sweep the leg Posted May 6, 2014 Report Share Posted May 6, 2014 Point Douglas would have been interesting. Just to see what they could do with the area. To be honest, when I walk from my hotel to the stadium in Regina on Labour Day, I don't get the sense of it being the nicest area around either. Very true. The last Labour Day I went to we ended up taking a wrong turn going back to our hotel (possibly due to intoxication) and ended up virtually alone. We were 90% sure we were going to die a violent death. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Unknown Poster Posted May 6, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2014 It would have been wonderful to buy up all of Point Douglas and demolish it and build a high end development featuring a stadium over looking the river. Got a few billion dollars? That was PR plan, plain and simple. Manitoba is cheap. The province and city wanted a few bucks from the feds so we got the U of M plan. The fact it required people to take public transit was looked upon as a positive because thats what the lefty tree huggers want. Just look at that idiotic Pembina HWY development where they spent all that money moving Pembina over six feet to place cyclists right in harms way as they play real-life Frogger dodging cars along the route. A much smarter plan would have been choosing a side (east or west) and turning the existing sidewalk into a n active transport pathway, much like they did along Pembina south of Bison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
17to85 Posted May 6, 2014 Report Share Posted May 6, 2014 Point Douglas would have been interesting. Just to see what they could do with the area. To be honest, when I walk from my hotel to the stadium in Regina on Labour Day, I don't get the sense of it being the nicest area around either. That's because it's Regina and the whole place isn't the nicest area around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DR. CFL Posted May 6, 2014 Report Share Posted May 6, 2014 The plan at Point Douglas was a no go for a number of reasons, similar to a failed waterfront proposal in Hamilton. There was no infrastructure present in either case to support a project of that magnitude. The cost would have been prohibitive. U of M was a compromise to secure federal and provincial funding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueandgoldguy Posted May 6, 2014 Report Share Posted May 6, 2014 The plan at Point Douglas was a no go for a number of reasons, similar to a failed waterfront proposal in Hamilton. There was no infrastructure present in either case to support a project of that magnitude. The cost would have been prohibitive. U of M was a compromise to secure federal and provincial funding. Yes and as Iso stated earlier the traffic there would have been worse than the U of M site. Based on where they would have built the stadium in the Point Douglas proposal ( the waterfront) there would have been two ways out - Higgins (a crappy winding road which bottlenecks down to two lanes at the Higgins bridge going east) and Waterfront Dr (a two-lane street not exactly conducive to heavy traffic). Not sure why people use the Disraeli as an argument for the Point Douglas stadium as you can't even access it from Point Douglas. It's only accessible from Main St. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iso_55 Posted May 6, 2014 Report Share Posted May 6, 2014 Point Douglas would have been interesting. Just to see what they could do with the area. To be honest, when I walk from my hotel to the stadium in Regina on Labour Day, I don't get the sense of it being the nicest area around either. Yeah, that isn't a nice area to be sure. But the new stadium in Regina is going elsewhere & I believe that the Mosaic Stadium site & neighbourhood will be razed for mixed development after that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iso_55 Posted May 6, 2014 Report Share Posted May 6, 2014 Not exactly Point Douglas though, it was waterfront, they were gonna extend waterfront, point douglas isn't that bad, I mean, yeah it's sketchy at times but really name an area and it's sketchy at times. Really it's no worse then the downtown region by the MTS Centre. Point Douglas could be a gorgeous area, its surronded by the river, it's unfortunate that it's a giant waste of space though and it's unfortunate there are people living there who just don't give a crap. It could be quite beautiful if it was indeed redeveloped. It's not like they were gonna build this stadium near magnus or manitoba avenue, now that area is sketchy at all times. Point Douglas is close to Main Street. The area is run down. That entire part of Winnipeg would have to be bulldozed. As bad as the U of M site is for access & egress of traffic it is still better than Point Douglas. But that was the whole point. They were going to bulldoze a good portion of that dump and improve it. And if you're that scared to to leave a football game with 30,000 other fans around you at night then I don't know what to say. I am pretty sure people said the same thing before they built the MTS Centre too. What about people who would have worked at the stadium in PD & left after everyone is gone? No 30,000 people left an hour after the game is over. One thing a football stadium would bring are restaurants. But who would go to Point Douglas when there's no game on & wondering if their car would still be there when they came out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted May 6, 2014 Report Share Posted May 6, 2014 Point Douglas would have been interesting. Just to see what they could do with the area. To be honest, when I walk from my hotel to the stadium in Regina on Labour Day, I don't get the sense of it being the nicest area around either. Yeah, that isn't a nice area to be sure. But the new stadium in Regina is going elsewhere & I believe that the Mosaic Stadium site & neighbourhood will be razed for mixed development after that. Considering that this is Regina, how will they know where to stop bulldozing derelict buildings? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iso_55 Posted May 7, 2014 Report Share Posted May 7, 2014 You really believe that Winnipeg civic politicians had the political will to bulldoze that entire Point Douglas area for a football stadium & retail development? Considering that the mean family income for the area is $24,000 just where would these displaced people go? No politician wants to deal with the homeless issue as I'd say the majority of people who live in that area are renters not homeowners & they would have to find a different, probably more expensive place to live. I don't believe that any politician would approve a development where the bulldozers would have to raise entire blocks of homes to get something built. