New Apartment Faces Opposition on Des Meurons

Des Meurons has always been a mix of everything. It has a fair amount of through traffic with industrial, residential and commercial literally next to one another. There has also been a fair amount of new house building that has gone up as close to the Seine River as possible. Some streets are like Wildwood Park with alleys and houses facing each other in park-like environments. There is a lot of green space in the area.

Residents of the area have lived next to mixed industrial and commercial space for decades. Such spaces pre-date many of the homes in the area and complaints about moving them probably would fall on deaf ears. The owners of 470 Des Meurons though decided their business would do well to move to one of the newer industrial parks as is their right to do so. The neighbourhood was excited to see the for sale sign go up at Overhead Doors. It isn't entirely clear what they might have expected.

Once the land was sold, developers with a record for lowrise apartments, began the consulting phase for a six floor apartment. The well heeled streets nearby became upset at the height and encroachment as well as too few parking spaces. The zoning department has indicated the neighbourhood has a point on some these issues but there seems to be a concerted effort to tank the project and claim it is because it is an indigenous heritage site. 

 There once stood a residential school on the site 120 years ago but it had long since burned down and no one was every buried there. No historic claim was raised while it was industrial land and one shouldn't be imposed now. Nor should any new owner be forced to give up the land. A plaque is acceptable but taking advantage of a claim to cancel an apartment is gross.

Freedhome, the builder, is already building an apartment of similar size on Provencher that will be owned by First Nations. That place also had resistance. Everyone always says such projects are good except when on their own street. Then it it doesn't fit the character. There is nothing wrong in trying to get the best design but the hope for a park or one floor housing is an attempt to cripple anything at all. The neighbourhood should consider themselves lucky another industry didn't decide to continue on the site.

The irony is that some in the neighbourhood might seek multi-unit places at different stages in their life and have to move far away. Ask people in River Heights about that. Just a block over is a building that comes right to the street and stands just as tall. It is an older building but it shows it can co-exist with the rest of the neighbourhood and it does fit.

The whole thing goes before Council next week and the feeling is that a decision will get kicked past the fall civic election. The slow walking of approving something can last 10 or 15 years in many cases. Much of the housing being built this year has been going through zoning and revisions for give years or more. A lot of development has simply been abandoned over the years. 

Everyone agrees we need new housing. Too many people think it should be located away from them. The city should give a sympathetic hearing to concerns but a memorial park for a school 120 years in the past is not in the cards. A park in general is not in the cards. Refusing any commercial, residential or industrial use is not in the cards. The city must not give in and only allow about 6 or 7 monster houses with room for parking several cars. We already see that in the neighbourhood.

I think at this point the city should be able to address some of the issues of the zoning department. The one thing they shouldn't do is kick the decision to the next council and leave the property vacant only to be burned down in an arson.

Lands Around Polo Park Being Sold Off

 

Shindico has indicated that Cadillac Fairview's priority surrounding Polo Park has been downgraded. The blame has been put on the City of Winnipeg slow walking zoning, the rising costs of construction and fewer multi-unit housing starts planned. Some of this is true but it is also true that Polo Park has had continuous upgrades from Sears to Zellers and has still has The Bay to deal with. Each projects takes time and millions.

There was a mad rush to get the arena and the stadium down and street improvements made. An urgency was presented for the speed of the work. The airport zoning was changed years ago. If we are to believe the news now, there was only a tiny window about 10 years ago or so and now it is gone. 

The truth is probably more in the middle. The two developers had amassed a huge 84 acres but the so-called delay they describe around 2020 was already in the middle of Covid. The site has already lost to the Seasons of Tuxedo site a huge amount of retail, hotels, commercial buildings and entertainment. In the race to develop, Seasons was way ahead. And there was not much room for a whole new outlet mall.

Now, it may be the Kapyong Barracks time although is likely to be piece by piece. Hoarding an 84 acre site when both Shindico and Cadillac Fairview have their own projects and competitors nipping at their heels. Holding onto land another decade probably seems like a costly thing to keep on the balance sheet. What they originally thought was that was the whole site would be built in steady phases and that they would be collecting ever rising rent over the years. 

There is no doubt that some other businesses would build in a red hot minutes if they could both own and operate the near Polo Park. Hence, the word hoarding is used in this case. No one was buying what these two companies were selling. They were trying to build luxury, high end rental property thinking it would sell like a hotcakes. It wasn't. The endless empty parking lots with shiny new roads all around is an indication of that. And like so many projects, bait a switch. A rush to approve demolition and then no start to construction.

Hopefully, the sale will reveal who is serious about getting stuff built. The city can help get stuff built with the shovel ready program. The luxury stuff can be handled by the developers themselves. The government can focus on support for lower income units and residents who need support directly.  Helping to pay for shopping centers isn't needed.

It isn't likely we see anything soon on Polo Park. Cadillac Fairview and Shindico have a lot of projects on the go. Other companies can carry the football over the line now. It's time for big corporations and government to get out of the way. And in some circumstances, the public who can make outrageous demands on height restrictions, density or design even when buildings are outside their area. The desire to control things reminds me of the time Linden Woods had a petition against The Keg building across Waverley many years ago because the smell of steaks might drive dogs nuts. The citizens won.

There is no doubt that several different restaurant groups might be interested in having an establishment at Polo Park. Cactus Club, Milestone's and others have considered expanding into Winnipeg but a site next to a major attraction like the arena or Polo Park has been considered key. Several American companies like Shake Shack have been looking to expand to Winnipeg.

As far as apartments, there are several assisted living companies looking for space and Polo Park would seem to fit the bill. However, they might not have had room with the large developers who often want to do the work in-house or whose cut was just too big to make viable. Land hoarding is done by both private and public organizations. And the land around Polo Park has been hoarded for a long time with no results. Waiting for the maximum sales value has meant empty parking lots.

It seems the mad rush to clear out the stadium and arena for something better will take more time. It won't be the first time or the last that the city has been told by a developer to demolish things only to slick back into the sidelines and blame the city for not moving even faster. In the end, the sale off could a very good thing. What once was a warehousing area and manufacturing sector is being populated by hotels and specialized retail. And now more people might actually be able to live in the area.

