Corydon Avenue Construction 2021

It was scheduled for spring of 2020 but put over to this year. Why? Not sure. With the pandemic and everything closed and I mean everything, it seemed construction was the only thing running. But not in this case. Nothing happened till this year.

Corydon has always been an oddball. You have two autobody shops next to posh coffee places and barber shops. It has apartments on one side a lot of the time and commercial on the other side.

Sidewalk cafe at Cocoabeans might be a little dusty and noisy.

Corydon remains a street where you have to slow down even when construction isn't happening. Unlike some streets like Jubilee that banned parking, stopping, loading, Corydon by its nature can't be a speedway.

I didn't enquire about the boarded windows at Corydon Cycle but I have seen it a bit all over the city. Thom Bargen Coffee windows smashed for a bike inside, CPR Cellphone window smashed across from St. Vital Shopping Centre. So tough for small businesses.

We have had some arsons. Twice in one abandoned house recently.  Drug addiction, grinding poverty, lack of housing and the pandemic. And crime rising. We need to do better.

If we can see shop windows smashed on major commercial streets it suggests a desperation, a brazenness. It doesn't go away running to the suburbs. Or exurbs. Or cottage. It follows you around.

The end of the pandemic will help populate the outside. But will it stop the desperation? And sending people to prison here results in deaths that even U.S. prisons would find hard to match.

Corydon remains attractive for a lot of reasons that Osborne Village struggles with on the main strip. It has people living in higher densities right on the street. Now, the Village could make up for it with people of Stradbrook and River but there have been empty spaces for years as result of land hoarding.

And while it might seem like a lot of restaurants on Corydon, there are grocery stores, convenience stores and hardware stores on the street. Never underestimate what 7 Eleven is in a neighbourhood. It is a place to buy a paper, get a lottery ticket, Slurpee.

There are a few street killers that are more effective than front facing parking. No offence to these businesses. They do try with patios and have parking for their customers but is a big open area when you walk past. 

The service window for restaurants is something that should continue for pick-up and delivery for yeas to come even without a pandemic. Bar Italia here has one.

Another example of how front parking kind of kills the street vibe. It always will.

The King George Courts built in 1913 is the type of building now fought in neighbourhoods all over as not in characters with the area. It is gorgeous but resisted by many. However, it is what is needed for higher densities and for people starting out, downsizing and the like.

Character homes so close to Corydon at Jessie and Cockburn.

At Jessie/Cockburn with Corydon in background. This was a 1/ 1/2 size lot. Not sure what house condition was but as you can see already sold as it nears completion.

Not sure how it will look when complete. As houses age past 100 years, some will fall to wrecking ball.

My New Bike

Two weeks ago I finally received my Dutch bicycle from Utrecht, Netherlands. It came in a cargo container with a few hundred other bikes that had been abandoned or apprehended in Holland. Park in the wrong place and they can take away your bike and it will cost you 50 Euros to get back. Some people just opt to get an updated bike instead.

The bikes were being refurbished all summer and some were used sent to Winnipeg Folk Festival in exchange for bike mechanic services. My bike had number 1 written on it which I was told meant that it spent the weekend at the music festival as a rental.

The bikes were dispersed by height and by draw. Bikes for a given height were assembled and then numbered. A number would go on the bike and another in your envelope. After arriving in Point Douglas at a lovely fenced park by the warehouse where bikes were repaired, you went to a little table where they matched your name up and you got to pick an envelope.

You were supposed to open your envelope till later but mine opened and fell to the ground right at the table as it was not sealed. I had number 50.  The bikes were stretched out all the way against the fences and every tree and a few hundred people milled about looking at them.

I knew that I could match my number so that's what I looked for. Bikes were mostly black, a few painted other colours. Some had a side kick stand, front bike carrier, back bike carrier and some had all. All bikes were rideable but some looked like they could use some additional upgrades from their new owners.

