Where is it?

Every now and again I like to pretend that I am going to be healthy. This most recent time had me scouring the City webpage to find out where their fitness centers and pools are. That is the first problem - not easy at all to find on their homepage.

 Scrolling down, it seems like it might be under the "Activities and Recreation" section.

Nope.







So then I thought I would use their drop down menu that is probably there to make things easy... Well, I could get to it from there but it's not super clear as you can only get to it by selection "Community Centres" - which to me is not quite the same thing - but at least it takes me to a page with a menu in the left column that will take me where I want to go.

Once I finally found the page (also available after multiple clicks on the "Residents" tab) I started looking at my options.

One of them is the Eldon Ross Pool, which, according to the Homepage for this pool, it is located in the North End.

Nope. Not even a little bit. It is definitely on the wrong side of the tracks to even be remotely considered the North End. But, there is the helpful link to the "now" (Neighbourhoods of Winnipeg) tab! Ah yes, it is in the Brooklands Neighbourhood.

 I didn't bother to look at all of their listings, perhaps this is the only error. My guess would be that it's not, but last time I checked, this gig is a volunteer one (that occasionally gets me invites to events that have food. I like food). *EDIT* I went and looked, at least one other is wrong. It lists the North Centennial Pool as being in Point Douglas (and the "now" map says Dufferin).

But I guess I'm just curious as to how it ever got listed as being in the North End in the first place?? If the people doing our City website don't even know the boundaries of the common names given to the large areas of town perhaps it's no wonder that the media don't either. Haha, kidding, I totally expect them to know. For those of you not from Winnipeg, the North End has a very very very clear boundary to the south, a ginormous rail yard, this pool is most certainly to the south of that.

I've tried to figure it out, maybe they labeled it according to City Council wards? That could explain why North Centennial is listed as Point Douglas... oh wait, but Eldon Ross is still not in the North End (as there is no North End ward), nor does a Grant Park ward exist for the Pan Am pool as it is listed as being in. Maybe we are talking Provincial boundaries on the City website? Nope that doesn't fit either.

Basically, TL:DR - someone dropped the ball and the City of Winnipeg website needs some fine tuning!

Pssst.... wanna buy a castle?

Needless to say, there are not a lot of castles for sale in Manitoba, or perhaps even Canada. Which is probably a good thing because most castles were built in the days before indoor plumbing and central heating, two things I consider essential.

There is however, a "castle" for sale right here in Winnipeg, at 494 College Ave. In around 1906, construction started on this epic building (no, I don't know details like that at the drop of a hat, there is a incredibly detailed 3 part blog post on West End Dumplings).

People have been writing about this gorgeous house since the 50s according to a piece written by The Times two years ago, AND NOW YOU COULD OWN IT!!!

Since I refuse to consider the neighbourhood to be a downside to this property (because, it isn't, get over it) I would say that the complete lack of a back yard would be the only thing that might keep you from running out and buying this. It does have a pretty great front yard though, and trust me, you meet way more neighbours in your front yard vs. the back.

According to the listing for this property, 494 College is currently divvied up into 6 suites and assuming you live on the main floor in the 3 bedroom suite, you get to collect $2275 a month in rent! To point out the obvious, that means you would be being paid to live there... (assuming you could get away with 5% down, which you actually probably couldn't because it's a rental, but assuming you could, your mortgage would be $1344/mo based on the current asking price of $299,000 - but it's now been on the market for a month so you could maybe even get it a little bit less). Personally I would slowly start reclaiming some of the suites as personal living space, but so long as you left one or two you could still basically live for free. In a CASTLE.

Living in this house would put you in great company, with some of these other notable homes in Winnipeg, as found here.

Next thing you know we will get a Starbucks...

Well. The news is in.
Never has a store opening excited me this much. Oh, IKEA was great, I even got a sneak preview, but this, THIS is epic.

What could be getting me, generally against chains, quite so excited?

First, let's talk about the location of this new store. Salter St. and Flora Ave. Arguably the absolute core of Winnipeg's infamous North End. So, what have we got at that corner? Well, there is a grubby feeling Esso/Laundromat, Children of the Earth High School, Gill's Furniture Warehouse and, up until recently, a Petro Canada gas station with perpetually for sale fried chicken business inside.

Quite a few months ago they started what seemed to be dismantling the Petro Canada (the gas price on the sign last read 129.9 if that gives you an idea when it shut down). Only recently did it become obvious that it wasn't a complete tear down, but rather a massive renovation.

Then, the other day, this:

I literally cheered out loud as I drove by the sign.

Now, 7-11 is not without its faults, it truly is a convenience food store - should you want anything remotely healthy be prepared to pay through the nose for it. However, they are clean, their milk is always in date and they adhere to the maximum milk prices set out by the Province.

Oh, and they have SLURPEES.

I don't know how you missed it if you're a regular reader of my blog, but I bloody well love Slurpees. I can't explain it.  Otherwise I'm quite normal (ok, not really, but I can skip most of the things that other people can't live without and I'm indifferent to regular pop). 7-11 has always been my first stop when travelling to get a sense of what basics like bottles of water (in places where you can't drink the tap water - bottled water is ridiculous otherwise) should cost; it sets a benchmark. They are always brightly lit, open and clean. Oh, and in Thailand, serve as an excellent bill-breaker for those ridiculous 500 and 1000 Thai baht notes that no one else will accept.

