Old Friend, New Conversation

I was recently invited to appear on West End Dumplings: The Radio Edition to chat with fellow blogger, Christian Cassidy.  It was an offer I couldn’t refuse.

Christian is an old friend and the man behind West End Dumplings — declared Winnipeg’s Favourite Local Blog in this year’s Uniter 30.

Christian’s historical knowledge of the city – coupled with his passion for this place – is incredible.

In addition to the blog and the radio show, Christian is a regular contributor to the Winnipeg Free Press and holds community workshops teaching people how to research the history of their homes.  Want to get to know him better? Tune in to West End Dumplings: The Radio Edition every Sunday at 7 PM on 101.5 UMFM.

On last week’s show, Christian and I got to talking about re-conceptualizing downtown — an idea discussed in a recent Planetizen article that argues a great downtown isn’t one central location but a collection of unique urban neighborhoods well-connected by public transit.  We agreed this idea could (and does) work for a place like Winnipeg.

Keen to hear more?  You can listen to the podcast of the show here — or check out “Secret Weapon to Revitalize Downtown; New Group Sees Hope in Redefining Urban Core with Historic Neighborhoods” or “Experts Define Downtown, But Not Every Great Neighborhood Is a Business District“.

Down, Set… HUT! Ice Capades break Grey Cup Fever

With the Grey Cup buzz shifting from a roar to a gentle headache, Winnipeggers can turn their attention to an upcoming ice capade – also known as the annual Warming Huts: An Art + Architecture Competition on Ice.

Warming Huts is an open competition held annually at the Forks since 2009.  Originally pitched by professors at the University of Manitoba Faculty of Architecture, the competition is endorsed by the Manitoba Association of Architects and supported by the Canadian Council for the Arts.

The competition is a local news darling but also draws international attention, including a New York Times article last year.  Our popularity is paying off.  This year saw more than 160 entries submitted from countries around the world, including Estonia, Iran, India and Bangladesh.

A top-notch blind jury comprised of Winnipeg art and architecture experts judged all of the submissions and, just last week, selected the winning designs that “push the envelope of design, craft and art”.

And the winners are…

FIRST PLACE ♥ Temple by Kirill Bair and Daria Lisitsyna (Moscow, Russia)

Tall and topical, Temple is a greek temple made from oil drums and recycled material that echoes the buzz and clicks of its pipes and parts as they knock against themselves in the winter breeze.  Its cool, almost frigid, description — “form without content, a place of worship connected to nothing but the wind” — fits wonderfully with the desolate breezes winding along our beautiful river terrain.

SECOND PLACE ♥ Shelterbelt by Robert B. Trempe Jr. (Nebraska, USA)

Shelterbelt is an homage to the prairie winter, using steel rebar to mirror the form and movement of the trees and tall grasses that characterize a winter landscape.

Wind and visitors will stir the rebar and cause it to collide, mimicking the rustle of movement through winter-abandoned fields and forests.

 

THIRD PLACE ♥ Ice Maze by Andreas Mede (California, USA)

California may not know winter, but they know how to have a good time.  Ice Maze is focused on the family, keeping kids busy and entertained as they skate and slide around its ice block walls and giving parents a five minute reprieve to sip their coffee under prairie blue skies.

OTHER selections included…

♥ Basket by Faculty of Architecture Partner Program (Winnipeg, MB)

The University of Manitoba Architecture Partner Program puts the “warm” in “warming huts”, using sustainable heat paneling, a large south-facing window, photo voltaic lighting and insulation of its intertwined rope walls.

Basket lets you climb in and get carried away — with a design that looks like it sounds and a facade that playfully encourages visitors to use its walls for lost mittens and other winter accessories found along the Red River Mutual Trail.

 

♥ Fabrigami by University of Manitoba Faculty of Architecture (Winnipeg, MB)

Put simply, this design is a giant fabric origami structure covered in a thin skin of ice.  What makes this design special is that it directly participates with Winnipeg’s local landscape and climate — using river water to create the ice coat and having its final shape depend on how quickly the water freezes.

The result is an interesting combination of an ancient Japanese art with a distinctly local feel.

