow by a lot. And I mean a lot.

And so it goes...development planned and now approved in the last week and no logistics plan to connect the neighbourhoods to the main routes plus no budget for roads and infrastrcuture.

The site is one quarter the six of Waverley West but like its southern counterpart, the issue of Kenaston, Wilkes, Sterling Lyon continue to grow and grow. More and more traffic.

My initial impression of the development is that it is good. It fills a need, it looks to infill the backside of a neighbourhood, creates a little more density, will fed existing schools, preserve trail and character of the area, is near existing bus routes.

However...and it is a big however, Wilkes can't handle the traffic. Nor will Grant be able to handle more. Shaftesbury and Elmhurst are already under strain.

Something's gotta give.

The Polo Park Traffic Congestion

St. Matthews at Polo Park. Blocked by a dance school

St. Matthews is not a direct intersection

I have written a lot about Polo Park over the years. It has become in my lifetime the central shopping district so much so that it has squeezed out its entertainment neighbours of hockey and football.

There has been some sullenness about consumerism and moving people from box store to box store and I get that. However, the city was started as a trading area and remains a commercial city to this day. How soon we forget that Portage and Main began when one merchant tramped his way to that road corner thumbing his nose at convention and damned the fact that the infrastructure was elsewhere.

 City planning can be organic or a technical and political process. Wrong decisions by the public or the private sector can prove costly. And it doesn't always have to be about commercial losses or tax revenue. It can be about disease and fire as we have seen from the great cities of London and Chicago.

The Bartley Kives article on what is happening in Polo Park  on improving traffic points out that Sam Katz has put a lot of stock into moving cars around the city. He is correct. The amount of time spent on synchronizing traffic lights is $12 million. The amount on Polo Park traffic enhancement will be $30 million.

And the sad thing is that on streets where we want faster flow as motorists, more traffic lights are going up. The example for this is Kenaston where there are a many more intersections and traffic lights.

For purely self interested reasons, most people want to be able to step out of their house when they want, go where they want and do it as fast as they want. Faster is better.

Many cities have tried to accommodate that and have built infrastructure to achieve that. However, like healthcare, it can break the budget if we don't control ourselves. In other words, if we don't take some responsibility for our own decisions, we can expect it may cost us more time and money in the end.

By way of example: If you move to Waverley West, don't be surprised if there isn't a school or daycare right away and that you are caught in traffic. Despite tens of millions being spent, the roads still can't handle the cars and budgets for building several schools.

Politicians and city planners satisfy this demand will never be able to keep up. And like Sim City, riots and fires will erupt.

That is not to say that infrastructure changed around Polo Park are not necessary.  While the Free Press mentions that the route from downtown to Transcona and downtown to University of Manitoba are listed as higher priorities, the area around Polo Park has remained pretty much as we see it now for decades aside from Silver Avenue being extended and a center turning lane on St. James Street.

I think we can say safely that tens of millions more have been spent on Regent and Pembina Highway.

But that is neither here nor there. The city has infrastructure needs all over the place as a result of low density, low investment and poor planning. And as much blame lays with the city, the province is just as much guilty as they pick and choose their own projects and act as developer as they are in Waverly West.

I do want the city to invest in rapid transit. We have waited far too long to do anything and have let valuable rail lands be bought up for various of developments rather that grabbing them even if it was future use as bus or light rail corridor. At the very least they should have been used as pedestrian and bike corridors. The Oak Bank line through Polo Park and River Heights comes to mind.

But as I said, recriminations can wait.

The question was: Does Polo Park warrant $30 million in infrastructure improvements? The answer is yes.

One big change mentioned was to extend St. Matthews Avenue. This is good except for the fact that like Silver Avenue's extension, it doesn't meet up in a true intersection. A retail strip blocks a true connection. Now, I am not a traffic engineer but it doesn't take a genius to think that a solution might be to curve the street through the stadium site and the retail building. However, that seems unlikely as the city usually takes the past of least resistance.

In short, it will be a Route 90 to St. James extension and a bit of a mash up with poor turning lanes and a pile up at the new Target. That is my guess.

There is talk about Ellice at St. James and changes there. The lack of turning lanes means left and right lanes are blocked through a few light cycles.