What else does this say? Well, I think it demonstrates that the North End has come a long way. Many years ago there was a 7-11 at the corner of Salter and Aberdeen (now a mom and pop convenience store) but it closed, if I had to hazard a guess it was probably because between shoplifting and robbery it wasn't a profitable location. The fact that they are setting up shop again tells me that perhaps the North End is turning a corner in the minds of people who analyze risk for a living.

So, rarely will you see me quite so excited about a big corporate store opening up shop, but since I buy about 80% of my milk at 7-11 (in one litre containers only, otherwise their prices are absurd) and 100% of my Frozen Carbonated Beverages (tee hee, that's the generic name for Slurpees) there and it's perfectly placed to be a pit stop on my way home if I've headed south, I am over the moon!

Oh, and to any of you negative Nancys who are making snide comments about poor people/large sized people etc, just remember, it's a 7-11 deep in the heart of Southern Suburbia that sells the most Slurpees every year.

I bought adorable shoes in the North End

...and with one title I alienated almost all of my male readers. But this post isn't really about shoes. It's about the fact that there is now somewhere new that people can buy clothes here in the North End.

 
I noticed the other day that on Main St. a new little shop seemed to have quietly opened its doors, and when I had a chance I popped in to take a look. "Treasures by Diva - Recycling Boutique" has only been open for 3 weeks, but owner Annette (I'm guessing Treasures by Annette doesn't have the same ring?) is no stranger to the North End; she had a shop on Main at Mountain that closed down two years ago. After a stint in Thompson, she is back in Winnipeg.

Her new shop is a much better space than her old one, and has parking right out front. It feels bright and her merchandise on my visit was a good mix of higher end mall labels (Tommy Hilfiger and such), some special occasion and she even had a little bit of vintage. Throw accessories and hats into the mix and you have a nice little shop. Don't be shy about asking if the furniture is for sale, Annette tells me she wants to get into selling a bit of vintage furniture as well. The 1940s dressers that were in the shop were already spoken for!

 
She does consignment and will also take donations (I didn't dig deep but I got the sense that the donations were priced lower to help make things even more affordable for those on a budget) and I believe she is looking into giving trade value as well. Overall I found her prices to be mostly quite fair, you will certainly find them reasonable if you are used to paying the highway robbery prices at Value Village.

Hopefully a proper sign will be in place by the time you visit as it can be easy to miss right now.  Treasures by Diva is located a 1404 Main St., just south of Atlantic Ave.

Oh, and those adorable pink polka dot shoes (brand new, had been sold at hoity toity anthropologie) - they went home with me - who said research couldn't involve a little retail therapy?

Port-a-potty

You may not know it, but the simple port-a-potty can almost complete sum up why you don't need to automatically be afraid of the North End.

Last week the City started some sort of project on the street next to my house. Despite the fact that in stereotypical fashion there seemed to be one worker for every three guys standing around supervisor, and that actual hours worked didn't seem to be too many, they brought in a port-a-potty, or port-a-john if you prefer (port-a-loo if you're British!)

And then they left it there.

All week and weekend.

Now, much of the bad stuff that happens here in the North End is the result of teenagers with not much else to do. Arguably, some of that could be fixed with increased funding to recreation programs, family programs, housing allowances (so that they actually have a space of their own wherever they are living - nothing says get me out of the house like sharing a bedroom with your siblings!) and on and on and on.

Of course, sometimes, teenagers are just going to get up to no good because that's what teenagers do. As I've mentioned before, I grew up in a relatively privileged part of town, so much so that new McMansions were built in a former deer-filled meadow across the street from me.

With construction workers on site for months at a time, they needed somewhere to relieve themselves. Enter the port-a-potty.

Watch the bored suburban teenagers burn it down. I did. My bedroom window had a perfect view of it.

Goodness knows this wasn't the only act of vandalism that happened while I grew up in the 'burbs, but to this day I can't see a port-a-potty without thinking of the pile of melted plastic and uh, other stuff, that it turned into.

Moral of the story? Bored, under-supervised youth get into trouble in every part of town; it just doesn't always make the news. Much of what happens here in the North End is "typical" bored teenager stuff, not quake-in-your-boots-lock-your-car-doors-when-driving-through sort of stuff.

*Note - the port-a-potty was gone this morning, and not because anyone burned it down, tipped it over etc. We will chalk that one up in the "win" column :)

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's..... retail????

(The alternate title, of "It's a social service agency! It's an education centre! It's.... retail!", while more accurate, wasn't as catchy)

That's right folks, in the cute-as-a-button storefront at 788 Selkirk Ave, a retail store has emerged. I popped in back in January to see what Teri Beads was all about. Turns out it's a bead shop, owned by a woman named Teri. Huh, who would've guessed?

I remember seeing the construction take place last fall sometime, a bright white clean interior taking the place of what was offices (I believe Doug Martindale and Kevin Chief both used the space at some point). In a sea of places to that can help you get back on your feet, but nowhere to go once you do, it's a breath of fresh air to see some retail.

"Don't worry, bead happy!"