I think I circled the entire perimeter before I spotted my bike. It was the only one featuring Partridge Family colours in the Mondrian style of contemporary art. I was a bit tickled by it. Some people unaware of how the bike were distributed also eyed the bike as a possible choice. However, I knew the bike was mine.

Once I established the positives of my bike I looked to see what the negatives might be. Those were that it would need a good lock. I wanted it to have lights. I also wanted it to have a basket. For in the house I wanted a stand.

Beer and hotdogs were part of the celebration and we heard about the work that went into bringing the bikes over. Lots of people and hard work made it happen. I transported my bike home and brought it inside and a day or two later took it to Olympia on Portage Avenue for its improvements.

I got my lights, lock and baskets installed and have done a small grocery shop with success and a few rides.

The stand I bought doesn't work. Even with advice from manufacturer, the free standing rack won't hold the bike. I'm looking at returning it and doing without. Disappointing as it cost $50. I'm not sure if it would work for any of the European bikes.

I'm still scared to ride down some roads including the one to my work. Drivers don't care and I don't want to be hurt or killed. I just want to ride my bike. No sidewalk or bike path to my work. Police stop people every week who race up the shoulder at 80 kms. It's inhuman.

Anyway, that's my bike. I hope to get one more rear wheel lock. Some people are saying that I need three locks. Might do that. However, I've been attacked personally so protecting your property still means they can attack you to get it.

Still, doing my best to have some fun, get exercise and be outside. This city can make it tough though.

Portage and Main 1967

In 1967 Portage and Main was preparing for the development of Canada's famous corner, For decades its stood as a gas station and parking lot when the Great Depression stalled plans for a building for Manitoba's richest family: The Richardsons.

Following World War II there was growth in all aspects of the economy as soldiers returned from overseas, went to school or entered the workforce and then had families. Downtown Winnipeg remained the center of activity even as the suburbs grew through the 1950s and 60s.

Still, it took a long time for gas station/parking lot to become what we now know as the Richardson Building. The announcement came in 1967 and by 1969 the 34 storey building was complete. It became the first of a number a towers at Portage and Main but retained the tallest title until 1987.

Prior to being built though, it was possible to see billboards from a long distance away. Coca Cola took advantage of that and built a clock billboard that that can be seen in the picture, Another clock/billboard is in the foreground and can be seen by anyone coming down north Main Street.

Billboards of this kind were banned in later decades by City Hall for the downtown area.

Portage and Main 1922

In 1922 streetcars were still main transportation from Portage and Main all the way to Selkirk, Manitoba and to Headingley, Manitoba. They travelled in the two middle lanes. Diagonal parking was permitted on the east side of north Main for cars along banking row. Parallel parking was opposite.

Only one lane of traffic northbound to Higgins. Two lanes travelled southbound. Cars were far fewer in those years when Winnipeg was the fourth largest city in Canada. Vancouver had just surpassed our population in the decade earlier.

Future Winnipeg's needs might still find the wide roads of Winnipeg useful if trams or LRT once again take over the center lanes. Compared to a subway, it may Winnipeg's most viable option for a growing city.

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.

Main Street Winnipeg in 1949

Photo courtesy of University of Winnipeg Archives. In 1949, it was proper to have a hat and step inside the protection of the bollards when waiting for a streetcar on Main Street just beyond Portage.

Osborne Bridge Pictures

Headed to the Village pre-1910. Wood bridge, dirt roads.

Headed to Village in 1910. What in tarnation? A steel and concrete bridge?

New Charleswood Neighbourhood Expands

Scrub forest now, houses soon

Back in January of last year I reported that 23 homes were to be built between Laxdal and Bramble in the Charleswood area. Work is well under way and several months back Geraldine Drive was extended to Laxdal Road. Pipes and electric lines were extended under the road and I can attest that they left Laxdal one hell of a mess.

Truth be told Laxdal might one of the worst streets in Charleswood for potholes and sunken areas. Thankfully, it looks like this week they will fix the street end to end. It never lasts long though. It truly is one of the busier streets and probably should actually be paved instead of oiled and gravelled.

