Winnipeg’s most pressing land use issue

For decades I’ve been a reader of a unique American publication called the Planning Commissioners’ Journal, a voice of sanity on city planning issues. The editor of PCJ, regrettably, is working on the magazine’s final issue, and asked readers to send comments about their community, and the land use challenges it faces.

Here’s what I had to say about Winnipeg:

My home is a beautiful Canadian city with a fascinating history that’s killing itself slowly with sprawl infrastructure, as we lay pipes and build roads at the fringe while infrastructure at the city’s heart decays. We continue on this path, despite the fact that, as a community, we understand the value of older areas. Downtown revitalization, and the preservation of an architecturally stunning warehouse district, continue, and make progress, even as the streets and underground infrastructure deteriorate further. Winnipeg’s urban self-evisceration is its most pressing land use challenge.

That’s what I told the Planning Commissioners’ Journal, and that’s what I say to my fellow Winnipegers.