Sure, not everyone needs beads (she also has other decorative things like ribbon and such), but it's a start. Teri has kept the space nice and simple and her bright colourful beads are a particularly enjoyable sight during this long dirty winter. With the transformation of the Merchant's Hotel into education and housing space, more and more people will be coming to Selkirk Ave. on a daily basis; I think this means great opportunities for retail/restaurant spaces. With real estate now at a premium city-wide, you might want to think about Selkirk Ave - it once was a hub for shopping in the neighbourhood and could be again.

If you can't make it down to Selkirk Ave., clearly because you are not mobile, not because you are afraid of Selkirk Ave. (not an acceptable reason) check out Teri's online shop or her facebook page.

Also, when you pop down there, you will almost be directly across from Lao Thai restaurant - try the salad rolls, they're divine.

Winnipeg is the smallest big city on Earth

I know, the title of this post isn't exactly news to anyone, but I just had another one of those extremely crazy moments. Now, this one doesn't involve me stalking houses on the MLS (that's a first!) but it is pretty wild anyway. For more of my weird small world stories go back to this post (it also links to another) and this one.

Okay, so when I'm not busy planting flowers in my boulevard for hooligans to destroy and buying arborite tables, god how I love arborite tables, I hold down a job, well, two actually, but that's not the point here. So one of the things I do at my job is I help people find programs that might be able to help them fix up their houses. Now some of the programs I know about are city-wide, however, I specifically work with residents in the North End.

So today, I popped out for lunch and came back to a voicemail. She was good enough to leave her address as I request of people (makes it much easier to know what info to call them back with) which happened to be in Wolseley. Which more specifically happened to be in my BFF-since-I-was-6-years-old's old house!
Seriously, what on earth are the odds of this? Now, I tried calling her back, but no luck reaching her so far; I am absolutely desperate to know how she got my number (since I work with a North End organization). Did one of my business cards get wedged in a baseboard? To give a little extra perspective, I get maybe 3-4 calls a year tops from people who live outside the North End. Mind blown.

*Update: she got my number from a friend who does live in the North End, but it's still crazy*

Another quick what are the odds sort of story. There is a house on Home St., near Sargent that was once occupied by a girl I worked with at Grapes, I used to drive her home sometimes. Then one day in the early days of facebook I joined a group that talked about home renovations and things and they organized a house tour of some houses in the West End. That house was part of it (then owned by different people). Fast forward another year or two. Since I stalk the MLS, I noticed it come up for sale, and then when I noticed a friend congratulating another friend on the house purchase on Home St., I felt compelled to check to see which one. Yup. Same house. So I now know 3 people that have owned the same house, in a neighbourhood that I am not a part of, and those 3 people are not remotely connected to one another in any other way.

Do these sorts of things happen to you? We are a city of about 750,000 - it just seems insane to me to have things like this happen this often.

Completely unrelated to anything

I have a fear of single toilet handicap-accessible bathrooms. Like the ones at Subway and the Timmies "downtown" in Portage La Prairie. Yes, I know this is a departure from my regular complaining about everyone blaming the North End for everything and other such Winnipeg things but I needed to get it out there.

My office renovated a few months ago and now we have a nice big wheelchair friendly bathroom. Now, obviously I'm not actually against toilets being functional for those with mobility issues but why oh why must they be designed in such a way that if the door doesn't lock properly that someone could very easily catch you doing your business??? They are purposely designed to have the toilet far away from the door - there is no way to thrust your arm out and stop the door from opening!

I think it should be mandatory for these bathrooms to have a secondary lock system like one of those little slidey thingies, basically something that goes into a slot that I can visually verify that the door is indeed secure. Why don't I just double check when I go into these types of bathrooms you ask? Well, first of all, they all have the simple push button type lock rather than a twisty one (I hope I'm not losing you readers with all my technical terms like slidey and twisty...) and this is so that folks who don't have good dexterity can easily use them. Which means that if you try to check it, you are basically going to unlock it.

The other problem is, and the Timmies in Portage referenced earlier has this problem, is that if for some reason the door doesn't close completely (even though it seems like it's closed, I mean, I know how to use a door!) then "locking" the door by pushing in the little button doesn't do a lick of good because the catch isn't engaged properly. Thankfully, my paranoia caused me to discover this flaw before someone discovered me.

So, I therefore call for a secondary lock system, completely optional to use, for those who want that extra bit of security. Or if someone can at least put one in on my work bathroom that would be appreciated :)

**********

A quick note related to my usual rants...Today a Winnipeg family has lost their home in a fire. I'm not sure yet what they might need but I hope Winnipeggers reach out to them once we find out. The CBC, like most of the media outlets in town covered this story.  I appreciate that they left "North End" out of the headline, because for those that get their news by only reading the headlines I'm sure the reaction would have been a typical one along the lines of "must be arson", "it's the North End, it's always on fire anyway, who cares" and so on. Now, of course, it did technically happen in the North End, so I couldn't have faulted them even if they had chosen to use the neighbourhood name in the headline, but I truly believe little things like this make a difference to how the rest of Winnipeg perceives us.

If this post seems familiar...

Update 21/5/13: Since CBC hasn't bothered to change their misleading headline I was still able to get a screenshot today and add it to this post. I know they have received several emails (mine included) alerting them to the confusing use of "north end".