There is actual house construction going now along Geraldine, the first in the old Varsity View neighbourhood of Charleswood since Bloomer Crescent finished up around four or five years ago.

This past year there has been a few houses along Laxdal that have been knocked down and started all over again as new home construction. It is happening so much in the neighborhood that is difficult to keep up. Old houses coming down, properties sub-divided and brand new homes going up on Wexford and Elmhurst and elsewhere.

It isn't just happening in Charleswood. Go down Wellington Crescent lately and so many old home homes are falling to demolition in favour of new that it is astounding. Wellington was more or less unchanged for decades and now you can't recognize it.

But back to Charleswood. The development along Geraldine started off as 23 homes but there were scrubby forest just north and south of the site as well. It took some negotiation with other owners but developers have down decided to extend the cross street of Dallinger Drive and build an additional 12 houses.

Lots of forest between Bramble Drive and Laxdal Road

The developer suggest even more development on north Dallinger but it suggests much more negotiation with Charleswood property owners. By my count, there could be as many as 20 or 30 more houses in the north part of the development at some point.

The future of Dallinger meeting up again at Sammons Crescent?

 South of Geraldine, by my count there is room for possibly 12 more houses.

12 more houses between Geraldine?

For now it looks like 10 houses on Dallinger and 2 on Laxdal Road. It is hard to see what the configuration of the houses will be at Laxdal but we are seeing newer and modern designs going up where some 1940s and 1950s style homes were. A few of the homes torn down looked to be on their last legs. This is a reflection of old and new Charleswood meeting head on.

Under 90 houses were built on Bloomer Crescent from about 1997 to 2010. It has been a boon to the area and probably one of the reasons for an influx of children to Royal School down the street. An additional 70 or so houses and Royal School might need some portables. Might not be enough the save Chapman School off Roblin Boulevard though.

The scrub forest in question that is being used for the new homes has been used as expansive backyards and workshops for some owners. It wasn't pristine forest. It was often a dumping ground and place where youth partied. It was filled with nails, discarded sofas and broken glass.

The addition of homes in the area is something desired by many who would like to make the area their place of residence. The city's tax base improves and the density increases.

The only flaw and I have pointed out before is increased traffic on Laxdal Road. Paving might be the only solution.

The Sir John Franklin School Development

Original Sir John Franklin School River Heights

After World War  I, north River Heights in Winnipeg experienced steady growth. In 1921. Sir John Franklin School was built to serve elementary students in the area. As early pictures attest, the school was a lot smaller and on rougher prairie fields than what came from the 1950s onward.

The red brick school originally designed by J.N. Semmens in the Collegiate Gothic style and built by Fraser and MacDonald contractors cost $52,000. Day labourers from Sutherland Construction built the one floor, six room schoolhouse on what was the very edge of the city at the time.

Sir Sam Steele school was built in the same red brick style and renovated in much the same way on Chester Street in Winnipeg in 1921.

Sir Sam Steele School was similar in design in 1921

There were expansions in 1934 and 1951 to add more classrooms and a gymnasium.

The school was U-shaped with a courtyard facing to the back lanes. The front of the school and a small staff parking lot faced out to Beaverbrook Street. A play structure was built in the 1980s at the front of the school. Tether ball poles, four square courts and hop scotch were set inside and around the courtyard.

For a time, an outdoor curling rink existed in the 1970s by the parking lot. There were two soccer fields, one baseball diamond and a single basketball hoop. The entire school was surrounded by a chain link that was open on the Beaverbrook side. Narrow openings existed to the street at Lanark. There were also a few waist level holes ostensibly to let dogs in and out. It was not unusual for River Heights people to just let their dogs out on the 1950s through 1970s and see them in the school yards at recess.

The view from Lanark Street, a single basketball hoop

Bushes and trees lined the fence along Lanark Street ending in a stand of mature oaks at the northeast corner of the school. Children used to play in the bushes during and after school.