Polo Park isn't about to become a declining area. Millions are being spent on the mall and surrounding areas. I expect security and policing to be a major issue this year so expect a big boost in those areas. If Polo Park declines then the whole city is likely in crisis. That doesn't seem likely. The prospect and new enthusiastic developers for the site will be welcome.

Push For More Housing in 2026

I have spoken about housing on many an occasion in this blog. For many years we have seen next to nothing built in multi-unit housing. It is only in the last several years that apartment housing has really accelerated in Winnipeg. However, there are numerous examples of housing being blocked and some developments take well over a decade to get approved. It isn't very timely and for the apartments that do get approved, it doesn't come close to meeting demand.

Winnipeg continues to grow despite whatever thoughts there are to the contrary. According to the latest statistics, Winnipeg is fifth in Canada in growing municipalities. In the last years it has meant tens of thousands of new people looking for places to live. The result has been a very low vacancy rate even as apartments come on stream. 

This isn't just a Winnipeg or a Manitoba thing. It has been happening all over Canada. Or it was. The federal government putting heavy restrictions on international students and has been having a dramatic impact on prices and housing availability in parts of the country. Apartments, condos and houses themselves are coming down in price and more capacity is being built. In markets like Toronto and Vancouver, it could have an effect on what is being built by the private sector.

As for Winnipeg, we haven't seen a real change in price or vacancy rate as yet. It is probably because we are barely recovering from the superheated economy when it comes to housing. The new and pre-owned housing market is still steady in Winnipeg. Meanwhile apartments that were approved and financing arranged for over time are now being built. 

One such apartment is being built on Pembina Highway on an old motel site that eventually fell on hard times. The Capri was one of many motels that lined Pembina Highway from the 1960s till recent years. It is the type of hotel that had no hallways where you pulled up and your door was directly into the room. Only a handful exist today. The Capri had several police related visits due to crime and fire and was demolished in recent years. Now, it will be 10 storey mixed used apartment building with an enclosed parkade. Altogether, it will be 240 units. 

Pembina Highway has very slowly gained height. It has for decades been lined with one and two storey commercial and retail units with some of the taller conglomerations dating back more than 40 years ago. Not surprisingly, they have been popular with people starting out on their own or downsizing as seniors. Some of the apartments have courted seniors and have services for them such as busy to take them shopping and to medical appointments.

As mentioned many times here, the Baby Boom generation will be increasingly downsizing from larger houses and many would like to stay close to their neighbourhoods. In several neighbourhoods this is impossible. I'm talking to you River Heights. Some places are strictly single family homes and even on commercial streets like Corydon, there are fights about anything over two floors.

There are several other taller apartments under construction up and down Pembina Highway from Jubilee to the Perimeter. It seems right after the pandemic, a whole bunch of projects were approved in the last three years. Some are strictly private while others have taken advantage of civic, provincial and federal programming supports. From 1993, the federal government exited the housing market aside from mortgage assistance and rules from CMHC. They gave transfers to the provinces who largely used money for other things including tax cuts. 

The 1990s were a tough time in Winnipeg. The recession dragged on and housing prices actually went down and nothing was being built. It really took till 2000 when prices began to climb out of the basement. The commitment to getting our house in order paid off because in the stock market crash of 2008, Manitoba was doing fairly well with deficits ending and housing prices up and building going up. It took a lot longer in the United States for recovery and even other parts of Canada. in 2009, Manitoba led the Canadian economy.

The problem is that the pent up demand was for detached housing and apartments that were one and two bedrooms at market rates which were not as affordable as older places in Wolseley, Osborne Village and elsewhere. More concerning was that older places and houses that had been affordable were falling apart and coming down to be replaced by units unaffordable. This includes the various hotels along Main Street used by people with low income. There is a direct correlation to their loss and to people living on the streets.

The federal accelerator fund administered by the municipalities faced cancellation if the Conservatives were elected in 2025. It was popular even with Conservative MPs and has now had two or three tranches of approved projects that are shovel ready. A few are in the Exchange District. The previous ones are in various stages of progress. The area around Waterfront Drive started around 1999 and now has 25 years going. It attests to fact that areas along the river can attract private investment although Waterfront has required various public support with a mix of old and new buildings as well as building a road that had been gravel right to the 1990s.

Prior to Waterfront though, building in the Exchange for housing was patchwork, Condos built at the Ashdown, co-op built a street over and undeclared housing used by artists scattered through the area. Even until the 1980s there was a significant garment sector in the warehouses. The first location of the Spaghetti Factory was in the Exchange from 1970 on. And now it will see housing built on its site with 114 units. It is unclear how many floors but the building at one time had four floors before fire reduced it to one.

The latest tranche of partially funded housing is 1000 plus units with 3/4 of them affordable or geared to income. Many are in the Exchange District in properties like the St. Charles Hotel that has had development drag on 20 years. The federal money seems to have helped a lot of projects get off the ground. In two years, nearly 10,000 units have been approved with many under construction. This is almost at the goal Winnipeg has set for itself.

It hasn't been easy getting projects off the ground. It will never be a case of one and done. Places like Vienna have made a commitment to building housing for over 100 years and it has helped keep the city affordable. We relied all to heavily on low inflation, low interest rates and a number of downturns in the economy to keep housing within reach. Even so, places like Toronto and B.C. got pricey.

There are some trying to make out in nostalgia that everything was so much better back in the Chretien days or the Harper days. The seeds of our hosing problems literally go back to the Mulroney days when all federal housing was sold off and federal money only went out as transfers. In the Chretien years transfers were cut and provincial housing dried up. In the 2000s housing was boosted under Martin and Harper as inflation and interest rates declined but no housing was built that was aimed at affordability. 

There has been 25 years of prices rises which has been good for home owners who bought low but is terrible for anyone getting in the market. Now, with prices going down, it is a buyers market. It will be important that the government not prop up the real estate market by cutting supply but it might be painful for some who bought high expecting it would only go up in value. In the end though, it is better for good Canada for a decline in prices that often went up month by month.