 

♥ In the Light of the Kudluk by Sputnik Architecture and Tanya Tagaq (WInnipeg, mb)

Local firm Sputnik Architecture paired up with Nunavut throat singer and 2014 Pulitzer Prize Winner Tanya Tugaq to create In the Light of the Kudluk.  The design includes four snow shelters surrounded by, you guessed it, more snow.  Once the snow hardens, the structures will be removed leaving an impression of a creature from the traditions of Canada’s Northern people.  The spring thaw will later return the entire project from whence it came.

♥ Frame by RAW: Almond and Et Cetera Projects (Winnipeg, MB)

Frame is the design for the much-loved, annual outdoor pop-up dining hut* that combines the creativity of Mandel Hitzer (Deer + Almond), Joe Kalturnyk and Winnipeg’s Et Cetera Projects. Frame pulls visitors into the riverbank landscape as they move toward the entrance, letting them catch a glimpse into the kitchen, dining area, and other elements of the site while settling in to enjoy a warm meal amongst the laughs of their neighbours and the sounds of dinner being prepared.  Don’t miss it.  Tickets go on sale soon!

HUT TO IT!  WHEN DOES CONSTRUCTION START? 

Competition winners travel to Winnipeg to begin construction on their warming hut at the end of January.  Completed warming huts are then brought out to the frozen Red River Mutual Trail for visitors to enjoy throughout the winter season.

5 Lessons for Making Cold Cities Even Cooler

Winter arrived in Winnipeg this weekend and the new season has changed more than the weather, it’s changed the city — the way it looks, the way it functions, and the way we interact with it.

Winter is defined by most Winnipeggers as the unpleasant obstacle standing between us and summer — or more specifically — the four-to-five month dead zone between November and March where complaining passes for conversation and activities range from drying wet socks to purchasing chap stick.

The new season has changed more than the weather, it’s changed the city — the way it looks, the way it functions, and the way we interact with it.

Although there is no question winter is uncomfortable, it is also a fundamental part of living here.  If we can accept that, we are better able to recognize the incredible efforts and activities that have sprung up in recent years and that are transforming what has traditionally been understood as our greatness weakness into a very real strength.

Activities like:

• the Arctic Glacier Winter Park at the Forks;
• the Warming Huts Competition put on by the Manitoba Association of Architects and Canadian Council for the Arts;
• Festival du Voyageur; and
• the Raw Almond pop-up restaurant

to name a few.

These initiatives reflect a growing interest in embracing, not escaping, winter.   As Anton Chekhov once said: “People don’t notice whether it’s winter or summer when they’re happy.”

People don’t notice whether it’s winter or summer when they’re happy. 

We’re not alone in feeling good about being so chill.  The top seven states in the 2014 Gallup Healthways Well-being Index enjoy long stretches of real winter weather and there is a growing list of cities having fun in the cold, both in Canada and abroad.

how do we create cool winter events for a cold winter city?  

 

The Project for Public Spaces* article, “Winter Cities Show Cold Weather Can Be Cool”, sets out the following lessons:

Make it Last

Winter events should last preferably more than a week and are best tied to an ongoing winter activity, like skating or sledding.  Singing carols around a lit tree is a pleasant activity, but has a much shorter shelf life and smaller demographic than a skating rink with a great playlist.  To create a cumulative effect, winter events and activities should overlap where possible and span the entire 4 to 5 month period.

Bundle it up

Activities and events should be combined, allowing smaller events to create a larger impact and enticing visitors to make a day of it.  The warming huts competition at the Forks and Red River Mutual Trail is a great example of this, providing visitors with a skating rink, walking path, wood fire shack, indoor market, and public art display all in one place.

Keep it Local

Local elements are the key to a great looking city, as well as meaningful winter activities.  Local elements encourage citizens to participate by highlighting what is unique about the city, providing warm food and drink, and showcasing locally made items. Festival du Voyageur is a great example.

Light it

The right lighting makes all the difference, creating ambience and “the feeling that winter activities and events are much bigger than they really are”.

Manage it

Management is essential. Without management of a city’s spaces, no winter activities would occur. Competent and ambitious management leads to great results.

*Project for Public Spaces is an incredible
non-profit planning, design and educational organization
that aims to transform public space through rejuvenation, capitalizing on
local assets, and serving common needs. PFPS was founded in 1975 to
expand on the work of William (Holly) Whyte, author of the insightful and
essential book “The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces” and its 55-minute
companion film.  Check out their list of projects here.

