ON WINNIPEG

Homage to a city.

Introduction:

 

I have wanted to write a piece about Winnipeg for quite some time now.  I want to document what I like and dislike about the city, and explore my thoughts about Winnipeg's future, and why it matters to me.

 

This will not be that piece.  But perhaps consider this a quick, rough prelude to that work.  I felt compelled to write this little piece tonight after reading some comments left on a local news website.  It was the Comments section of the online Winnipeg Free Press  that I had the poor judgement to browse that first set me off to write this tonight.  The article was about a recent city homicide, and like a fool I read some of the comments left by readers.  Many were unjustifiable, prejudiced, racist, or militant rants promoting near fascism, and it made me feel a bit sick.  

 

My fellow citizens were making claims that the entire city was a ‘cesspool’.  That it was ‘hopeless.‘  Many people advised avoiding massive areas of the city, like the ‘North End’ and the ‘West End.‘  The North End could cover about one hundred blocks by some definitions, and has many neighbourhoods and communities within it.  I happen to live in an area of the West End that I consider pretty safe.  Yet some people were calling for a city wide curfew, some for vigilante ‘justice,’ and a few even advocated ditching the police force and organising an urban military unit.  These extreme reactions are, I think, ignorant and undemocratic.  Hence, I began writing a rant about such views, and noticed something.

 

As I started writing I realized that some of the material seemed to overlap themes I wanted to use in my final, edited piece about Winnipeg.  I give this disclaimer because some of what you read below might be included in a better format within that larger piece about the city I plan to write later.  So please excuse the rushed or perhaps sloppy nature of tonight's offering.  It's a combination of stuff I've wanted to write before, spontaneous outrage, and unedited, rambling bullshit.

 

***

 

ON WINNIPEG

 

 

People associate feelings with spaces and places.  We all have certain geographical places that we think of with fondness, gain comfort from when we’re there, and miss when we’re away.  I have two such places that allow me to truly feel in tune: my family’s cabin in the Rockies and my adopted home of Winnipeg, Manitoba.  Tonight’s focus is obviously the latter.

 

Winnipeg.  I thirst for this city like the dog lusts for the dripping bone.  My passion for her and her surroundings rivals my passion for most other things this world has offered me.  

 

Truly it is a city of hope and hate and beauty and blight and every other clichéd f*****g ironic paradox blah blah blah you can name.  Every city has complexity and contradiction, and every one is host to elements of both pride and a quiet, shamed resentment.  My city is no exception, and there are obvious misconceptions about it held by both those that live here and by those who have never even set foot in Manitoba.  

 

It is valid to suggest that my unbridled emotion may be cause for prejudice.  But bear in mind that while I will defend the good I see in this city to the bloody death of us all, this passion also forces me to violently oppose and speak out against what I see as bad.  Here we’ll examine both, as well as the mindset of the people who live here, and how we can help our city grow up healthy.

 

I have a quirky kink, or a kinky quirk, and have come to only spell the word Love with a capital L.  It’s an overused word that I have come to use sparingly, and with respect.  And I truly do Love Winnipeg.  If you sincerely Love something you will see the beauty in it while promoting its wellbeing.  This lil’ ramble concerns the ability to see the beauty in a city whilst addressing and correcting perceived problems with it.  It is this way that I can show my Love for my home.  Because, as any Lover would wish upon another, I want her to grow up healthy and strong.

 

This town is known across the nation for its mosquitoes, its floods, its sweltering, disgustingly wet heat followed by eleven months of sub arctic misery, and its rampant ‘Sao Paulo’ scaled crime.  It is often regarded as a dirty, sprawling city in the middle of nowhere that you don’t visit unless you’re an eighteen year old Minnesotan wanting to get drunk or a band making an obligatory stopover while touring.  Its days of explosive glory died a century ago, it fell from 3rd most populated in the country to 7th, and for fifty years it slept dormant and stagnant, like some morbid incarnation of Little Detroit on the Prairie.  

 

To this day there remain large tracts of land that are underused, derelict, abandoned, or hazardous.  The metropolitan area is consistently ranked first or second in per capita homicide, we have the largest number of operating street gangs, and our auto theft is five times that of Toronto’s, and easily the highest rate in the nation.  Every bus and taxi cab has mandatory sirens, protective shields, and cameras on board.  We’re leaders in missing women and child prostitution, and we’re a biker stronghold.  The police are generally ill - trusted and often seen as abusive.  Poverty is clearly visible; mostly concentrated in some areas to the north of the financial core.  These streets present what is possibly the worst example of urban decay in the country, and seas of surface parking lots only contribute to the public’s perception - and perhaps the reality - of abundant street crime.  

 

There are consistent financial constraints placed on the city, and our annual budget is always a cause for concern.  We don’t have oil or a seaport, and our rail monopoly became obsolete when the Panama Canal opened and Vancouver emerged to surpass our population.  It’s been downhill from there.  We have the worst roads in the country and some of the metropolitan bridges are nearly unusable.  The mayor is increasingly seen as conflicted and corrupt, and floods and blizzards don’t help to boost morale.  