It is going to take a while yet to catch up with how many affordable houses disappear to demolition before new places go up. And because we have so many traumatized people from being on the streets, not working and using drugs, we are going to have to have support workers. More importantly, it is better to keep people in housing because once out, it is hard to find options for them if we keep going sideways.

Gen Z Leaving Winnipeg

Gen Z is often considered to be people born between 1997 and 2018. Everything they do as of late is drawing attention. It is a generation that is changing alcohol consumption, shopping and education because they don't do what previous generations do. To that end, each generation does their own thing. In some cases, like the Baby Boom generation, the generation is so large that it crashes through each decade like a bulldozer. Sometimes they are so small, like Generation X, they are not mentioned at all.

So if a place like Winnipeg can draw students (along with the province), how do we lose them? Jobs, wages and opportunities are a big factor. Perhaps the biggest. We can't compete with mountains and weather. 

One of the things that attract Gen Z to Manitoba has been post secondary education. From Brandon to Winnipeg and through the province there fairly decent post secondary schools. 

Gen Z in Manitoba is leaving in substantial numbers and questions are being asked as they always are about why people are leaving. The simple truth is that continued job and education opportunities await further afield. It is very competitive in that area and always has been. Alberta today probably has over 200,000 people originally from Manitoba who have re-located there.

CBC Manitoba had a panel January 13 of Gen Z students. Most of them said they are not leaving per se but did explain the rationale for those that do. In terms of higher education, sometimes Masters and Doctoral programs are elsewhere. Research money is elsewhere. To its credit, the University of Manitoba had a successful year this year in recruiting Canadians to the campus and the increase in research money has been among the highest in Canada.

The University of Winnipeg has had a decades long program of building student housing. So has Canadian Mennonite University. The University of Manitoba has lagged while private builders have begun to take on the job. However, affordable housing means units need to be built all the time with no 10 or 20 year gaps as we have seen.

One of the things the CBC panel mentioned over and over was transit. It is easy for those who have cars to dismiss those who take the bus. Young people are too young to drive or too poor to drive. The penalties and costs of campus parking has been a decades long agony for students and faculty. However, the priority on housing has been painfully slow even with so much land available.

So riding buses that require multiple transfers or require long walks or waits is looked on unfavourably. Trips to Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and elsewhere make the difference clearer when young people take trains and subways. If you don't have a car for any number of reasons, you long for good transport and affordable cost. Some would just like bike paths that connect them to parts of the city or walkable trails.

Young people, when not in school, are looking for those first employment opportunities and wage growth that help pay for rent and future home ownership. Manitoba has been known for low pay and the excuse has been lower cost of living. But it also comes with slow advancement. For those who advance in companies such as banks, insurance companies and government the promotion sometimes means a move to places like Toronto, Calgary and Ottawa. This, in and of itself, doesn't always represent a problem. While some who go away never return except as visitors, some return for a variety of reasons.

In the 1980s during the recession, Winnipeg and the province lost massive population as big employers shut down. Many people had no choice to leave as they had no job. And tens of thousands didn't come back. Calgary and Edmonton surpassed us in population. As did Ottawa. And almost Hamilton and Quebec City. The decline has ebbed since but most of Winnipeg's growth has come from immigration and birthrate and not transfers from other provinces.

Gen Z is more mobile and while there are good reasons for them to stay such as family, higher education and family, the lower wages, lack of advancement and general fewer amenities in recreation and transportation to name a few. Various interviews reinforce Gen Z observations.

As mentioned, Winnipeg can't change its climate or geography and create oceans and mountains. However, it can make sure that it corrects its missteps on buses. Buses that drive back busy stops of students, buses that are never on time, buses that don't work with student schedules, bus shelters that are broken, unsafe, bus travel that can result in violence. And as far as fast or convenient, it pales to many other places.

Up until the last few decades there were deeply affordable housing in Winnipeg. Osborne Village was known for where many people started in their first rentals. There were a few areas around town like that. While there are some less costly areas to live, the rent has gone up and the availability gone down. Since 2005, new buildings don't have any rent control for 20 years and there is a $13,500 tax credit per unit. Not surprisingly, there is apartment building going up all over the city. 

However, it takes 20 years of consistent building where you start to see deeply affordable housing at sufficient capacities. Keep in mind though that even when rent was affordable, we lost young people to other provinces because of job opportunities, wages and perceived exciting city life. Still, a commitment to affordable housing often draws back people who live elsewhere for a while and wish to get more bang for the buck. Winnipeg and the province can't take a hiatus from building as they did for nearly 20 years.

In the U.S., Gen Z is re-populating mid size cities like Raleigh and Madison. Perfect climate and geography have been less important that being able to walk places, shop locally and have things to do. In Winnipeg, The Fringe Festival and Nuite Blanche are exactly what that population likes to see. Food truck weekend, bike event and the like are high on their lists.

For work, they want flexible workplaces, clear directives and commitments with opportunities for growth. The generation is prepared to come and stay in places like Winnipeg. This is not a case of big cities and nothing else will do. The generation will respond to an authentic and dedicated appeal to them.

What they won't respond to is a city they can't travel in, afford in housing or prepared to cut them the moment there is a business rationalization to maximize profit at their expense. They are looking at communities and at their present ages, they can't see it in long commutes to suburbs.

There are things that Winnipeg is doing to appeal to Generation Z. Some of them are here already but patience in improving wages, opportunities and transportation might be too slow to keep them here initially.

Housing and Rental Prices in Winnipeg 2025

The last couple of decades it has seemed that the prices for housing and costs for rent would increase upwards every month. In some parts of Canada, the costs have gone up around 375%. They are only now starting to go down. A lot of developers are slowing their housing starts because interest rates are still too high, uncertainty in markets and supply chain, tariffs and now immigration. 

Housing prices dipped in the downturn in the 1990s and again in the stock market crash of 2008. And for people who want to go back far enough, the 1980s had a housing collapse linked to oil prices and deep recession that had people hurt badly in Alberta. Back then, prices dropped around 30%. In Winnipeg, prices really didn't budge for years in the 1980s.