One thing I considered might be an interesting possibility is making Empress one way from St. Matthews north to Sargent and Milt Stegall Drive one way from Sargent south to St. Matthews. If you look at what it might entail, I am sure most people might find it intriguing.

In principle, I am not huge on one way streets. I think we have far too many of them downtown and many should be turned back to two way. However, they do have their place and this might be one case as Empress is very narrow and cars turning left at Ellice or into Walmart cause chaos.

So some the stores along Empress such as Walmart are not nice to be around a lot of the time because the two way traffic along the street is brutal.

The city must start taking a principled stand on developers creating turning lanes on their property, landscaping and burying hydro poles on their streets before getting their approvals.

To the people who say this can't be done without driving away business, the argument is bogus. Look at Grand Forks and Fargo to see how the malls there have managed traffic.

The city already has a policy about drive-thrus to prevent places like Tim Horton's having traffic lined up 20 cars deep on Kenaston. The line-ups must take place on the restaurant's property.

It is early stages on what will happen with traffic at Polo Park. At the very least, I want it to be less dangerous.

As far as other traffic issues and rapid transit, I suggest the province of Manitoba get off their butts and take ownership of the rapid transit issue. The University of Manitoba is a provincial institution. They province chose to put it at the tail end of the city. They ought to build the rapid connection to it or at least a large share of it.

And for God's sake, stop letting abandoned rail lands get taken up for development. If Burlington Northern or CP ever give up their rail lines or land, buy the property! If not now, it will be sometime soon that it serves the interest of city and province.

The best development in the city of Winnipeg has been The Forks and that was federally driven with the province and the city along as partners. I think that success can be duplicated. Might be good to see what sort of transportation plan might originate from such a partnership.

However, back to Polo Park: There is without question good reasons to work on the road in the area. We just have to ensure the developers are paying a lot of the freight in terms of traffic so that turning lanes and service roads are part of the solution.

Brian Pallister - Leader of Progressive Conservatives

Brian Pallister - Leader of Manitoba Progressive Conservatives


No one else wanted it. After years of sniping from the sidelines by various PC members through two leaders, no one else came forward to take on the mantle of leadership. Brian Pallister was the only one to declare. The demoralized and scared Progressive Conservative MLAs all scrambled to announce they wouldn't be running.

Talk about depressing.

I am not a Progressive Conservative but the slogan of Aim Higher ought to include a vital race for leadership.

At the moment, we face the prospect of a permanent governing party in the NDP. You can see a certain smugness in NDP circles that will be unchallenged for years to come. You can see this in the contribution to the Free Press from Sel Burrows, an NDP activist. He believes the NDP has a solid lock on center right and cannot be attacked by the Progressive Conservatives from the left or improve the NDP's position on other issues like crime and education.

Sel Burrows has been a tad restless on social policy from the NDP and he has sniped from the side. However, he remains an NDP loyalist and party brass know this and let him criticize because he will continue to deliver inner city ridings in elections despite any misgivings he has. Why Burrows continues to do the party bidding and be taken for granted is anyone's guess. However, if he has a fatalist view of things about others doing worse, maybe that guides his hand.

This isn't a critical piece on Sel Burrows. He is an activist and a loyalist despite his critical views of the government and has tried to help his community. However, one thing is certain: he is wrong that the NDP cannot be challenged on issues right or left and gain no success for the party that does so.

Sel Burrows says the PCs can't win on inner city issues. Well, since the ridings that befuddle the Tories on winning office are in the suburbs, it is there that they should concentrate their efforts.

In the past Hugh McFadyen and Stuart Murray have tried to campaign on tax deductions, law and order and healthcare. Much of the sound and fury focussed on crime and tax. Good issues, yes, but ones we saw time and time again not appeal to women voters.

Women voters have and will be the key to Progressive Conservatives winning office. It is likely that many women voters were looking for ideas on issues that mattered to them. They didn't find satisfaction with opposition on what they offered. And in the 2011 election, Hugh McFadyen couldn't turn the focus off of Manitoba Hydro and its possible sale. Moreover, he confused his own supporters with a less fiscally responsible policy on deficit and debt than the NDP proposed.

