TRUWinnipeg.org

I have been to Central Park a few times in the past 5 years, including one or two Critical Mass bicycle rides.
It has the potential to be such a beautiful urban park, and decades ago the writers of the Downtown Winnipeg Plan (1969) said that its boundaries should be expanded and the park itself be [...]

Here at TRU Winnipeg, we’ve found that critiquing the local discussion on urban issues is rather like playing a never-ending game of whac-a-mole—each time we smack down the clueless assertions of one ostensible academic, instantly pops up another.
The most recent bit of disingenuous drivel comes from University of Winnipeg professor Christopher Leo, who claims “expertise” [...]

Robert Galston, The Rise and Sprawl
[Editor's note:Where the hell is Heritage Winnipeg? Let Sport Manitoba know how you feel about their disregard for our city's history by phoning them at (204) 925-5907.]
Point Douglas is going to look great in two years…
…from my rearview mirror. I can’t wait to move out and leave the renewal to [...]

Robert Galston, The Rise and Sprawl
Manitoba is, according to Prof. Allen Mills’s piece in the Free Press today, under “soft despotism,” and governed by bureaucracy.
I should know: I live in North Point Douglas. Here, as in the North End (where between Selkirk and Redwood, conditions are becoming so deplorable that they would make villages in [...]

Robert Galston, The Rise and Sprawl
Comparisons to residential schools are out of line…

…this is more like a maximum security prison.
If architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was right when he said “God is in the details,” then the conceptual drawing for Youth For Christ’s recreation centre renders a Godless box.
This is architecture formless and [...]

Don’t try this in Chicago.
The dreaded surface lots in the background are about 70% full, so most of these were shot during weekday business hours.
The problem here is that all parking downtown is 2h restricted, forcing you into a private lot if you want to drive to work, and guaranteeing fines for overnight guests of [...]

Robert Galston, Winnipeg Free Press
Headed south down Waterfront Drive on an unseasonably warm November afternoon, the row of new condo buildings lining the winding roadway met my eye.
Architecturally, none of these buildings are notable for anything but average attempts at cartoonish “heritage” design, but taken together, perhaps with eyes squinted a little bit, they gave [...]

Commercial viability is more desirable than empty lots
Robert Galston, University of Winnipeg Uniter
A small commercial building is under construction at a vacant corner of Sherbrook Street and Westminster Avenue. The main tenant of the building will be a Subway restaurant. Like Stella’s Bakery next door, this small development has been regarded as an attempt to [...]

Robert Galston, Winnipeg Free Press
It’s easy to get excited about the plans Red River College has for the Union Bank tower on Main Street. Built in 1904, it is a true example the early skyscrapers, not only by virtue of its height, but by its adaptation of classical orders to a tall building. Reaching 11 [...]

Commentary by Donovan Fontaine, via Facebook Protect the Heritage Buildings of Winnipeg from Demolition by Neglect
As it is evident from [this story, "Grain Exchange Annex to face demolition"], Heritage Winnipeg appears to be failing Winnipeg in regards to its stated goal of “restoration, rehabilitation and preservation of Winnipeg’s built environment.”