It goes to show that there isn't a constant trajectory upwards for house prices and that expecting a 10% return a month is insanity. Those buying a house now for hundreds of thousands today have to ask themselves what the value of the house might when they sell it. If it is much lower, then is going to be painful selling. The seller who is downsizing stands to win if they bought decades back. Still, buying is more expensive no matter what size place. The interest rates, the prices of houses and taxes are all contributing to this.

The Feds under Mark Carney have ended GST for new house sales capped at a rate high enough for most buyers to benefit. The accelerator fund started under Trudeau, which sends federal money to municipalities for shovel-ready projects. In Winnipeg, the program has filled not once but twice. Some of those projects are well under way now.  Affordable housing is key to those projects going forward and they just aren't provincial housing but housing owned by non-profits, churches, universities and the like.

One of things learned about developing affordable housing is that it involves all levels of government, various private, no-profit and charity groups, supply chains and financing. To make matter worse, to get any zoning done in any jurisdiction means having people say how important housing is while making it impossible to build it. 

 We have some cases in Winnipeg where it has taken decades to get stuff built even on land not occupied. There are cases like that all over the country. In some cases having to go to court for obstructions on the part of local governments. Give the shortage of housing, this seems completely irresponsible. Literally thousands of housing units have been held up for years because of council and administration bungling and deliberately sabotage.

The best way to avoid homelessness is to stop tearing down people's home or letting them burn down. And to stop evicting them for renovations and huge increases in rent they can't afford. Or to sell their building once the federal or provincial supports end and once again putting people on the streets. The goal of provincial and the federal governments has to be preserve housing rather making it unaffordable and putting people on the streets. People who are homeless now once lived somewhere. More needs to be done to stop demolitions, arsons or derelict buildings to sit idle or people on the street will accelerate further.

Even as the governments push for more housing, there has been a slow increase as of recent in home sales. Interest rates and uncertainty in the market because of what is happening south of the border are affecting thigs. But pent up demand and the needs of the population won't be denied. Job transfers, retirements, children and other life changes mean people are looking to buy and sell.

The upcoming federal budget will see the government make an effort to get the costs down on things such as GST on newly built houses. The accelerator program will continue to add deeply affordable housing. Developers will only provide it generally if government mandates and funds it. Zoning changes at the municipal level can also help in terms of where building go up and how they are built. With better fire codes you don't need two stairwells or apartments built of steel and concrete. Wood is being used over the world for high rises.

It is going to take a combination of approaches to meet the housing needs. However, the country has done this work in the past and seems committed to doing it now. It still seems painfully slow but the main thing is to keep pressing on. Part of the problem we are facing now is years and even decades of not doing anything.

3081 Portage Avenue Platinum Auto Closes

One moment it was there and then the next it was empty. Platinum Auto Sales, an independent car dealer has moved to Transport Road, an industrial area across town. So far I have heard nothing on what will go on the land but it being commercial property on Portage, you figure it would be big. Given the apartments nearby, perhaps that is what will be built. I hadn't noticed any zoning signs up so it is unclear if the property was sold and re-zoned.

Right up till late 1970s large areas of St. James were still undeveloped. Portage Avenue all way out to Unicity was low density and just behind the street itself was literally open fields. The site where Platinum Auto Sales had been once had the Amazon Motel situated on it. It was pretty common for motels to be on streets such Portage and Pembina Highway. Most were family owned.

For many decades though after its motel days it was been an auto dealer site . Many will remember it as the Holiday Chevrolet Oldsmobile location, a family owned dealer. It had been part of the Haddad family holdings till at least 1983. he used to market himself as the Mad Arab. He co-founded Birchwood Auto with Robert Chipman. He was well know for charitable work in Winnipeg.

As was common for much of Winnipeg's history, there were dealerships down nearly every commercial street in the city. Now, most have moved to dealer parks so that buyers can peruse several dealers and collision centers. Portage still has a few dealers left on their southside near Unicity.

In the post Covid period, the gaps in St. James as a result of business closures is slowly filling up. In many cases, developers are building up from the low density one or two floor buildings. The spot where Platinum Auto sit would be ideal. It looks like it backs right out to Sturgeon Creek. A few auto dealers have closed recently but it is not beyond possibility that someone might looks at the space. However, given its value, it feels more likely we hear a plan for this property soon.

The Granite Club Housing

The University of Winnipeg Housing Renewal people seem to be everywhere downtown. Some of it is the federal housing accelerator programs helping push their projects foreword but it is also having a diligent plan over many years. This has helped get their projects the funding they need to be completed. And they have finished quite a lot.

The Granite Club project has been in the news because the curlers have been nervous that they will lose 70% of their parking and that the club would suffer. Considering there is largely an empty parking lot for Canada Life next door evenings and weekends, it seems a solution could be arranged. Since the city owns both the club and the parking lot, it is in their interest to ensure the historic club can continue but somehow find housing solutions as well.

The Granite Club is a handsome building built in 1912 with a dedicated curling membership. The surrounding west parking lot is where the city wants to build an affordable rent apartment. The east lot is unaffected. The developer has offered 15 spots in their development and a long term financial incentive to the club. Nevertheless, the executive has said the loss of the lot is an existential threat.

The whole thing goes to a vote February 27. The executive of the curling will continue to push for parking agreements, funding as well as raising questions why the University of Winnipeg Housing Renewal Corp. didn't have to go through the request for proposal process. That appears to be based on the streamlining effort of the city to sale the eight city-owned sites and develop much needed housing.

The length of time it takes to get something built, the zoning, permit time, construction delays and the like often takes months if not years to get done. The federal accelerator fund has communities all over Canada in a race to get approvals because the Conservatives says they will cancel the popular program.

The apartment itself looks fine. Unlike so many designs of decades ago that were visually unappealing, this building doesn't look too bad. The neighbourhood has had issues with river encampments nearby but these are the first ones to be moved and set up for housing by the province. Wab Kinew has said that encampments will no longer be allowed to be set back up there again.

Manitoba, much like all of Canada, is behind in all types of housing. Affordable housing most of all. The 111 units of this apartment will have some market rate units, subsidized rent units and geared to income units. This formula has shown to work in ensuring residents feel invested in their place's well being.