The official address of the school was 386 Beaverbrook Street and a red mail box was right at the corner of Beaverbook and Grosvenor Avenue to handle to mail from the school and Westworth United Church across the street. It was in the 1980s that a daycare was established at Westworth Church as a before and after program for school kids.

It all came to an end in 1989 when the school saw dwindling enrollment and with too many other schools nearby, the school was shuttered. In 1990, the old school was demolished.

Sir John Franklin Community Club made use of the school for many years for soccer as well as baseball. Throughout the 1990s, it was typical to see a few games going on each day.

What Sir John Franklin looks like today

In winter, the fields sat largely empty save for people who cut across school grounds and those who strapped on cross country skis. It is uncertain when it happened but sometime in the 1990s the former school grounds became an unofficial off leash dog park.

The clashes between the community club and dog owners were ferocious.  People not cleaning up after their dogs being a primary concern. No trespassing signs and barricades were torn down by the dog people. Eventually the club gave up.

Irresponsible dog owners and droppings remain a problem even now.

The bushes and trees and oaks along Lanark fence.

The city tried to buy the park from the Winnipeg School Division but could not strike a deal. The WSD knew that the land was valuable and wanted more from it than giving it up for free or for a small sum.

The status quo suited some as long as someone was mowing and taking care of the property. The school division eventually made the move to sell and a debate has gone on for some time.

Dog owners wanted the land to become an official dog park. There certainly is a demand for an off leash park and the city is woefully behind in setting a policy for it. Many cities have quite a few of them. Winnipeg really only has unofficial kinds. Sir John Franklin often has dozens of owners in the park with their dogs.

A valuable postage stamp property in River Heights

The city has plainly said there are enough parks in River Heights that they maintain already. While this might be true, the dog owners have a point that the city should allocate some for their use. The school division maintains that while a school has not been there for under 15 years, it is not a park and they should be able to dispose of it accordingly.

All three of the above are correct. The city should offer up an off leash dog park somewhere else in River Heights. It is not the job of the school division to offer one. Dog owners must accept that the unofficial off leash park was temporary despite the trespass of all these years.

My personal preference to set up an official off leash dog park is off Edgeland in Tuxedo, close to the neighbourhood Safeway.

The square property near Tuxedo Safeway

There may be other choices out there. Heck, if the city wants to get creative, they can move the works yard beside Sir John Franklin Community Club.

Can't be the only one looking at those swaths of land

Dog owners should have options. Time for the city step up and do their job.

Going to the Dogs?

The school division has the right to sell the land at 386 Beaverbrook Street.

If housing, what kind?

While some residents and dog owners wanted no change, a number of other people became resigned to the fact that the land was likely to be housing of some kind. Like the disposition of the CN Oak Bank rail lines nearby, citizens rejecting every proposal made will ultimately have something imposed on them if they offer no alternative input.

If housing was to go on the site, what kind of housing? A number of people, including a nearby church, thought maybe seniors housing. Such a project requires someone taking the bull by the horns and no one did so the idea fizzled. The Free Press suggested high density housing but as pointed out Lanark Street might not be able to accommodate it. And Jane Jacobs said high density can't simply bowl over a neighbourhood without consequences.

The school division eventually sold the entire site to a developer called 386 Beaverbook Developments.

Public hearing were held and the development company showed a design similar to the bay designs that line the west of Lanark Street now. The city flatly said no. When they said no more parks, they meant it. There might have been wide support ultimately for the design which also included housing on Beavebrook Street but the city did not want a bay.

Bay meant more traffic on Lanark Street

The bay houses might be valuable for the homeowners but they are underutilized parks with no real amenities and only costs for the city in terms in cutting grass and tree service. To be fair, the heyday of the parks might have been the 1970s when dozens of kids played in the parks all the time. Those days have long passed and the parks themselves often look a lot rougher than in years past from neglect.