Whether it’s large local events bringing people together and creating public spaces with impact – or the fact that only my backyard stands between me and a world of crunchy, winding, wind-sheltered paths along the Seine River – I think there are plenty of reasons to look forward to this new season in our city.

The question is how to create more of them.

With four months to fill with winter fun, I would love to hear from you.

What is your favourite thing about Winnipeg’s winter? 

Any recommendations or secret spots to check out? 

Ideas for community events Winnipeg could add to its annual calendar?

“Little Spark on the Prairie” spreads like wildfire: Winnipeg named on National Geographic’s Best Trips 2016

National Geographic has included Winnipeg on its list of Best Trips 2016 and everybody is talking about it!

Local news media picked up the story this morning with commentary expressing pride (for our unpretentious home sweet home being the only Canadian city named on the list) to utter disbelief.

Whether you agree with it or not, the designation is nevertheless hugely encouraging to those incredible Winnipeggers who are investing their time and energy to provide the types of things that made this “little spark” worth mentioning – including transit, smart growth in the urban Exchange District, great food and community events.  Keep it up!

This isn’t the first time we’ve caught National Geographic’s eye. Winnipeg was named as one of Canada’s 50 Places of a Lifetime in 2013.

 

What makes a city? The 3 things every great city needs

What makes a city?

(a) Jobs  (b) People  (c) Bike paths  (d) Location  (e) All of the above

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If you’re looking for a cheat sheet, you might start with some of the more popular annual city rankings, such as:

• The Economist’s “Most Liveable Cities“
• Forbes’ “List of the Most Liveable Cities on Earth“
• Monocle Magazine’s “List of Most Liveable Cities“

Thanks to these experts you can confidently conclude that Vienna is the best.  Oh, wait.  No, it’s Melbourne.  Um, Tokyo?

WHY DON’T THE EXPERTS AGREE?

The difficulty in deciding what makes a liveable city is getting everyone to agree on what liveability means or what it should mean.

The Economist, for example, focuses on economic and business issues as the primary indicators of liveability.  Forbes considers unemployment, crime, income growth, the cost of living, and artistic and cultural opportunities.  Monocle Magazine, a relative newcomer to the annual lists game, thinks liveability should consider “places that are benchmarks for urban renaissance and rigorous reinvention in everything from environmental policy to transport” and focuses on social and economic circumstances for residents, public health, infrastructure, and ease and availability of local transport.

There isn’t one right answer but there are some qualities that consistently emerge when great cities are being discussed.

I’ve compiled them here, for you.    Ready?

 THE 3 THINGS EVERY GREAT CITY NEEDS

 

QUALITY NO. 1 ♥ GOOD LOOKS

 

A liveable city is a beautiful one.  As the recent Citylab article “What Makes a City Beautiful?” points out:

(B)eauty is an essential quality to live-ability. Multiple studies have shown that the perception of living in a beautiful place is strongly correlated with happiness—more strongly than even things like safety and cleanliness. “Character,” or aesthetic distinctiveness has also proven itself key to economic vitality.

How do we measure beauty?  This metric is notoriously difficult to quantify, but maybe less so now that philosopher and founder of London’s School of Life, Alain de Botton, laid out the following six qualities of attractive cities:

order

orientation and mystery

visible life

compactness

scale

and a sense of the local.

These qualities are achievable and they don’t rely on a waterfront, warm weather or art that everyone can agree on.  Great news for Winnipeggers, and anyone else who lives in a place where “spring” is more aptly described as “brown”.

Watch DeBotton describe the qualities in more detail here.

QUALITY NO. 2 ♥ CONNECTION

 

Whether its bike paths, accessible transit or strong communities, a great city is a connected city.

“Connection” is sometimes called “smart growth“ – an urban planning concept rooted in sustainability that is anti-sprawl and advocates for “compact, transit-oriented, walkable, bicycle-friendly land use, including neighbourhoods schools, complete streets, and mixed-use development with a range of housing choices”.  

Smart growth is more than a lifestyle argument, it has real benefits.

Smart growth is more than a lifestyle argument, it has real benefits.  Smart cities are safer, healthier and wealthier because they:

improve urban density (reducing the cost of providing
services for the municipality and corresponding tax liability for its citizens)

and

provide opportunities to walk, bike, and use transit (resulting in
increased pedestrian traffic, improved health and reduced costs for individuals and households).