 

Yet beyond all this there is hope.  Beyond all this I can see and feel and nearly taste a beauty that is difficult to describe.  I see my city as a survivor.  As an urban organism of mortar and thoughts that has evolved over the years in the face of adversity and skepticism.  It is a city that has stories woven into the sinews of its experience.  

 

Every city is a fascinating f*****g phenomenon, because every city is an experiment in collision.  It’s the collision of families and friends and rivals and foes.  A collision of cultures and traditions and goals and values and ideas.  My city is this experiment embodied within democracy, and it is here that we see all of our different values and goals unfold.  We choose how to spend our collective resources, and how best to make our city grow up to be healthy and strong.

 

Everybody has different taste.  Some folks are more rural, and some dig urbanity.  I enjoy both, though I prefer to live primarily in the city.  There are many different things to look for or avoid in a city depending on individual taste.  Something about Winnipeg in particular calls to me like no other place I have ever been.  I have traveled, and I have lived elsewhere.  But if I leave Winnipeg for too long I invariably miss it, and yearn to return home.  I have met horrid people here, but I have met amazing people here too.  I’ve had good times and bad, and moments of joy and pride and of humility and sadness.  My collected experiences coupled with my urban tastes provide me with a perception of my surroundings.  Given what I look for in a city with my particular tastes, and the formative times I have had here, my perception of this place overall turns out to be pretty damn good.  It probably sounds strange to cite a city seen as so insignificant and mundane, but for whatever fetish - like reason, I dig this town like a priest digs confession:  I’m all about it.  

 

The city has a humble, modest vibe to it, and it feels real, old, and lived in.  It’s a bit of a contrast to the modern overnight boom towns like Calgary or Phoenix.  And it certainly ain’t Las Vegas.  It’s gritty and honest, but sprinkled with new ideas and projects and goals.  I suppose what I’m sayin’ to y’all is this:  the town has character.  

While the problems mentioned earlier are to some extent true, I still see beyond these issues and can recognize hope.  There are things to appreciate here.  Two rivers converge at the heart of the city, and there are thousands of lakes, streams, and rivers to explore just minutes away.  To the west there’s prairie and to the east a half hour’s drive will take you into the rocky hills of the Canadian Shield, and beyond into Ontario cottage country.  We’re also an hour’s drive from one of the largest freshwater lakes in the world, with huge beaches and the scantily clad females that accompany them.

 

There are stunningly beautiful Victorian parks here, and married with both modern and historic mansions, these create some of the most beautiful urban areas in the country.  It’s not all grit and decay.  

 

The city is old for Canadian standards, and many neighbourhoods have their own distinctive feel and architectural style.  There is a wealth of well preserved historical architecture to be found in Winnipeg, as well as an increasing number of contemporary developments.  The cultural element here is significant as well.  Nearly 70,000 Filipinos call the city home, as well as the largest population of aboriginals in the world.  We have large numbers of Jews, Ukrainians, Germans, Portuguese, Mennonites, and Dutch, too.  Oh, and western Canada’s largest francophone community rests just across the Red River from downtown.

 

This city is hardcore.  It is motherfuckin’ stellar a*s bitchin’ rock’n’roll.  The music scene kicks a*s.  The film scene is starting to kick a*s.  The restaurant scene kicks a*s, and the pub scene is starting to as well.  But perhaps the most amazing thing about this town is the architecture.  The Exchange District, a National Historic Site, is one of the best preserved historic neighbourhoods on the continent.  There’s a reason it’s known as Little Chicago.  For a brick junkie like me, there’s nothing better than strolling around this ‘hood with a coffee and a camera.  The historic architecture in Winnipeg is one of the main reasons I moved here, and one of the main reasons I have remained.  Some of the detail in the facades of these structures nearly makes me weep.  To an urban enthusiast, jaunting around here for an hour for the first time is like mid air coitus while skydiving on meth.

 

Winnipeg is home to the nation’s oldest running outdoor theatre and one of the world’s premiere ballets.  There’s a symphony orchestra, and several sporting events and concerts each year are exhibited at iconic venues.  We have a reputable art gallery, and host several major festivals each year, including one of the world’s largest folk festivals.  The Forks, an urban market area and tourist destination, is a revitalization success story comparable to Vancouver’s Granville Island.  Recently the densely populated mixed - use area Osborne Village was voted ‘best neighbourhood in the country’ by some s****y media outlet or something.  You get the idea.  There’s hope.

 

Many projects have come into fruition over the last few years.  We have a brand new airport and a new arena that hosts our ‘new’ NHL franchise.  The city recently constructed its first significant commercial skyscraper in two decades, and plans are underway for several new high rises in the core.  Our zoo is getting a massive overhaul, as is mass transit, and active transport, along with parks and trails.  University and college campuses around the city are expanding, as are health care centres.  Construction is underway on a new football stadium, a massive inland free trade port zone called CentrePort, an iconic national museum, and several other projects are soon to commence as well.    