In the next week or so, it will be interesting to see if something is worked out on this housing project. We have have had a few housing projects collapse in recent years and nothing ever done to re-start them.

The Winter Fire Season

Imagine an encampment going up on the riverbank by the Human Rights Museum. It is a possible that one is already there. Or more. Do you think the city, the province or Feds would accept that?  It was a lovely weekend but last year this time we had snow. And all along the river and elsewhere in Winnipeg we have encampments that seem more spread out and numerous this year. Reports are made regularly about tents, shelters and all sorts of items brought to various areas. None of those things can help people get warm unless there is fire.

It is getting colder despite these gorgeous days. And the reports of encampment fires grow and and a sense of desperation in the outdoor communities grows. It is the winter fire season. It happens every year and every year there are fatalities. The social agencies seem to fight about getting people moved to safer housing while others support keeping encampments as they are. There are now fires every other day.

There was a considerable amount of housing approved and building is taking place all over the city. It will take considerable effort here and all through North America to turn the ship around. Poverty, addictions, mental health and homelessness are all connected. The government is reducing immigration and work visas which may or may not help with housing. Even when immigration was lower, there were issues in all of the above noted concerns. 

It isn't just encampments on fire that are a concern. Any unoccupied property is vulnerable to fire. This can include construction sites. They likely are not warm enough in the coldest of winter and invariably a fire might be set. Arsons are still a very large problem whatever the reason they are set. Some properties are seen to by fire services a few times until there is no choice but to demolish.

Social agencies still don't seem to be on the same page about encampments. The goal has to be about finding places for people to live so they don't end up dead from cold or fire. Problems of sanitation, disease and safety in general are also hugely concerning. For most in the city is the fear of crime from those who live in encampments and don't receive social assistance since they don't have an address.

The Los Angeles Times has a report this week on the aggressive housing strategy for homeless that has made a huge difference in the South Bay area of Redondo Beach. The city, one of 56 in Los Angeles County, has made huge strides in functionally ending homelessness in the region. Using housing navigators and a judge, they have helped get those in need into tiny homes and single room occupancy with the supports that come with it. 

To be fair, Redondo Beach is 68,000 people and they had 105 homeless people in 2017. However, their strategy is sound. In Winnipeg tiny homes have been built with supports. However, there doesn't seem to be a court strategy which has been fairly effective in Los Angeles.  Having a case worker and identifying people by name has been extremely helpful in coming up with solutions.

California can get cool and wet in winter but they don't seem to have the fire problems Winnipeg does. The LA Times does mention that they do see a migration of people to where it is warmer and account for it in their record keeping. 

The housing strategy could change because the Conservatives are saying if they get in, they will end the housing accelerator program that the Liberal government has in place now. It is unclear how their GST cut for new housing and rentals will help make places available for low income. By contract, the accelerator fund has gotten shovels in the ground this year and has Conservative MPs lobbying for their areas to get it.

Some city councillors are realizing how dangerous the situation is until encampments are reduced. It will be a rough fire season as each day gets colder this fall.

Apartment and New Keg Restaurant Back on For Downtown

In 2023, a 14 storey apartment town and new Keg restaurant halted construction as economic supply chain issues and inflation raised its $40 million price up beyond $60 million. The developer was local Keg owner Gord Howard who still owns the three restaurants in the city. The apartment at Donald Street and St. Mary's Avenue was 30 per cent complete when it went into creditor protection.

It is now back on under Carrington Real Estate and called DSM (short for the street crossroads). A Winnipeg developer that is new to the downtown but with projects all over the city. The design has been reconfigured for 160 units including 40 affordable ones. The developer is hoping to access the accelerator program from the Fed in the next intake. That fund was over subscribed all over the country from developers keen to build housing. There likely be a 2025 intake but there is no guarantee that a new government will renew the program.

Parts of south Portage have been surface parking lots for decades. This is what Toronto looked like in the 1980s. Massive parking lots surrounded the bank towers of the major Canadian banks. It is pretty much been in the last 20 years that condos went up on all available space they could find. And those banks looks small compared to them. However, for all the towers in Toronto, affordability has not come.

I have said a few times here that the affordable housing for today is usually built 20 years earlier. Shortages of housing raises what those houses can go for. Cutting immigration and student visas can send those housing prices down. But it can also send Canada into recession as the universities topple on the edge and employers can't find critical workers. 

The very long period of almost know multi-unit housing going up and the slow pace of detached homes going up. Winnipeg went for quite some time with nearly no apartments going up or at such a slow pace that it is reflected in soaring house prices. Supply chain problems continue to slow down today's construction. Higher interest have had an effect but keep in mind that low interest rates didn't help on prices or supply either.

Building capacity in the system is something all three levels of government, private industry and consumers need to work on. Oddly enough, the federal and provincial governments have sat on the sidelines about building for years. And consumers often want the door shut on further building in their area once they have moved in. This eventually becomes a problem because people require different types through the course of their lives. Also, housing often needs to be rehabilitated or rebuilt. In Winnipeg, the housing stock is rapidly aging. In some cases, houses get knocked down and what is left is an empty space.

This is the story of a lot of downtown Winnipeg. Houses, offices, warehouse, hotels and other buildings have been knocked down and turned to surface parking. The corner of Donald and St. Mary's Avenue has been a parking lot for decades. It is kitty korner to Cityplace and walking distance to Canada Life Centre. It is without a doubt going to be very attractive as a destination for Jets, Moose and concert goers with a Keg there.

Once upon a time there were two Kegs downtown. There was a large location where Pony Coral was and the longtime location on Garry Street. The latter location remains and it uncertain it stays open although no one has said anything to the effect that it will close. It probably has enough of a base to continue forever. That being side, the new Keg on the ground floor of the Donald/St. Mary's location will be 10,000 square feet. To put that in perspective the Keg location on Portage Avenue is 8,000 square feet. The one of McGillivray is 12,000 square feet.

This will be the second steakhouse locate on the first floor of a downtown apartment of office in recent years. The first was Hy's when it moved to the first floor and basement of the Richardson building in 2005. It has taken quite some time for Hy's to be joined by 529 across the street in 2024. And now sometime in  2025 The Keg will up.