It would be because I wrote virtually the same one the other day. Is there someone new over at the CBC? Someone who has no idea how Winnipeg refers to its neighbourhoods? CBC has a story about a dog poisoning on their website that they seem to have had trouble figuring out where exactly it happened and instead resorted to a not-so-generic neighbourhood section of the city  Global knew that it was West Kildonan.

Screen shot of the CBC story

Winnipeg has a neighbourhood that goes by the name "North End". Which means that if you would like to talk about something that happened in the north part of the city you either need to mention the specific neighbourhood (either one of the 236 unique neighbourhoods or one of the two dozen or so more commonly used names) or say something like "on the north side of Winnipeg". Not capitalizing "north end" although technically from what I recall about writing does make it not about the North End, the neighbourhood, no one is going to make that differentiation. Especially if you opt to only use it when you mention something negative.

The Winnipeg Free Press published a great piece by Kevin Chief over the weekend that was an excellent summation of how many of us choose to see the North End. Of course, most of the city doesn't see our potential and our triumphs. Many Winnipeggers, and even Canadians, associate the North End with only things that are negative, like poverty, crime, and despair. I would be foolish to try to pretend that these things don't exist here, perhaps even in slightly higher doses than other parts of the city, but it shouldn't define us.

So, in Winnipeg, whether you say north end or North End, people think of the same place. A quick glance of the CBC website shows me that they haven't adopted some new policy of simply breaking the city into 4 - north, south, east and west - other articles mention specific neighbourhoods. So why, whenenver (okay, current whenever is based on the sinkhole story and this one - I don't have the time to go back and search for more errors - one is too many!) it's a negative story are they just skipping the step of finding out where it actually happened and blaming it on the north end?

With the recent murders in Charleswood (notice the CBC didn't call it the south end) I read many articles and saw mentions on social media that found neighbours to talk about how "things like this shouldn't happen in a nice neighbourhood like Charleswood" and so on. Newsflash: murder shouldn't happen in ANY neighbourhood. People in inner-city neighbourhoods are still mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers and friends. No one deserves to be killed, so stop acting so superior people.

As an aside, thank you to the many media folks who have taken the time to watch what you write by knowing your neighbourhoods and mentioning street names and addresses rather than SCREAMING NORTH END and in an indirect way, helping to tone down the hate for the North End.

Officially, it doesn't really exist

The North End that is. Today the City released their new "Neighbourhoods of Winnipeg" section of their website (ok, for all I know it's always been there, but I saw people talking about it on Twitter today so I think it's new). Did you know that Winnipeg has 236 neighbourhoods? I sure didn't.

Interesting, because as we all know, whenever anything bad happens it is generally blamed on one of 3 areas: the North End, the West End and Downtown. According to the interactive map, none of these "neighbourhoods" actually exist. Their map is drawn on top of a Google map and even though Google (and the rest of us) calls it Downtown, it's actually South Portage.

Now, of course, I don't necessarily expect anyone (read: media) to always be super specific when detailing where an event happened, but maybe that's the way it should be, for accuracy. That way we avoid the many slip ups that erroneously blame one neighbourhood for another one's troubles. Because it's pretty much always related to troubles. Take for example the sinkhole that happened in Garden City, which for the record actually does exist as a neighbourhood called Garden City.

Now, the CBC reported the story saying it was in the North End. I believe they originally had it in the body of the story as well as the caption of the photo, but I'm not 100% sure because when I saw it, it was just the caption. But the comments section makes me think it was probably the body at first as well. One comment, by GoodN1GHT stood out to me in particular (after another commenter pointed out that this intersection was not in fact in the North End):

"If there is a shooting in Tuxedo, Tuxedo temporarily becomes part of the North End. It helps to keep outsiders thinking that Winnipeg's problems are in one small area."

I agree with this statement, but would also add that it keeps locals thinking the same thing.

I've been harping about this for literally years. Now, CBC did change their story/caption, but the internet, like an elephant, never forgets. This screenshot shows all the various other agencies, websites and so on that picked up their story - their stories never got changed. Also notice that I didn't bother to capitalize "North End" in my search - neither did the CBC in their original caption... I realized technically someone could refer to any part of the city by its direction, yes, Garden City is in the the north end of Winnipeg. However, in a city that has two neighbourhoods that already unofficially go by North End and West End, the way to state this without confusion would be to say "on the north side of the city" or something like that. I'm also about 99% certain that this story (like every other) didn't mean to inform people that it happened somewhere in the the northern part of the city. Obviously, when talking about a sinkhole it's not horrible to "accuse" the wrong neighbourhood, but the same can't be said for crime.


Winnipeg, especially in the core areas, has a huge PR problem already. Our media needs to realize that they are the ones who can help change that. People who choose to remain uniformed about what is really going on around them will keep reading headlines and making snap decisions based on that information. It's very easy to hate the North End or West Broadway (okay, well it was easy to hate it back in like, the 90s) when that's all you hear before or after the words stabbing and murder.

Challenge people and their perceptions. Maybe we do need to utilize the boundaries of the 236 neighbourhoods. In which case, I really don't like Eric Coy and all of its ditches. Or Elmhurst for that matter. If this isn't the way we go (because it would be very tedious to figure out every time, that's why we already have the broader neighbourhood terms), then we need to have the media adapt a standard format such as the ### block of Any St. (kudos does go to the Winnipeg Sun for often doing exactly this). This will slowly help retrain the brains of those that make their decisions based on media headlines.