QUALITY NO. 3 ♥ GROWTH

 

In an interview on the Radiolab “Cities” podcast, Dr. Robert Levine sets out a tidy mathematical formula proving that once a city is growing, it’s also getting more liveable.  It supports the widely held consensus that growth is a key element for a great city.

To grow, a city must:

retain and attract business investment
use that business investment to create jobs and increase tax revenue
then enjoy higher household income and rich array of public services

Sounds easy, right?  Maybe not.

Studies have shown that attracting and retaining business investment is not just about providing favourable tax and regulatory conditions for business operations but also having well-educated and trained workforce, adequate transportation infrastructure, a range of amenities like restaurants and day care centres, and a low crime rate.

(W)hile growth is undeniably important – growth is not the only quality a great city needs.

So, while growth is undeniably important – growth is not the only quality a great city needs.  Cities need to invest in other qualities of liveability – like beauty and connection – in order to attract the investment in the first place.

How does Winnipeg stack up?

 

Extensive suburban development, disagreements over bus rapid transit and outcry over biking infrastructure can sometimes make it seem like Winnipeg is less than, um, “smart”.

But there is good work being done, which is worthy of encouragement.

• Continued efforts to revitalize the downtown
• the recently approved pedestrian and cycling strategy
• an acknowledgment to the importance of growth by Mayor Brian Bowman, who promised to grow Winnipeg to “one million strong” throughout the 2014 municipal election campaign and has kept this sentiment as a key priority for the Mayor’s Office

Now it’s your turn.  How do you think we stack up on the top 3 liveability factors?  Are we on the right track?  

Welcome Home

I love a good city.

I love the smell of a city, riding its transit, visiting its venues, admiring its infrastructure, meeting its people, hearing its stories, fearing its rumours, electing its officials and trying to pinpoint what makes it tick.

Cities are where life happens.  

Cities are not just about roads and taxes and snow clearing, they are also a reflection of our values.  They affect the way we interact and how we choose to engage.  Cities are where life happens.

This blog is a space for encouraging and investigating ideas about cities – big and little, ours and others – that captivate the imagination and motivate us to consider who we are, how we live and where we are going.   Ideas like: what makes a city great?  Bike or car?  Who’s in charge?

Welcome and hello.  My name is Katie.  My preoccupation with city life has found me living and working in Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary, enjoying brief sojourns in Adelaide (Australia) and Wellington (New Zealand), and travelling to cities throughout Central and South America.

I’ve always enjoyed the thrill of moving and settling into a new city – taking the leap, the awkward first day of a new job, the exploration of new haunts and hang-outs, the first moments of connection with new friends, the plagues of loneliness, and the self-satisfaction of figuring out new routines through good ol’ fashioned trial and error.  Ah. My feet itch just thinking about it.

Then, just last year, this thirty-something moss-free stone got a different kind of itch.  I’m not sure whether the itch was biological, ambitious, nostalgic, or just plain curious – but it needed a scratch.  I took another leap, backwards, to where it all began.  Winnipeg.

With my worldly possessions packed into a 10′ uHaul and a playlist worthy of Winnipeg including Neil Young, Chic Gamine, the Weakerthans, and Springsteen’s “Born to Run” (natch), I set off for Winnipeg.  I was excited to be home, and following a hectic couple of months as the campaign manager for a young, energetic municipal political candidate, I took a little time to stop and reflect on my decision and consider what brought me here and made me want to stay.

I would like to note that this period of reflection also resulted in the realization that the idea of saving money by living in my parent’s basement was far better than the reality of living in my parent’s basement.   But I digress.

Winnipeg is a middle city.  Like me, it often finds itself somewhere between where it is and where it wants to go. 

Winnipeg is a middle city.  Like me, it often finds itself somewhere between where it is and where it wants to go.  What some call a culture of complaint, I see as a desire for change.  We are our own biggest fans.  We celebrate what we have and we embrace new things.  When what we have doesn’t work, we look for ways to do it better.  We love this city, after all.

I love this city, too. That’s why I’m really looking forward to posting and discussing ideas about cities with you.  Ideas we can use to make this city great. Whether you just got here, returned home or never left – I want to hear from you.  What brings you to the city?  What keeps you here?  What brought you back?  Leave a comment to join the conversation.