The new building will be called DSM which stands for Donald St. Mary's. It is a good news story for more housing on a surface parking lot and the return of a large Keg to the downtown area.

New City of Winnipeg Housing Money Approved for

 

Even with many apartments being built in the last few years we have had several places closed for various reasons such as fires, engineering reasons and the like. The Parkview at 440 Edmonton was a personal care home right off Central Park that had deteriorated so bad that it was better to close it than keep it open in the pandemic.

Central Park had being seeing improvements a few years ago but has once again fallen into a slump. Security is an issue everywhere as addiction creates desperation and unsafe atmospheres. There is no shortage of apartments in the area but affordable places are hard to find. The Parkview will now be home to 180 units of transitional and social housing. The 13 storey apartment has been empty since 2022. The new owner is the University of Winnipeg Community Renewal Corporation 2.0 which has had a lot of success building apartments downtown.

All around the Winnipeg Art Gallery are University of Winnipeg housing complexes. This is a complete change from the 1980s when the university washed their hands of their men's and women's residences and turned them into faculty use. The feeling is students didn't need university built housing. It was a terrible mistake but back then the U of W didn't have two pennies to rub together. How things have changed. If only the University of Manitoba did the same. The Fort Garry campus has done not very much despite having the land to do it. They have a huge swath of land where the Southwood Golf Club was. Perhaps in 2025 work will begin on the land they bought there.

An empty lot at 225 King Street and 231 Princess Street will become 54 apartments downtown. There has been significant housing built around here in last several years. Just down the street from there an open lot will be made into 128 apartments.

Around the art gallery at 530 St. Mary Avenue and at 252 Good Street will go 165 apartments and 50 apartments of affordable housing. And at 125 Garry Street, nearly empty building will be turned into 126 units of apartments.

Several other apartments will go up from Transcona to St. James as well. The applications were literally over-subscribed and many other worthy projects are looking to next year if the program continues. This came as a result of the federal accelerator fund via the city but if the money stops with the next government, the momentum could end.

Still, it is a lot of empty buildings and surface parking lots that will become housing. The Manitoba government has committed to a $10 million fund with with Business Council of Manitoba. This commitment echoes the important conclusion in the much shared Foundations UK essay about what is needed to get Britain out of its stagnant economy. The argument equally applies to Canada and by extension Manitoba. The idea is that business leverages what government does. Investment is the key for housing, infrastructure and energy. And government can't do that by itself.

Private investment has to drive growth and clearly, it has taken a NDP government to do that. The federal government has only recently gotten back into getting housing infrastructure built. They had been involved in the 1970s but the provinces pushed them out. The provinces themselves used their transfer payments for others areas such as tax cuts. The aging housing infrastructure and lack of new buildings has stretched into years. And the housing built was not the right housing as it was not near transportation routes, had not enough bedrooms and so on. 

Public investment needs to be focused on what gets housing built and not just one kind of housing. Capacity helps keep prices down but government seems to have lost focus and people start to think of there houses as an investment that beats the market and helps fund fabulous wealth in the future. This ignores the fact that people need need places to live after they sell their houses and will have to rent or buy in a high priced market. For some they can't sell because there is nothing to buy.

The government should only be concerned about capacity. If they try to help home owners achieve huge wealth through property, it will only backfire as it is still a market. As seen in the U.S,. cycles will tank property prices around every ten years. Canada has avoided this mostly by better banking and federal mortgage rules. However, it is not immune from it and house prices have reaches inflated heights and are already starting to lower. The question is whether rate cuts will start to raise prices way up again.

Building capacity is the one thing the government can do. It means financial supports to builders, zoning adjustments that don't force builders to build cars spaces or limit height onerously, that don't skimp on safety but drop rules that are a hundred years old and unnecessary, to help landlords and homeowners upgrade to energy efficient appliances and insulation and to infill vacant land and convert vacant buildings or demolish them for housing.

The city, the province and the Feds all seem geared to work on the housing crisis. It remains to be seen whether they stay focused on it. Too often it is one of the things cut by governments and it has become obvious that private business alone can't solve this. In Winnipeg, the people living on the riverbanks is an indication that we don't have the right type of housing. Zero vacancy affects everyone. It will remain one of the top priorities for Canadians. It should be the same for government.

New Office/Apartment Tower at 127 Bannatyne in Exchange

It really does seem to be standard that it takes 10 years to get approvals for any type of buildings in Winnipeg. Now, not all of this is the fault of the city and zoning but a lot of it can and has been. The site at 127 Bannatyne has been a parking lot for decades. The East Exchange has a been slowly transforming along Waterfront Drive. Taking advantage of a new roadway and space to build, housing has gone up pretty consistently over the years. Warehouses along the east/west streets have seen conversions from the 1980s onward. However, there have been very long gaps where nothing has been getting done.

Conversions of older buildings have always been a labour of love. Many have required some incentive lest the decision was to demolish them. Some might say that is a good business decision to tear down old buildings but it doesn't make for good cities. And in Winnipeg it has often led to decades of parking lots because it is always easier to keep spreading out than to try and get land for building anywhere else. Most of the costs of sprawl are not borne immediately but later on where services are provided and infrastructure such as schools, police and fire houses, parks and recreation and transit. The low density then begins to affect budgets for the city overall. For example, there is nothing in the budget to presently replace the Arlington Bridge. This soon will likely be the issue for the Louise Bridge as well. No money in the budget.

Infill is the only way to use existing infrastructure while raising density and the tax base. Parking lots pay less in taxes than other forms of development. Parking lots in Toronto converted to patios in the pandemic took in 49 times what they took in parking fees. That is an indication that parking is heavily subsidized by business and government. It is hard to pay for transit when overnight parking costs only $60 a year in Winnipeg. The city provides parking below cost for cars and subsequently there is no incentive to use space wisely.

From the above picture it is clear that the development by Alston Properties and built by Concord Projects comes right out to the curb side and out to the back lane and side to side touches the historic buildings next to it. It is uses up the entire surface parking lot. I've not seen the entire number of parking spaces allotted but they will be underground.