As for defining those broader neighbourhood labels, I think asking organizations that have those labels in the name what their boundaries are - like the West End Biz, or the North End Community Renewal Corporation and so on would be a good start. If there are differences then maybe everyone just needs to sit down and hammer it out, once and for all.

If a tree falls in the forest...

...and that forest is in the North End, does it make a sound? Nope, but it sure does if it's in South Winnipeg.

And if that forest isn't a forest, but poor garbage service, it makes a sound within 10 days.

"The department made it clear there would be some kinks that would have to be worked out the first little while. It's not unreasonable to give them a reasonable amount of time to work out the kinks. After that, there are penalties that should be implemented on the contractor," Katz said  ... If problems such as missed collections persist, the city could take work away from the company, she added. - From the Winnipeg Free Press

Now, I wrote a post back in August, specifically about the NEW garbage service, for which I know some of my neighbours are still having trouble with theirs (well over the one month grace period). I have also been questioning, literally for years, asking someone to get back to me about the specifics of the contracts that the City has for garbage pickup. In fact, I am still waiting on a response from Councillor Eadie to an email I sent months ago.

What specifically have I been asking? I've asked what the penalties are for the contractor not fulfilling the contract. For example, when I, on many many MANY occasions have called in bulky waste to be picked up, only to have it continue to sit there and then follow up with 311 only to be told that that case has been marked as "closed" (or completed). I've questioned why we are paying a contractor who gets paid per piece* (or rather, ticket, which contains up to 6 bulky items) who fraudulently claims they have done the work. *To be fair, I've not actually been able to verify that this is how their contract is set up, however it has been expressed verbally to me that the system runs along those lines.

Can you imagine the uproar if you tried any of this cr@p at your job? "Oh hey boss, I know I'm supposed to have this report in today, I'll get to it within a few days, I'm just running behind" and a few days later "what do you mean all the pages of the report are blank? I totally completed it, file closed. What's that, do it again and you'll give me the same wage to do what I already got paid to do, but didn't?" Sign me up to work for the City please!

This type of garbage nonsense has been going on in our Neighbourhood for years, but hey, the rest of Winnipeg goes 10 days with poor service and the Mayor is calling for action. He must not be friends with the owner of Emterra.

How much of a stink do I make about it?

Pun intended.

Well, we've switched to the fancy new garbage carts on my street. I completely forgot to use it the first week that we could (August 3rd) because the autobins were still around and I was still using it. My recycling? Well, I just plain forgot to put that out, but that's nothing new - at least now the big cart holds two weeks worth.

So, enter week 2 (August 10). I put my carts out Thursday night and when I came home Friday after work, the garbage had been picked up, but not the recycling. I called 311, waited on hold for ages to talk to a real person, only to be told that the contractor had until 6pm to pick it up. It was 530. So, when of course it wasn't picked up at 6, I called back to lodge a complaint.

I was told that there were any number of reasons why the truck may have missed the pick up, however it could take up to 24 hours for the reason to be input into the system. I asked when I could expect it to be picked up. I was told to put it out on the next business day (Monday) and if it wasn't picked up on Monday it probably would be on Tuesday, but that if it wasn't picked up on Tuesday to just put it out on my next regular day (Friday). I would like to give that policy an official WTF?? So you're telling me, that if my garbage/recycling is missed, I have to wait TWO DAYS before it might be collected? Whose genius idea was it to have the North End have Friday as its pick up day? The part of town where stinky plastic bins are most likely to be set alight should wait an additional two days? If our pick up day was Monday, then in theory missed collections would be rectified on Tuesday.

Now, thankfully, my instinct told me to put the cart out again Saturday as I know from looking at the yearly schedule that they do indeed sometimes work Saturdays. It was picked up - but had I followed the advice of the 311 operator I would have been dragging it out Monday and Tuesday only to have it ignored. Now, I am an able bodied person so dragging the cart back in forth in summer is no big deal - what about my 95 year old neighbour? What about in winter when even for me it's not going to be easy, what with the giant snow rows that are created by the plows?

As well, with the removal of the autobins, there are spots all over the North End where it's very easy to see where they once were by the rubbish that surrounds the area. Before one of the bins near me was removed I called in a complaint about the bulky waste, being sure to be very specific about the type and quantity that was there. I called it in on a Thursday night and I was informed that since it hadn't been called in 48 hours before our new regularly scheduled bulky waste pick up day (also every Friday) it would be picked up the following week. It wasn't.

So not only is it completely ridiculous that I have to call it in, so that they can then send a City employee out to verify that it is what was called in (yes, that's right, there is a paid position that drives around to simply verify called in complaints. This person does not report any waste themselves, just drives right on by anything not on their list) but then they don't even pick it up???

Can you imagine if a regular person ran their business this way? They would go bankrupt in no time because of ridiculous business practices. "Hi there, I'd like to hire your to move my things to my new house" *patiently wait on the scheduled day of move, no one shows up, call movers* "Hi there, you were supposed to move me today?" "What? You will come maybe tomorrow or the next day, you don't really know?" "You expect me to still hire you and pay full price?" Yet, seemingly this is the way the contracts that the City has work. Cool. Remind me to bid on the next one as seemingly it doesn't really matter if I follow my contract.

