I was really happy to read this article in the FreeP.

If you missed it, here’s the gist. In the wake of recent violence in the North End and the subsequent deterioration of quality of living for the residents to levels even below what they were before, the aforementioned have banded together to present a petition to the Winnipeg Police Service calling for an aboriginal police unit for their neighbourhood.

Although I cannot claim to have lived in the North End or to be an expert in the issues that its residents face, I have always held the view that a solution for Winnipeg’s most violent neighbourhood needed to come from the ground up. And even if the solution presented by Mr. Hunt’s petition doesn’t present the solution that will solve the issues, it is that all important first step in the right direction.

It is necessary for a solution to this particular set problems for the North End to come from the community itself, due to the fact that Winnipeg Police simply to not seem to be connected to the community. I’m not sure if it’s force policy or just the fact that the weather outside often isn’t conducive to spending quality time outside of a squad car, but the WPS simply does not have the same street presence that I have observed in other cities.

I especially love that this particular problem can be seen as an argument against sprawl, as geographical consolidation of the city gives officers more opportunity to walk, although that’s a topic for another blog post. (Tough on sprawl, tough on crime, Mr. Katz.)

However, sticking to my point, the city and the police absolutely must seize hold of the momentum provided by this petition and act. Whereas Superintendent David Thorne’s “statement” truthfully (to some extent) argues that diversity exists in the force, it feels dangerously close to arguing with the message of the petition that there is a lack of connection between the police and the community.

The simple fact of the matter is that if the police say they are connected with the community and the community says they are not connected with the police, the community is right. As such, serious public dialog must now begin between the two groups, and continue until an agreed solution and set of actions is put in place. For the WPS to agree this collective cry for action will be a fatal mistake. And I don’t mean that metaphorically.

It feels great to start the blog off on what I feel is one of the best developments in the progress of Winnipeg in a long time: The Yards at Fort Rouge.

I learned of this new development through Mr. Kives’ article in the FreeP today, and although the tone of the article shows concern about the opposition brought by Lord Roberts residents, I feel that this resistance is actually a good thing.

In the majority of neighbourhoods in Winnipeg, (it might even be safe to say all of them,) the common knee-jerk reaction to new ideas is almost always “no way”. However, as opposed to a hindrance, this Winnipeg-style opposition can be seen as an advantage we have over other cities. We have the opportunity to address real concerns, such as sewage capabilities and congestion, as opposed to finding out those things later if there had been no resistance to the project.

Unfortunately the first opportunity has already been missed, as residents have expressed that they felt there was a lack of consultation during the lead-up to these most recent announcements. However, it is still not too late to address these concerns and provide answers, even if it is too late for them to effect whether or not the project goes to council for a vote.

That being said, this is an opportunity for proof of concept that absolutely cannot be missed. Although it is hard to see, in car-addicted Winnipeg, how one of these developments could function, it is impossible to set precedent without just trying something. Such developments will greatly increase the stakes involved in the Rapid Transit system, (if they weren’t high-enough already,) by adding the question of whether this property-tax-related funding for the line itself will come in or not.

In addition to the property tax question, there is also the future possibility of the Fort Rouge Yards being the model upon which a transit-centered property management strategy is created for Winnipeg. Two years ago, Translink in Vancouver developed a real-estate division that, if predictions hold true, could bring up to $1.5 billion in revenue.

Imagine CentreVenture, (bear with me,) working together with Winnipeg Transit, developing properties around potential rapid transit hubs for higher density, then turning them around for a profit after the completion of said rapid transit line and giving that profit back to Winnipeg Transit for the creation of more rapid transit. Self-sustaining transit systems are few and far between in North America, so this would definitely put WT among the top of its class.

Obviously there are still hurdles to overcome. At this point, we don’t even have a complete set of plans for our rapid transit line, let alone the line itself. There is much work to be done on the line itself before we can delve into the exciting possibilities around transit-related property management.

That being said, keeping this end goal in mind would be some fantastically progressive thinking for a city that doesn’t seem to do that a lot. As with everything, we absolutely need to stay involved, and, most importantly, optimistic.

I admit that, ever since starting my first blog while bored in a Political Economy class, I’ve had a few “welcoming posts”. However, none of the blogs they introduced excited me quite as much as this one!

When you describe something as being in progress, you talk about a project that you’ve begun, that shows promise, but still needs a lot of work before it’s done. In the case of this blog, I use it as a metaphor for Winnipeg.

During the span of time between my first trips to the city as a young kid to visit relatives, all the way to my planned move in January, the city has grown on me. Clearly not as some kind of utopian land, but a place that is growing, and affords its residents the opportunity to do so along with it.

I hope to use In Progress is a chance to become one step closer to putting my money where my mouth is, and getting my ideas out into the open. I look forward to the opportunity to strike up new dialog apart from what already happens on Twitter.

Talk soon!