The configuration of the building is a four storey pedestal with an eight floor residential tower setback and canted to one side. No longer a windy gap of a surface lot but a building with retail on the first floor and offices on the second floor. More of a true mixed development rather than just an office or just a residential building. Success in the past and in the future would appear to be mixed developments.

Retail at ground level will help create vitality on the street that the Exchange is very much in need of. Concord Projects which has had its headquarters on Henderson for a very long time is moving their 65 employees to the second floor offices when they are complete. If this isn't standing by your work, nothing is.

The 80 apartments in the upper floors will join give other apartment projects that Alston has brought to the downtown. They have already indicated the margin for return is low but that their belief in the project is high. As commented on many times here, Canada needs far more housing built and with a variety of configurations with more bedrooms. However,  it takes so long to get projects done that it is hard keep up momentum.

The completion of this $30 million project should help bring some vitality to this stretch of Bannatyne and continue the work of more housing in and around Waterfront Drive. What also will be interesting will be the type of retail and restaurants that will go in on the ground floor. The last few years have been tough on foot traffic in the Exchange and having 80 apartments and a few hundred office workers in the building or very near by gives new businesses hope that they have customers nearby.

Security comes from having a lot of people around. It is much harder for crime to take root when a lot of people are vigilant in looking out for issues. We have overcome tough crime situations before in the 1990s. It is likely we can do again. The strategies are some times the same such as identifying who are the repeat offenders and getting them off the street. The next is changing security measures to keep step with the times. It involves fewer entry doors, more security cameras, more fire prevention measures and security and police foot patrols rather than just a patrol car.

The Exchange has a few of these surface lots that would make excellent new homes while moving the parking underground. In some cases, people who live and work in the area may require fewer or even no vehicles as we see in places like New York. But it only happens by filling the gaps and mixing development so that it gives an opening for grocery stores to service the population.

The Seniors Residences of Oakdale

In 2021 many residents of Charleswood protested this 55+ housing development. While all agreed housing was needed for the area, the residents just didn't want it near them. The housing now approved against many of those wishes can be seeing al the William R. Clement Parkway, the road running from river to Grant and ending at the dogpark.

As seen in the above illustration, there are three apartment building being built. The tallest at 7 storeys is closest to the road. with two more apartments in a U shape beside it. One of them closer to the road and the other less so. The parking lot is in the middle. There will be 270 units altogether.

At the corner of Oakdale and Grant there are already four multi-unit apartments, one facing right out to Grant. There were objections to those as well. However, Oakdale Drive remains largely a quiet Charleswood street with very large houses and sprawling properties. 

The William R. Clement Parkway connects Grant to Roblin and extends to the Charleswood Bridge. The roadway runs through the old city owned Charleswood Golf Course which has extensive forested areas, especially on the west side. Despite how many cars are taking the parkway, it is has mature as well as newly planted trees, pedestrian crossings and walk and bike paths everywhere. The streets running parallel to the parkway are decidedly low density.

Charleswood has very low rise apartments along some of its busier roads. Across from the Charleswood Mall are several apartments that are actually taller than three floors. Most of the places built are more than 30 and even 40 years old. Newer places for seniors with mobility issues or wanting other amenities are nowhere to be found. A three floor walk up is just not what a senior with bad knees needs to wants.

A property held by a religious group with a large parking lot became available. There are some who wanted it divided into four or five large house lots with enormous back yards. This would have been wholly a poor use for the size of the property. Even a very active church would have had detractors on the street. It seemed inevitable that the land would be looked at for multi-unit housing.

Generally, there is resistance to any change in a neighbourhood. Even changing colour of a house can be disruptive. If it wasn't in the neighbourhood initially, a lot of people don't want it. It is why places like Bridgwater have multi-unit housing right from the start. No one complains because they were there when the detached houses were built.

The Charlewood Active Living Centre which was in need of a new home will be locating within the facility. They will occupy 4000 square feet in Building B which will serve between 500-600 members. The residents of Oakdale will have access to the facility. Presumably, there will be parking for those going to the Centre. The 55+ residents of Oakdale will also have common rooms and a gym.

There will be quite a buffer of trees between Oakdale and the apartments s well as north and south of the property. Understandably, the 7 storey building is higher the tree-line perimeter but the building is it set far enough toward the road. It is clearly visible from the parkway. This does have to be a problem. There are some lovely neighbourhoods where the second or third floors can see into surrounding yards. River Heights comes to mind. Most of the city is like that. Even Charleswood with deep lots doesn't necessarily have wide lots except maybe on Oakdale.

If you were to have a choice on types of housing that would nearby a 55+ apartment would be top of the list. Having retired or near retirement people living nearby means they don't keep the same work hours as the 9 to 5 crowd. No school bus coming to pick up kids at the apartment. The McDonald's at the mall is likely to have seniors there drinking coffee early morning. The traffic on Oakdale is probably going to less geared to rush hour.

As for Charleswood residents, a 55+ apartment gives them a choice when a they reach an age where the detached house is just too big and too much. Presently, people in the area don't have a lot of choices or none at all. They often have to move way out of the the neighbourhood to places like Tuxedo. It is only then that some realize just how hard it is to stay in the area you might have lived for 30 or more years.

It is likely not going to take very long for the importance of this housing will be in the neighbourhood. Oakdale itself will remain a very desirable street to live on and it not likely the majority will notice any real traffic problems. The fears that the street would be ruined by loss of the golf course were assuaged by the handiness of using the parkway and having traffic stop using the other side streets. Likewise, getting the Charleswood Bridge made the neighbourhood more convenient rather than less convenient.

The city desperately needs more apartment and especially in areas like Charleswood where the population is nearing or is at retirement. The developer paved the road from the entrance of the apartment out to Grant and did other improvements totalling $2.5 million to persuade council to approve. They added a new sidewalk and made sewer improvements. In all, council got the developer to do what was needed to not have the city on the hook later. 

It takes far too long for developments to get built. Some have delays as long as ten years that seem confounding. It is not difficult to see that this new 55+ apartment will have a line-up of new residents wanting to move in. It was also open up detached housing for those unwilling to move until they had this option available. They get to remain in their beloved, safe and green neighbourhood.