Here I go again...

In a post that ties in with my last one about boundaries and how they relate to the perceptions of crime in this city, I have another example of how the media often gives a negative bias to the North End. In this article from the Free Press on Saturday, there were 6 fire incidents reported (well, 8, but two were 2-for-1 deals). The two fires that were OUTSIDE of the North End simply had their approximate address given, no neighbourhood. 3 were listed giving both the xxx-block of xxx AND pointed out that was in the North End, and one was listed as being in Shaugnessy Park (so, they do get points for not calling it the North End, since, y'know, it wasn't).

I've taken the liberty of tweaking this article for the Free Press.

THERE were two house fires and six garage fires in the city overnight Friday.
The first fire broke out in the 400 block of Boyd Avenue in the North End St. John's in a garage late Thursday, causing $8,000 in damage. This was followed by a fire at a home in the 1300 block of Raleigh Street in Munroe West at around 12:40 a.m. There was a total of $20,000 in damage to the home and contents.
Hours later, police were called to a garage and shed fires on Magnus Avenue in the Shaughnessy Park area at around 2 a.m.
An hour later, another fire broke out in a home in the 600 block of Selkirk Avenue in the North End William Whyte* (*could have been Dufferin, depends what side of the street it was), causing $80,000 in damage. Soon after, at around 3:30 a.m., there was another garage fire in the 100 block of Enfield Crescent in Norwood, causing a total of $35,000 in damage.
At around 6 a.m., firefighters were called to another two garage fires in the 200 block of Pritchard Avenue in the North End William Whyte. The total damage from the first fire was $10,000, while there was no damage estimate available for the second.
No one was injured.

Of course, it also could have been written in a more simple way that would force those hell bent on coming up with a negative attitude towards a particular area to do some research:

THERE were two house fires and six garage fires in the city overnight Friday.
The first fire broke out in the 400 block of Boyd Avenue in the North End in a garage late Thursday, causing $8,000 in damage. This was followed by a fire at a home in the 1300 block of Raleigh Street at around 12:40 a.m. There was a total of $20,000 in damage to the home and contents.
Hours later, police were called to a garage and shed fires on  in the XXX block(s) of Magnus Avenue in the Shaughnessy Park area at around 2 a.m.
An hour later, another fire broke out in a home in the 600 block of Selkirk Avenue in the North End, causing $80,000 in damage. Soon after, at around 3:30 a.m., there was another garage fire in the 100 block of Enfield Crescent, causing a total of $35,000 in damage.
At around 6 a.m., firefighters were called to another two garage fires in the 200 block of Pritchard Avenue in the North End. The total damage from the first fire was $10,000, while there was no damage estimate available for the second.
No one was injured.

 See how easy that was to stop shouting NORTH END?  I am no dummy, I know there is crime here, and I'm not against it being reported; the crimes are a fact, facts should be reported. All I ask is that in a city already so biased against a particular part of town is that the media don't fuel the fire. As you just read, we have enough of them here already.

Boundaries

Sigh. Well, looks like the North End is to blame again, even when it isn't. By now you've all heard about the story about the puppy found in a dumpster, but what I bet you didn't know is that Jefferson Ave. is in the North End. That's because it isn't. Although according to the Free Press story it is.

A little Rayne never hurt anyone, so why would someone toss the cute little puppy into a city Dumpster?
That's what staff at Winnipeg's Animal Services Agency -- and a whole bunch of Free Press online commenters -- are asking after the eight-week-old shepherd-collie mix was found wet and cold in a North End Dumpster last week.

...

Rayne was given medical care and vitamins, and "(has) been eating a lot while she's been here," said Gordon, noting the puppy has gained a pound in the few days since she was found in a dumpster on Jefferson Avenue.

Now, admittedly, I'm more sensitive to these sorts of things and although it would be hypocritical of me not to complain if this was a positive news story that was being pegged as the North End if it happened on Jefferson, I don't think that kind of mix-up generally happens the other way around. I don't know where exactly on Jefferson Rayne was found, but it was likely somewhere in West Kildonan or The Maples, NOT the North End.

However, I do have a North End quick story for ya. So last night, after finally falling asleep (I've somehow injured my rotator cuff I think, and boy, does it make everything uncomfortable, especially sleeping!) I was jolted back to life by a hard and fast pounding on the front door. My roommate was first to answer it, but it appears the police had been led to believe that someone at my residence was being stabbed. No idea where they got this thought, but they seemed content with my roommate's simple, "um, no" and went on their way, waking neighbours up across the street, trying to find a stabbing in progress. 5 police cars later, they all left, not having been able to figure out who was being stabbed. My roommate wondered as to where our "regular" cops were - the ones who have come to take statements on more than one occasion.  Must've been their night off.

Investing in the community

I think I've only just found out about this as the press conference is about to start, however the opportunity should be available for the foreseeable future. Neechi Foods, as I'm sure many of you are aware is a Co-op here in the North End on Dufferin, however is soon going to relocate to their new space in the former California Fruit building at the corner of Main and Euclid.

