Connecting the Dots
For Downtown redevelopment, connection and context matters just as much as the development itself
Over the past several months there have been positive announcements about the future of Winnipeg’s downtown. It’s worth looking at this in the context of the bigger picture of urban revitalization of downtown, something everyone agrees on is necessary for the city’s prosperous and sustainable future.
Railside
The Forks announced they will be breaking ground this summer on Phase 1 of Railside, their development plan for turning the sea of parking lots into housing, businesses, and public space. Winnipeg has so much development opportunity in turning its downtown parking lots into useful development supporting more people, and nowhere is this more evident than at The Forks.
CBC: Housing Development at The Forks to Break Ground
Railside will be an environment focused on people, not cars. Turning an area that is fully car-centric into a walkable, bikeable, and liveable location. Phase 1 will focus on people, building 300 new housing units. A modest start on housing, but in putting more people in the area, you are putting in place a population that can begin to support local business.
(Of note, though, Railside was intended to start in 2019 and be a 20 year plan. We are currently at least 5 years behind that schedule. A quick Google search of Railside shows that there has been at least one news story for each of the past 4 years about Railside “beginning”. )
Whewheneh Bahgahkinahgohn
The Southern Chiefs Organization is progressing with their redevelopment of the old Hudson’s Bay building. This is an exciting development for Winnipeg and the surrounding area, (I live about 2 blocks away), turning a building that had seen better days into a wonderful mixed use development on Portage Ave. With a plan for over 300 units of affordable housing, community space, cultural and retail space, the SCO’s plan deserves the award they received in 2023 as “Best World-Changing Idea, North America”.
Portage Place
The redevelopment of Portage Place, for all its ups and downs, starts and stops, seems to be still in play. This project is probably the most challenging of the 3 highlighted here. It is worth spending the time to get it right. True North is currently reviewing their intent to purchase and redevelop this downtown mall.
Much has been written about Portage Place, and the need to get it right. I have done my share of that: Round 3 for Portage Place. I will highlight one positive development that was announced in December of 2023.
Globe and Mail: Manitoba First Nations & Prominent Developer Sign Agreement
Portage and Main
Probably most surprisingly, City Council decided to open the Portage and Main intersection to pedestrians. This intersection, at the heart of Winnipeg, has been closed to pedestrians since 1979. 46 years after closing Canada’s iconic intersection, pedestrians will once again be allowed to cross the street as of July 2025.
CTV: “Symbolic Heart of the City”: Portage & Main opens
Context Matters
These pending developments, as well as other current and future developments, are hopeful signs for the revitalization of Winnipeg’s downtown. Each project is important and needed in its own right, and we need a lot more of them. Increasing the number of people living in downtown Winnipeg is a key priority for everyone. Not only do we need more people living in the downtown core, but it must also be a priority to provide adequate housing for those already living there.
Each project should not be looked at in isolation. We must consider and enhance the context of these projects. Ensuring the success of housing and businesses means making sure it all works together. The landscape of downtown is dotted with opportunity. Whether the announced projects, or all the pent up potential that is in every surface parking lot or under-utilized building, how those dots are connected is vitally important.
Open it all up!
Opening P&M supports people. People are the driving force behind downtown (pun intended). For too long, 45 years at least, downtown has been abandoned to cars. 20% of the surface area of downtown is parking. The intersection of Portage and Main, again, the Heart of Winnipeg, has 30 car lanes in it. Portage Avenue, which should be a prime retail and business district, is swamped with at least 8 lanes of traffic running through the core. The corner surrounding of Whewheneh Bahgahkinahgohn, where hundreds of people and Elders are going to live, has 28 lanes of traffic!
Ironically, the more car dependent the area, the less connected it is. The more car focused, the more everyone else is excluded. Winnipeg’s downtown has become completely car-centric over the past several decades. The pandemic, for all its ills, has brought that clearly into focus. This is not a challenge unique to Winnipeg, many inner cities have been struggling with how to have more people in their core.
If we want more people living in our downtown, it first needs to be liveable. Making it so that people can move around their neighbourhood on foot or bike, or with a mobility device is foundational to liveability. Currently, with literal highways running through downtown Winnipeg, with multiple intersections with well over a dozen lanes of traffic to be crossed, in some cases with speed limits that exceed what a residential area should have, downtown Winnipeg is openly hostile to people.
Re-introducing people to Portage and Main is an important first step towards bringing people back. We should be looking at where else we can enhance the connectivity for people. When there are a few thousand people living in Railside, how are they going to walk and connect to downtown? If we don’t plan for it, they simply won’t. If they can’t comfortably and safely connect with the surrounding downtown, they won’t. Local businesses in the downtown will not benefit from the that increased population.
For the people who will be living in a redeveloped Portage Place or Whewheneh Bahgahkinahgohn, their front yard is 8-12 lanes of traffic on Portage Ave, or surrounded by 28 lanes of traffic at Whewheneh Bahgahkinahgohn’s front door. The street outside the front door is inherently hostile to people. That is fundamentally not a liveable situation.
A Place to Be
Downtown has turned into a place to pass through and, for many, to avoid. Downtown feels like it has been abandoned. But, there are inklings of interest in the rejuvenation of our amazing downtown. And yes, it is amazing! We are lucky in Winnipeg to have so much potential waiting to be unleashed. (a future post no doubt!).
To open the door to rejuvenation and vitality, we have to connect the dots and bring people back into the mix. Opening Portage and Main, while the right decision for the wrong reasons, is a significant first step in making downtown Winnipeg liveable and more people friendly.
Richard Milgrom of the University of Manitoba said it best about the opening of Portage and Main:
“I hope this sort of begins to signal a change to thinking about Downtown as a place to be rather than a place to leave”.
Brian