In polls leading to the election, the PCs seemed well positioned to turn the tide. It is shocking to see just how bad the policy platform was and how they couldn't respond to attack ads.

Anyways, I believe the NDP are vulnerable on issue of social and economic policy that the Progressive Conservatives can offer a different platform on. Many of these issues are important in particular to women, especially suburban women.

So, here is the winning formula for PCs to win:

Daycare


This is an out and out disaster. The registry doesn't work, is poorly managed, there are too few spaces, not enough being built and affordability is an issue. While some make Tories might ask: why are we paying for choices made by people to place their children in care, they should be saying: We are helping families save costs, helping employers by ensuring their workers have services to increase productivity, getting skilled men and woman back in the market, providing safe and enriching care for children.

But how to get there? How does one increase daycare spaces in a timely fashion. That comes with the next policy.

Full Time Kindergarten


We will be the last province to get it at this pace. If the PCs announce in an election they are committed to full time Kindergarten, it will change the debate. You can bet women are going to turn off any talk about selling Hydro or not selling Hydro when they hear this policy.

We need it. We should have it. It will win an election.

And moreover, full time Kindergarten opens up lots of space in daycares as children migrate from half days spent in daycare to move into the classroom.

Want to make the Manitoba Teacher's Society, the school trustees and parents happy? Tell them that Kindergarten will be full time within two years of taking office.

Full Time Homecare

Parents who have kids are sometimes being sandwiched between their own parents who increasingly need help because of their own health issues. Some families are being run ragged between kids and parents in need.

Full time homecare will help families.

It is a winning policy.

Housing

I don't know how anyone can say the NDP have succeeded on this one. The worst landlord in the province is the province. The solution for the NDP is to build more Manitoba Housing. Ick.

Rent control should end and renters who need assistance should be supported. Manitoba Housing should be sold and those who are on social assistance should be able to rent anywhere. To do this, the policy should be to provide some tax assistance to developers to provide various units in blocks for those on assistance.

The outcome of this will be: More rental units in more locations around the city, less bunching up of problems in provincially run Manitoba Housing.

Provincially owned landed that the province has been sitting on as parking lots should be offered up to developers for proposals that include lots of housing. The NDP have sat on these lots for more than a decade and continue to move slow on this issue.

***

Those are but a few areas that the PCs could and should propose a change in social policy that will win them female and suburban votes.

There are other areas they can use to hurt the NDP where they need to be hurt: Infrastructure. It is safe to say the NDP know they are vulnerable on this and yet they contribute huge amounts to urban sprawl with their own development of Waverley West all the while not helping to fix the high traffic they create with it.

They should be hammered on this issue.

What we have seen so far from the PCs is a wasted opportunity. A non-vital leadership race ends in a whimper. Zero profile gained for the new leader. No policy or organizational discussion. Awful.

This doesn't need to be the end of the story. However, unless we wish to get what Sel Burrow's and other NDPers are thinking: a permanent NDP majority; the Tories have to think and act differently.

The beauty of this is that much of it can still remain with stated PC principles.

South Pointe - Waverley West

Northern section of South Pointe. It is alongside Waverley.

Southern section of South Pointe. Waverley Street diverts West

South Pointe, the suburb south of Bridgwater Forest


South Pointe is a Ladco development alongside Waverley Street headed down to the Perimeter Highway. Most will know the lands as Waverley West.

In some respects the development is evolving like many suburbs do in the city. The area is flattened and then serviced lots are provided along a street system the developer outlines and houses are built. The total area to be built is 480 acres with 1500 single family homes. Only 25 acres is set aside for multi-family dwelling for 500 homes. Unlike Bridgwater, none of these homes has been built yet. One wonders if they wait long enough will South Pointe residents complain about later on.

Likewise, there is supposed to be a commercial element of 55 acres built servicing the area. None of that has been built but it appears it is concentrated along Waverley Street.

Included in the development is 30 acres of park space.

The unusual thing about South Pointe is the city planners are sending Waverley in a curve towards the Perimeter Highway. It did go straight down past the Perimeter to La Barriere Park at the turn off for Bison Drive prior to the development.