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JuranBoldenRules Posted May 7, 2014 Report Share Posted May 7, 2014 The plan at Point Douglas was a no go for a number of reasons, similar to a failed waterfront proposal in Hamilton. There was no infrastructure present in either case to support a project of that magnitude. The cost would have been prohibitive. U of M was a compromise to secure federal and provincial funding. Yes and as Iso stated earlier the traffic there would have been worse than the U of M site. Based on where they would have built the stadium in the Point Douglas proposal ( the waterfront) there would have been two ways out - Higgins (a crappy winding road which bottlenecks down to two lanes at the Higgins bridge going east) and Waterfront Dr (a two-lane street not exactly conducive to heavy traffic). Not sure why people use the Disraeli as an argument for the Point Douglas stadium as you can't even access it from Point Douglas. It's only accessible from Main St. Disraeli is accessible from Sutherland Ave, but it's an obstacle course of residential streets to get there from where the stadium was proposed to be situated. The Point Douglas thing was pure politics. Asper was just throwing everything at the wall to see what would stick. Eventually the tie-in with the University stuck, the redevelop an old decayed industrial strip toss didn't connect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPuDS Posted May 7, 2014 Report Share Posted May 7, 2014 To be brutally honest, point douglas needs to be dealt with at some point.. Its an absolute train wreck of some really nice property.. Never have i seen an area so needing of a raging block by block fire or watts district riots... As to where do the residents go? Elsewhere! Theres low income housing or low rental units in every area of the city.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bomber_fanaddict Posted May 7, 2014 Report Share Posted May 7, 2014 Not to mention PD is in the middle of a meander in the River which could lead to flooding of the stadium (From the river this time not the snow melt). and the area likely isn't suitable for a building of it's size and weight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holoman Posted May 7, 2014 Report Share Posted May 7, 2014 To be brutally honest, point douglas needs to be dealt with at some point.. Its an absolute train wreck of some really nice property.. Never have i seen an area so needing of a raging block by block fire or watts district riots... As to where do the residents go? Elsewhere! Theres low income housing or low rental units in every area of the city.. Very true, however ( I don't have actual number) you're not dealing with 2 or 3 people, and asking a lot of people to uproot their families seems unfair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPuDS Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 To be brutally honest, point douglas needs to be dealt with at some point.. Its an absolute train wreck of some really nice property.. Never have i seen an area so needing of a raging block by block fire or watts district riots... As to where do the residents go? Elsewhere! Theres low income housing or low rental units in every area of the city.. Very true, however ( I don't have actual number) you're not dealing with 2 or 3 people, and asking a lot of people to uproot their families seems unfair. No, i suppose your right.. Wishful thinking i guess. Shame to see such prime real estate go to waste..., much like the shore line along the winnipeg river where powerview reserve is on the way to pine falls... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JuranBoldenRules Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 I worked in Point Douglas previously. It's not a slum by any means, it's a neighbourhood with older homes. There's more people drawing their income from the government than the average neighbourhood, but there are also a lot of young working families who have moved into the neighbourhood as some of the housing stock is renovated and rebuilt. Most of the riverfront property off Sutherland was contaminated and destroyed by Hydro and is not suitable for development and honestly most of the eyesores in the area are current or former industrial land. That's what really needs to be addressed, that's what the stadium plan would have addressed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPuDS Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 I worked in Point Douglas previously. It's not a slum by any means, it's a neighbourhood with older homes. There's more people drawing their income from the government than the average neighbourhood, but there are also a lot of young working families who have moved into the neighbourhood as some of the housing stock is renovated and rebuilt. Most of the riverfront property off Sutherland was contaminated and destroyed by Hydro and is not suitable for development and honestly most of the eyesores in the area are current or former industrial land. That's what really needs to be addressed, that's what the stadium plan would have addressed. I did not know that about the river front property... That's an absolute shame.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iso_55 Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 I looked up the stats & average family income for Point Douglas is $24,000 so I'd dispute that it's not a poverty area. I think that is below the national average. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JuranBoldenRules Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 I looked up the stats & average family income for Point Douglas is $24,000 so I'd dispute that it's not a poverty area. I think that is below the national average. It is a low income area, but not a slum. Doesn't need to be nuked. People who make less than average need somewhere to live too. Not everyone can buy a $175,000 800 sq ft condo that overlooks a backlane and 7-11 dumpster. The vacant industrial lots and old factories that haven't been operated in 30 years could use some investment though. comedygeek 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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