According to the News Release I saw this morning,

You are cordially invited to attend the public launch of our first Investment Share Offering. The purpose of the share offering is to help raise capital needed to complete the development of Neechi Commons community Business Complex at 865 Main St. The Investment Shares will be sold to the general public marking the first time that any cooperative in Manitoba has offered shares to non-members as well as to members. Residents of Manitoba will be eligible for the Province's 30% Community Enterprise Development Tax Credit on share purchases of up to $30,000.

Neechi Commons, which we hope to open in June, is expected to help bring badly needed revitalization to Main St. north of the CPR tracks and to adjoining North-end neighbourhoods. It will feature a neighbourhood supermarket, a fruit and vegetable courtyard and farmers' market, cafeteria restaurant, specialty boutiques, a bakery and an Aboriginal arts centre. Over 50 new jobs will be created, drawing heavily on local are residents. The complex, a a make-over and expansion of the California Fruit Market building, includes geo-thermal heating and cooling and has been awarded Green Globes certification for its high environmental standards.

Neechi Foods Co-op is incorporated as a worker cooperative, owned and operated by its staff. The existing store on Dufferin Ave. has been in operation for over 22 years.

So whadda ya think folks? Instead of investing in intangibles with your current investments, why not watch your investment at work? It will be interesting to see if Neechi ends up having the same success as Pollock's, which exceeded all expectations (see below from the Pollock's website).

In the first year, sales were up 22% above the projections outlined in the business plan and member equity investments were 38% above the established business plan targets.
Pollock’s continued to surprise by exceeding expectations and becoming a financially stable business. Most recently, in 2011, Pollock’s Hardware Co-op paid 5% interest to those who bought investment shares and has also expanded the investment share program. The co-op has also purchased the building at 1407 Main Street and has thereby guaranteed it’s continued presence in the North End neighbourhood. Membership has continued to grow and has nearly reached 2000 members.

Also in 2011, Pollock’s Hardware Co-op entered into a Social Enterprise Centre with BUILD and Manitoba Green Retrofit. Together they purchased a warehouse at 765 Main Street and will use the location to bring social enterprises and non-profits together. Pollock’s will rent 5000 square feet to use as a warehouse and supply BUILD and Manitoba Green Retrofit, as well as other contractors and the general public, with building supplies. This second location will open its door in the spring of 2012.

I personally can't wait to see the lumber side of Pollock's open up at 765 Main (entrance will likely still be off Austin St.). That has been the one major thing that they have been unable to compete with the big box stores on.

I hope the next big thing for the North End is some high quality shops and services (not service agencies!) for Selkirk Ave. Lotto Max is $41 million tomorrow - a girl can dream!

I was going to keep this a secret, but....

If I won the lottery I was totally going to do this anyway. Sufficed to say, my good fortune in the weekly Lotto Max draws has not panned out quite the way I had hoped. Although I suppose there is hope for the next time there is a $50 Million jackpot...

Assuming it does not go as planned, yet again, I might as well share my idea in case there is anyone out there who does win it and needs some inspiration. As it turns out my idea is already a "thing" as described in this article. Basically, wouldn't it be great if we gave some struggling entrepreneurs (and some well-respected local businesses) a chance to open up a storefront here on Selkirk Ave? Winnipeggers love free things more than just about anyone so I think demand would outstrip supply.

A mix of old and new businesses and services (but no more social services!) could help to bring back some vibrancy to this once grand strip. Wouldn't it be great if there was a little coffee shop that served exciting things like espresso and lattes? With all the students attending classes on Selkirk they would probably do a brisk business. Local art could hang from the walls and there could be posters abound for local upcoming events - just like that quaint coffee place in another part of town. Stealing an example straight out of the article, what about a bike place that did repairs? Not all of the bike riders here in the North End are kids running drugs - for some it's their main, economical, environmentally friendly mode of transport. Heck, if they could figure out a way to repair strollers they'd make a killing; the amount of abandoned strollers I see is mildly disturbing... Once upon a time there was a bike shop on Selkirk

I, dare say in my plan.where I have won the lottery, since I would be the one buying up all the buildings that I would perhaps even offer up to a year free rent to really give them m a chance the to establish themselves. Imagine though, lottery aside, if the commercial property owners along Selkirk did that of their own accord? I imagine if/when they wanted to sell their property it would be a lot more valuable with a tenant in it (with the assumption that the businesses would stay on after establishing themselves.)

Well, here's to dreaming *imaginary glass clink*

Short and sweet

While this also follows my mini-restaurant trend, it is also North End related.

I just had a Fat Boy and fries from the White Top for lunch and I am now sitting in my chair with that contented feeling you get when you indulge in comfort food; I've mentioned this place before but if you're new to my blog let me fill you in. The White Top is located on Salter, in between Manitoba and Magnus. It is a take-out only place, but it has a drive-thru if you are too chicken to get out of your car (which, of course you shouldn't be, get over it). Call on your way there and place your order and then you don't even need to wait, instant burger gratification.


The staff are ALWAYS exceedingly friendly (but genuine) and seriously, if you do the walk-up option check out how freakishly clean it looks in there. I have this one weird request I always make when I go there (no, I'm not going to tell you what it is) and they very graciously accommodate me every time. Probably my favourite place to nosh in the North End. And in the "Fat Boy Idol" contest the FreeP ran the White Top is also champ. Go. Now. Go Hungry.