 

I hope I have demonstrated to some degree that Winnipeg, like all cities, is subject to some misconception.  With the good there is of course bad, but I’ll be damned if I don’t see a lot of good.  I trust that this rant will grant me either an audience or some sense of healthy venting or accomplishment.  I would encourage others to take paths such as this if they are concerned about their city, the perceptions of their city, or the ignorant voices of a few attempting to drown out the voices of reason and progress.

 

The people I mentioned earlier that left such irrational and harmful comments do not represent my city.  But they are trying to.  I constantly hear that Winnipeg is ‘conservative’ and ‘behind the times,’ etc.  Some citizens are concerned that traditional values and religious - inspired bylaws are holding our city back in relation to others.  I agree with this sentiment.  However, at the same time I do not want my city to be viewed by either its inhabitants or non-locals as backwards or militant.  I think views like those expressed on the news website are a small minority in Winnipeg.  The people of this city are a lot more ‘average’ than some might suspect.  There are progressive people here too, as well as a large number of students.  Our economy is stable, as is our future.

 

Negative misconceptions of our city do nothing to help it.  And they’re often plainly, irrefutably false.  For example, there’s a longstanding reputation that Winnipeggers are ‘cheap.’  In actuality, we have above average retail space per capita in the country.  We’re often the first city to get a new product, because we represent the typical Canadian consumer market, and hence we’re usually chosen to be the test market for new products and services.  Other examples of widespread ignorant perceptions of the city are abundant.  I understand that people leaving comments on a news website may not be terribly influential or potent.  I also realize this piece will probably only serve to make me feel a bit better.  But stumbling across a myriad of horrible, repressive, and negative comments about my city by its own inhabitants sickened me.  I know they are the minority.  But we must all ensure that their voice remains the softest as well.

 

I think the negative qualities Winnipeg embodies should be addressed, but in a constructive fashion.  I also view recognizing and appreciating the good in this city can help motivate us to continue moving forward.  We face serious problems; perhaps more than most major Canadian cities.  At times issues such as poverty and crime and sprawl and decay seem daunting.  Yet I contend that my city is a beautiful city, and an unapologetically resilient one.  Through floods and strikes and riots it has remained stable.  Only recently has its growth escalated, and only recently has her full potential become known to a wider audience.  

 

Individuals who leave public comments calling the city a giant cesspool are not constructive, nor are they apparently aware of their surroundings.  People who do see their surroundings as intolerable should do something to change the situation.  If you’re in my camp and are an awesome person, then congratulations!  You are helping to make Winnipeg a cool place to live, and you’re one of the reasons it’s so compelling to stay a while and explore.  If, on the other hand, you’re the type of person who leaves ignorant comments and projects dishonest, ill informed perceptions about the city I Love….  Well, there’s a couple options available to you.

 

If you loathe this city so terribly much, then do something besides leaving feeble comments on a media website’s comment section.  The piece you’re reading right now may not reach many people or change many minds.  But when the sun sets it will have been passionate, and written in a fashion that suggests the author thought the issues and arguments through.  At least a rant like this can be taken a little more seriously.  So write your rant.  And when you’re done, if you still think Winnipeg is a cesspool that needs a curfew and near Marshal Law, so be it.  I’ll probably still think you’re an idiot.  But I’ll respect that you expressed your views in our democratic forum in a real letter.  You’re part of this mad collision too, and whining in a comments section does nothing.

 

If you want to change your city in other ways, then volunteer somewhere.  Or give to a charity or cause you like.  Manitobans give the most to charity out of the whole country, and I hope you’re part of that statistic.  Perhaps you wish to lobby the government, or petition for your cause.  You could get involved in some political or social justice group.  Get involved in this crazy urban collision and actually be part of the equation!  Get a change at City Hall.  Ensure more resources are devoted to your crazy urban militia schemes.  

 

Better yet, you could quit your bitching all together and recognize what you have.  You have First World Everything.  You have a stable economy in a city that has many beautiful attributes, if only you’d want to see them.  And if you want to see positive change, then make positive change.  If you feel affected by crime, express that view in a manner that will be taken seriously.  

 

If none of the above solutions work for you, then I have one final suggestion, you anonymous, irrationally negative, unappreciative, dishonest bigot:  Get the f**k out of my city.  I Love it here.  I arrived.  If you loathe it, leave.  If you’re going to spew negative misconceptions about my city instead of working to better your home, you might as well abandon ship like the inept, short sighted, lazy rat you are.  You will not be missed.

 

We all live here.  We may as well engage ourselves in the urban experience.  That mad collision of ideas and voices.  That most beautiful being of layered history and dreams.  Our city.

 

Love it, leave it, lead it, or lose yourself in it.  But always, always learn from it.

 

Let’s collide.  It’s such an amazingly beautiful thing.