As anyone will tell you, it is now a speedway down Waverley to get to points of Fort Richmond, St. Norbert and La Salle. The road was once mostly gravel, oil and bitumen right through to the 1990s. It was never meant for the type of traffic it is getting now. It is hard to imagine it can support ever greater amounts of people. Most troubling is the lack of a proper overpass at Bison and Waverley. It is a bit of a blind spot where it turns.

South Pointe lacks a trail and sidewalk connection to other areas. With such a low density population, it hard to know what sort of public transit it will rate.

Some of the future problems of this neighbourhood are not the fault of the developers themselves. Winnipeg's planning department has not ensured that roads will be able to handle future volumes of traffic. Service roads around major shopping areas have not been built. Rapid transit remains a dream. Sidewalks and trails are not in place. High density hubs are lacking.

South Pointe in particular will bottleneck at Bison Drive.

The prospects for Bridgwater to the north are far better since they will have more access points to Kenaston and Waverley. Also, the neighbourhood is doing more to ensure that there will be fewer fights about multi-family dwellings since they are going at the same time everything else is going in. This will make public transit to the area far more reliable than a neighbourhood with only single family houses.

Some say all development in the area should be halted. As mentioned, this would probably push development to La Salle and Oak Bluff, beyond city control but still a factor on city roads and services.

No, what is needed is plan of action and the province, major developer of Waverley West should be on the hook for a major infrastructure change in the area. This means they should be contributing to an overpass, sidewalks and transit for the area.

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.

Manitoba Will Not Meet Climate Reduction Target

Gary Doer in 2008 said the government should be defeated if it doesn't meet target. (CBC)

Hard to believe so many people have not taken the government to task about this promise that Gary Doer made in 2008 that the Auditor-General says will not be met.

The NDP government was adamant that the objective of reducing emissions 6% below 1990 levels would happen and that they'd achieve 17.5 megatonnes. Now we learn that there will be a 2.7 megatonnes gap.

Gary Doer said that the people of Manitoba would dump the NDP government based on this promise and that they should be defeated if they don't achieve it.

If we don't achieve it - I think the ultimate penalty [in] 2011 will be the defeat of the government.

The NDP was ducking the responsibility for that comment and are probably glad no one is continuing to ask them about it.

And where is Gary Doer now? He was in Cancun this past week sitting beside federal environment minister John Baird as the Canadian government said they were going to kill the climate deal if China was not going to more action. Doer was sitting right beside Baird when the comment was made.

I wonder if that is Gary Doer's views now... Manitoba doesn't have to meet the targets it set in 2008 until China takes more action?

So why is Manitoba falling behind? The answer is that the wasteful ethanol program is not working to produce the numbers the government said it was and that the geo-thermal is not being adopted as quickly. The latter is probably because the provincial government is too interested in being a developer and backed away from making Waverley West a showcase for geo-thermal subdivisions.

There is one thing that the NDP government did get right: They should be held to task for their failed promise.

Winnipeg Transportation and Driving Part 1

Traffic circle in River Heights.

It can be a frustrating experience driving in Winnipeg. Many of the problems can be attributed to lack of planning but just as many can be blamed on the lack of courtesy among Winnipeg drivers.

The bike paths being created on Winnipeg streets have been causing chaos. The city blew its chances years ago to acquire a right of way bike path that could have run from St. James to Taylor Avenue over the Assiniboine River. The old CN line called the Oak Point Subdivision should have been grabbed for future city use after CN abandoned it. Sadly, the idea of anything aside from green space for the line torpedoed any acquisition. Now, residents are reaping the seeds of that dissent as condos are squeezed into the space that they thought would remain green forever. No one seemed to consider that a private owner such as CN might want to actually develop the property rather than leaving it as private parkland for people of the neighborhoods to park their extra cars or to dig a garden. This picture shows the line as it passes through St. James.

Here is the picture of it running through River Heights.



The old line through St. James is now occupied by retailers such as Future Shop and Best Buy who took the opportunity to have bigger setbacks from St. James Street. Who can blame them but what a waste to the city who could have created actual walking and bike paths travelling north/south.

Back in the 1970s or 1980s, there was a proposal for a bike bath along the Burlington Northern Line that also runs through River Heights. The idea was squashed by opposition from an activist who generally fought for social causes. I always remembered that. If I can find the archived news story about that incident, I will include it.