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.

Work Begins at Kapyong Naawi Oodena

It is 20 long years of waiting for something to happen on the former Kapyong Barracks. One wonders if things had proceeded promptly back then whether First Nations and Canada Lands Corporation (the federal Crown) might have signed IKEA up to locate here. I strongly suspect it would have. Highly likely that Superstore and Safeway would have relocated there as well.

Nothing to do about it now. Construction has started on the first section at the corner of Taylor and Kenaston in one of the smallest segments. It will be a gas station and likely a smoke shop. Not entirely glamourous but probably a necessary step to bring in capital for the First Nations. Commercial development is required for the long term investment to pay off. Presently, between the St. James Bridge and the Perimeter there are only a small number of gas stations along Kenaston. Considering the traffic along it, it isn't a bad idea for the station. However, between Superstore and Costco, prices are pretty competitive. There is very little room for a station always higher than those stores.

It is uncertain how long other announcements will be. The most ideal spots for initial development are along Taylor. A hotel and residential apartments are probably an upcoming announcement. As it stands now, we might not see some of the commercial development arrive until January 2025 and in the months that follow. If the city wishes to pay for additional lanes alone Route 90, they are running out of time. The First Nations may wish to get the capital from this purchase but there is no evidence that the city or the province has the budget to buy more road lanes along Kenaston.

It is for this reason that we might see slower development along the corridor. Gas stations and commercial leases are reliable ways to earn income for what is to come next. You can see that at Madison where a Petro-Canada and a Wyndham Hotel have gone up. The $21 million plus construction and the office complex surrounding it is a long term investment that should pay off in the Polo Park area,

Initial plans for Kapyong site seem to include two hotels. Given the very few numbers of hotels in the city's southwest, this is probably a good bet. However, two hotels are likely to come in at $40 million plus easily and take two years to build each.

Recreation facilities and health facilities are listed as coming but details are light at that the time about what they are how, how much they will cost and when they go up. It seems hockey rinks could be highly sought out but are not presently listed. Again, it could be a question of money. And nothing will happen with any real speed. It has taken Seasons of Tuxedo ten years of construction and they are still building this year with a few sections left to do.

Housing is the key to any development now. The government estimates that Canada as a while needs nearly 4 million housing units and we are way behind. While it might seem a like a lot is being built in Winnipeg and across the province, it is still too slow compared to the demand. 

Canada Lands Corporation is likely to make announcements as well for building. They are the federal Crown and own a significant amount of the Kapyong lands. Given the Trudeau government's desire to kickstart housing, it is very likely these federally owned lands will take greater importance in the weeks and months ahead.

In Vienna, it is government owned land and government-led housing development that keeps prices low. There is a 1% tax that guarantees millions spent every year for the last 100 years. A two bedroom apartment in Vienna is $500 Canadian. The Austrians have felt supply is the key metric and not demand to keeping prices down. They are right. The one thing that will help reduce prices is to go beyond demand. And subsidize their building and keep building.

The Naawi Oodena is the type of infill housing that is required to meet the housing needs of the province. What will also be required is more public transportation. It simply isn't on to add several lanes of traffic. Frankly, it is impossible unless a lot of housing is demolished along Kenaston to do it. Not to mention creating turning lanes and blocking traffic from crossing Kenaston at various intersections. Any plan thus far shown seems likely to not solve the problems of congestion and in fact may hurt River Heights and Tuxedo and several others areas south to the perimeter.

It might be that the former Kapyong Barracks might be well under way before any transportation plan is ever full realized. The sad thing is that they had 20 years to plan for it and have done nothing about it even now.

How Can Winnipeg Lower Apartment/Condo Prices?

Canada and the U.S. are unique in local zoning around the world in that they require in their bylaws that buildings have two stairwells for apartments and condos above two floors. This has been talked about before in Winnipeg media but seems to have had no effect on the planning departments of cities or the city councils and mayors who are desperate to get housing built but seem helpless to do anything.

The above chart shows that many countries around the world have no restrictions or few restrictions on the two stairwell issue and subsequently used buildings more efficiently and get them made more affordably with better options on design. Fire rules are tighter in places like Sweden that have these designs. Any planner who talks about fire codes need only look at all the countries who have single stairwells and what their fire codes are. Our fire codes don't even serve the present two stairwell apartments given how many fires we have seen in recent months.

Canada is the most restrictive and it is hard to say what purpose it serves if we don't have valid reasons for doing this. Minneapolis is about to make the change from two stairwells to one with new builds. They have also changed parking mandates as well for new residential units. Winnipeg seems paralyzed when it comes to change. 

It wasn't always this way. Winnipeg was the head of the curve on police phone boxes back in the day, 911 services and a whole host of other areas. For the province, we had Sunday shopping and votes for women ahead of others. Why can't it be this way with zoning? Shouldn't the goal be to be the most affordable city in Canada? Why is it we always hear we can't do it?

Winnipeg is one of the few chartered cities in Canada that can make up building codes as they see fit independent of provincial and federal rules. For new builds, this could be a difference maker and keep costs down for builders and those who rent and buy after. There are other things than can help bring down costs but this one area is totally with city council's ability to do. There is no need to sacrifice of fire codes. Bring them to a standard that exists in places that have one staircase and see the results.

Cities rarely take aim at how they create lack of affordability with zoning rules that are not about safety or are based on thinking that might be decades old. The rules on how many parking spaces must be made available might make sense for many apartments and condos, especially if they are on a transit corridor. The aging population is likely going to see people downsize how many cars if any they have. It might not make sense to have thousands of parking spaces for assisted living or personal care homes. The zoning law though enforces strict rules on parking spaces even when developers say it adds to the costs.

Winnipeg has to look at how red tape and old rules are making costs higher. There doesn't have to be a sacrifice on safety if the designs we see in Asian and Europe reveal. Likewise, could we see ever greater empty parking lots as people opt for one car over two or three? The city can do it's part in ensuring that they are being innovative as they once were. Winnipeg can lead again as they did on 911 and Sunday shopping.