Moreover, Lanark Street has become busier and busier ever since the traffic lights were placed at Academy and four way stop signs at Kingsway. The popularity of the shops and coffee places on Academy plus homeowners parking on the street means that most north River Heights streets are a unbroken line of parked cars 24 hours a day.

Lanark Street is the primary street used to turn left at Academy and it is always busy. The traffic circle at Lanark and Grosvenor funnels even more traffic down the street. A bay would put more traffic on the street. Lastly, Grosvenor Avenue would have been broken up by an alleyway and a pathway to the bay. This would have squeezed Westworth Church even more than roadway changes have already done.

So no bay support from the city.

Another proposal was for houses east and west and the east side of Beaverbook Street with a pocket park at Beaverbrook and Grosvenor.

East and West and Beaverbrook and park

This idea fell out of favour as well. The city really meant no when they said no more parks that they have to tend to.

Still problems with the configuration

Just a few days ago, it looks like the final design has been settled on.

It appears the city favoured an extension of the lane for garbage pick-up and a east-west road and another public lane for garbage pick-up and garages. The one major concession to parks was preservation of a green strip down Lanark and the mature oaks at the corner of the lot.

East-West road, Oaks at top preserved

The garages at back and a public road east and west provides parking in front of houses if needed and off Lanark Street.

Houses facing Grosvenor, Church squeezed?

The houses facing Grosvenor face a church. For those who love parking only in front of their houses, they will face competition for the spots from the church and vice versa.

No one will be completely happy but the construction of 31 new homes in River Heights represents compromises. It puts money in the budget for the Winnipeg School Division to do something else. It gives the city new tax money from homes in a high value area, infills land inside the city, increases density using existing infrastructure.

The church while unhappy that they may have fewer spots in front to park might find they have new church goers as well. Ironically, new homes might attract more families seeking schools in the area...of what once was a school.

Dog owners need spaces. Time for the city to get off their duffs and help find them. I think I have pointed out a few spots already.

"Not in my backyard" cannot prevail without challenge. More people need to take the position of "Not without my involvement" or we achieve nothing.

River Heights gets 31 new family homes. Welcome to the neighbourhood.

By the way, I am looking for many more old Sir John Franklin school pictures. Please send my way.

Autopac's Worst Intersections 2013/2014

Autopac has listed some of the worst intersections again. Don't think anyone is surprised when they see notorious ones around them.

I got honked at this week at one of them. The other driver making the right turn north onto Kenaston believed I cut him off. The truth is that he was turning into the wrong lane.

There are two turning lanes right on that particular intersection. However, there are three lanes heading north. The curb lane though is for turning into IKEA. The lane disappears shortly after the store.

Painted lines indicate that cars are to move to the through lanes. However, as always happens on Kenaston as it winds around at that intersection, lines disappear.

The driver behind me was having a hissy fit. He was obviously unfamiliar with the corner as all other cars were moving accordingly to the two far lanes.

I first detailed the problems with this turning system when it was built. It depends too heavily on lines on the road that disappear with even the lightest snow. The turning lane on north Kenaston is used as a speeding lane to dodge traffic at the lights and zip in front of everyone. In heavy traffic though, it results in a pile up because the lane simply disappears.

I have seen the IKEA traffic lights taken out a few times already.

It didn't have to be this way. The late councillor Bill Clement was told of the what the traffic problems would be and people asked about service roads around the mall. They were derisively dismissed as anti-development. And now we have two deadly corners that have had tens of millions spent on them, some after that fact of development, and we still people hurt and dying.

In former Bill Clement's ward: Moray and Portage, Kenaston and McGillivary and Kenaston and Sterling Lyon are responsible for maiming and killing Winnipeg citizens.

Blaming the drivers for this is too easy and too pat an answer. My almost collision occurred at a speed of under 15 kms. I defy drivers who have never used that road to be able to figure out their lanes for even ideal road conditions.

This is planning plain and simple. And it is happening all over the city.