Today we are seeing all sorts of issues in regards to the bike path down Assiniboine Avenue. It has created a nightmare for commuters and people living in the area. One wonders why they didn't utilize the existing east-west corridor in the area.

Here, I will show it to you:



There it is: Between the trees on Broadway.

Here is what originally went down the center of Broadway:



Is it not too late to look at that choice on Broadway?

In any event, those represent some of the choices the city could have made on bike paths that might have made sense.

The traffic circles in River Heights along Grosvenor, including Lanark, Borebank, Waterloo and Waverley are causing some people in the area consternation. The street will also include a bike path and eliminates all parking west of Cambridge Street. There is a picture of the circle on the top of the page.

Many of the people living in the area have a legitimate beef that the discussion about the changes were rushed through to ensure that federal dollars were spent before the deadline.

The first time bump outs of curbs were attempted in 2001 along Lyndale Drive, the residents there rebelled and they were removed a year later. The people of St. Boniface gave councillor Dan Vandal an earful about them.

I am not opposed to roundabouts or traffic circles. The one along Waterfront Drive works well enough. A few more of them are appearing in the Waverley West area. However, I can say from experience that some people still aggressively enter the traffic circle, tailgate and try to maintain high speeds.

I was a longtime resident of Kingsway and at the open house on the subject of the active transportation corridor, planners admitted they wanted to turn Kingsway into more of a thoroughfare. Certainly the people of that street are not going to be happy with speeders running past two schools at high rates of speed to avoid Grosvenor.

River Heights is already a speedway as people try to avoid Kenaston, Corydon and Academy Road during rush hours.

The issue with Grosvenor will be about whether it will be too narrow for buses, cyclists and cars to co-exist with traffic circles. The side effects of the change will also have to be examined. Those side effects would include: changes to traffic patterns elsewhere, the loss of parking on Grosvenor and the issue of parents dropping kids off at River Heights Junior High.

It would be fair to say though that not all problems in Winnipeg are the result of poor city planning. Winnipeg has some very aggressive drivers and there is a distinct lack of courtesy among people. Tailgating, weaving in and out of traffic, speeding along lanes in attempt to cut in to traffic are all examples of treating commuting into some sort of bloodsport measured by if you win or lose.

Here is an example of one driver's attempt to end the bloodsport and break-up traffic jams.



I will talk more on the lack of courtesy in a future post but I will leave readers with this thought: If you drive at a regular speed, leave space between your car and the one ahead of you, stay in one lane for the most part, use your turn signals and pay attention, it is very likely you can help ensure fewer stoppages along your commute.



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The End of McMansion?

Bridgwater McMansion?

The Census Bureau in the U.S. has released data indicating that the McMansions are on the decline.

After years of growth, the Census Bureau recently reported that median new home size fell to 2,135 square feet in 2009 after peaking at more than 2,300 earlier in the decade.

McMansions are described as:

a pejorative term for a large new house which is judged as pretentious, tasteless, or badly designed for its neighborhood.

Does Winnipeg have McMansions? Well, look at this:

The Manchester can be found at 35 Edington Point in centrally-located Bridgwater Forest.

"This home is a very functional, efficient design," says Menno Friesen of Realty Executives, sales representative for Randall Homes (along with Dave Mick) for 35 Edington. "It's a wonderful design full of great features contained in a floor plan that wastes very little in the way of space."

Due to its well-conceived floor plan, the home -- already an expansive 2,329 sq. ft. spread out over two levels -- feels even larger than the listed square footage. That feeling of space starts in an extra-wide (and long) foyer (with 17-foot ceiling) that provides seamless access to the voluminous great room. It's here that the space and common-sense floor plan merge to create a family home designed for easy living.

Description of McMansions:

Typically it will have a floor area over 3,000 square feet (280 m2), ceilings 9-10 feet high, a two-story portico, a front door hall with a chandelier hanging from 16-20 feet, two or more garages, several bedrooms and bathrooms, and lavish interiors. The house often covers a larger portion of the lot than the construction it replaces.

Add the livable basement space in the Winnipeg house and you have 3000 feet.

I wonder if the Waverley West is building for a market that might be downsizing in just a short time?



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