The other day we had a guest speaker in talking about sustainable Urbanism. I found it great, because I am planning on focusing my studies on green building etc. It would be amazing to have the experience that Dustin was talking about, while living in the city. It would be great to have everything within walking distance and to have a real community feel. I am from a small town just outside of Winnipeg, and almost everything I need is accessible within walking distance. I constantly see neighbours and friends if I'm out biking or walking, and we have many parks and trees. Realistically, I am not close to everything that I wish to be, and living in Winnipeg would be a lot easier. I have worked downtown on Broadway, and it might not be quite what Dustin was talking about, but I found even the lush trees that lined the street refreshing on my lunchhour, but other than restaurants there was not much else that was close by. The Forks was great, but as Broadway is such a heavily trafficked area (car and foot), it was hard to enjoy any green space or community feel. Accidents between vehicles and vehicles and vehicles and pedestrians were very common, and most people that were about on Broadway were employees from nearby office buildings, hot dog vendors, or hot dog vendor protesters.
I would think it would be very difficult to incorporate these factors discussed (such as the compacted community with increased foot space) without affecting vehicle traffic. In places such as the Exchange district this currently exists somewhat, but people definitely prefer to drive through all the many roads that surround main street. To eliminate them or reduce them would be great, but would cause huge redirection of traffic. Similarly, it would also be a big task to make the change in an existing neighbourhood. It is common to see wasted buildings and sites in Winnipeg that would be incredible to transform, however, how do you push back existing people or crime while making the change? It would be interesting to be a part of the planning process for one of these projects and be able to witness implementation start to finish (or as closed to finish as possible).
I would think it would be very difficult to incorporate these factors discussed (such as the compacted community with increased foot space) without affecting vehicle traffic. In places such as the Exchange district this currently exists somewhat, but people definitely prefer to drive through all the many roads that surround main street. To eliminate them or reduce them would be great, but would cause huge redirection of traffic. Similarly, it would also be a big task to make the change in an existing neighbourhood. It is common to see wasted buildings and sites in Winnipeg that would be incredible to transform, however, how do you push back existing people or crime while making the change? It would be interesting to be a part of the planning process for one of these projects and be able to witness implementation start to finish (or as closed to finish as possible).
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