Bill Clement's ward is now Paula Havixbeck's problem. At the very least she should be asking for better signage.

How many people have to die before someone acts?

Courtesy in Winnipeg

The Persian proverb "Courteous men learn courtesy from the discourteous" might be only half true.

In reality, discourtesy might also teach someone to be discourteous themselves.

Perhaps that is no more well demonstrated than when one driving a car. No one lets you in when you are trying to change lanes and in turn, you don't let anyone in either.

The list of discourteous driving infractions is a long one. I have been guilty of it but have tried and continue to try to be polite and use courtesy when driving. Confusion, distraction, impatience, anger and selfishness all need to be controlled on the road. Give yourself time to get to where you need to go and mapping out your route is common sense and contributes to your courtesy on the road.

Speed limits aren't suggestions, the car ahead of you isn't "winning", bikes, people and cars are not merely pylons, the horn is not an instrument and turn signals are not options. This isn't NASCAR and tailgating isn't a strategy to push the driver ahead of you or to zig zag in front of them. Meals, shaving and make-up...sometimes all three at the same time can lead to no good. Your brights while driving can be someone else's blinds.

Mistakes happen and that is why it is important to allow for them. If a driver swings their door out suddenly from being parked, it doesn't mean that was ensues is a Winnipeg version of Max Mad, Return to Thunderdome. Check the rage.

I am not a perfect driver but I try to do a few things to limit my exposure to being discourteous and in turn try to show courtesy. I use my turn signals and don't drift from lane to lane. I leave a car length between when driving (although it sometimes leaves me vulnerable to being cut off in front of). I try to drive and park between the lines even when they are hard to see on Winnipeg streets. I try not to speed. I try to be aware and not overly distracted. I let people have turns at intersections. I pull in and tuck the car when I don't have the right of way for approaching traffic.

It is not easy driving in Winnipeg. Sometimes city planners leave you vulnerable to error with lanes that suddenly disappear or have lanes such as Kenaston that people whip down than rush into other lanes at breakneck speed resulting in close calls or aggressive driving.

Diamond lanes and bike lanes that become invisible in snow or cause confusion as to when you can access them to go down other streets are particularly troubling.

I have mentioned traffic a lot because rage in this area seems to occur daily. It is also the area where government unwittingly or deliberately seem to set up things for maximum trouble.

In our daily life outside of driving, good parents tell their kids to mind their Ps and Qs. Say please, say thank you. This goes a long way for being courteous. The trick is communication. I'm sorry if you slept poor and haven't had your coffee yet. Don't be rude and bark at people.

Try not to be the source of frustration for others in stores by being rude, pushy or unprepared when you shop, arrive at the till, walk down the aisles. Living and dying by your debit card sometimes means taking more time at the till and in a few cases, finding out it isn't working and not having even the money for a cup of coffee with you. It is funny how some people don't even have one buck in their pockets. Not so funny when they have to abandon their carts or product at the till in front of you.

Cart etiquette at the grocery store can be used to express courtesy. Tuck your cart in, be watchful of those around you, don't walk as a family five people across the aisle at the slowest pace possible, don't talk on your cell phone the whole time and walk or push your cart with reckless abandon. If their are no automatic doors, look to hold the door occasionally rather than skitter in and have quickly close behind you as the elderly lady reaches out futilely as it swings past her hand.

At your home, courtesy can be just keeping your grass cut...but not at 7 am Sunday, shovelling your snow...and not piling it in front of your neighbour's driveway, watching out for the safety and well being of your community.

In an increasingly busy world, it can be challenging being patient. It is frustrating when it seems that by design a road, building, system or other human created plan appears to be set up specifically cause you to lose it.

But don't. Keep it together. Be patient, show courtesy. Don't go out of your way to be rude and obnoxious. It isn't cute acting like a brat. It is annoying. Use polite language, be prepared and take time to achieve your objectives and don't act like that you are the only one in the world.

Perhaps then courtesy would beget courtesy.