New Year, same Girl

First and foremost - let me say that just because I don't have you in my blogroll, does not mean I don't like your blog. I just haven't had time to go through and update and it's been quite a while. Feel free to send me a scolding message.

New Years is the time of year that we all tend to make resolutions that we are unlikely to keep. I get it, it seems like a good idea, a perfect day to start fresh and be able to keep track of our successes (and failures). But I think that I read somewhere that most successful diets start on a Tuesday, less pressure that way or something. It seems the same could be said for any New Year's resolution, so I figure why bother today if it's doomed to fail anyway?

With the holidays I have been absent from the blogosphere, we could pretend that I was doing something super interesting, but I wasn't really. I tried to keep up with all the goings on city and world wide, but I think the story that stuck with me the most was one that probably struck a chord with many of those who keep up with Winnipeg related blogs. The fire that reduced a condo building on St. Paul Ave to rubble was that much more real because I know someone who was so close to the situation (Christian, still so glad it wasn't YOUR building). As well, being an animal lover, and cats in particular, I was overwhelmed with emotion when I heard that Wyatt the cat had been rescued. My heart gets tight when I think of the other cat, Fraidie, and the sad reality that if she hasn't been found yet (if you know that she has please let me know!) that being that wet and cold, it might be more of a recovery situation.

In the early hours of the reporting on the fire, all the usual suspects were trolling the comment sections of the FreeP, and when it was reported that Wyatt (at that point unidentified) had been found a couple of people alluded to the fact that they never would have left their animals behind, and admittedly I was curious as well; but I have never had to run for my life, so I can't pretend to say that I absolutely wouldn't leave without my animals. I like to think that I wouldn't of course, but I also don't think I could necessarily pass judgement on someone else for saving their own life. When it emerged that the couple who lived in that suite were away on holidays it reminded me how important it is that we build relationships with our neighbours.

I don't know if Fraidie's fate would have been any different in this particular situation, and for all I know, attempts to save the cats were made because of input from another resident, but we need to remember to talk to our neighbours. Recently I had a situation with one of my neighbours, and I could just hug my tenants next door for bringing it to my attention. Even though neither of them have been with me for long, they were concerned because something seemed amiss with the house on the other side. It turns out my neighbour was out of town, which if it wasn't winter I probably would have known from friendly chats in the yard. I will remind her when I see her next to please let me know next time so I can help keep an eye on her place.

Neighbours and a sense of community are your first line of defense when it comes to safety. I'm not sure where I developed the idea that this is so important - I don't think my parents really communicated with the neighbours. I suppose if you know who is around you it is harder to turn a blind eye to things, they are no longer nameless people, they move more into the circle of friends. Now, I'm not saying that you need to monitor every movement everyone on your street makes, that's just creepy, but take an interest. If your house caught fire wouldn't you hope that someone piped up and was able to alert the fire department that you have a cat inside? Or what if you could save the life of an elderly neighbour because you noticed that something was amiss, like the newspaper wasn't brought in for a few days and you were able to contact a family member so that they could check in?

So, lessons learned from the December fires of 2011:

1. Get tenant insurance - the residents of the apartments on  Beverly St. learned the hard way, it is extremely valuable to have, and many don't
2. And this isn't just because of fire, but let at least one neighbour (ideally who is around a lot) know a little about you and your schedule so that there is at least one person in the world knows if something is amiss or can recognize your pet if gets out or worse, trapped in the house.

Well, that's it, clearly I didn't make a resolution to become less long winded. I hope everyone had a pleasant end to 2011 and of course an even better 2012. See you around the 'hood - murder free so far this year, crossing my fingers it stays that way!
 -

A tale of two neighbourhoods

Last week a Winnipeg family suffered a terrible fire that will change their lives forever. Of course the commenters who troll the comment sections of the various media outlets were out in full force. What a difference being rich makes. Almost a year ago, another Winnipeg family suffered a catastrophic fire where they also lost everything, but the commenters were a little less sympathetic. Now, strangely, the comments on the FreeP stories seem to have disappeared; all the links I followed on the North End fire offered me the chance to be the first commenter - somehow I don't think that everyone forgot to comment on that site.

The one comment on the Linden Woods fire that took a shot at the comments that usually end up on any story about the North End (or other supposedly less than desirable place) got deleted; I don't remember what it was exactly and it wasn't as articulate as it could have been but it touched on the fact that if were to comment in the same way about this we would need to question if this was perhaps a grow-op (even though the article clearly stated it wasn't, but that never stops the genius commenters normally, although I do think it was all said tongue in cheek) Of course if it was a true mirror of they type of comment generally made about the North End it would have read more like this "What do you expect in a neighbourhood like that, it was probably Asian gangs growing marijuana, houses there are always getting shot at"

In the North End fire, although there were sympathetic comments on the CBC story many of them also chose to zero in on the father of the 10 children, attacking his character and the fact that he had so many children. I can only presume that in the mysteriously missing FreeP comments section there was the standard "burn the whole neighbourhood down" comment that I see every time there is reference to fire in my neighbourhood. Curiously in the case of the Linden Woods fire, the commenters lambaste the the Free Press for daring to mention who the victim was or what he did for a living, saying it wasn't relevant. Yet telling the world that the father of 10 was unemployed and on welfare was apparently relevant to the North End fire. To be fair, the FreeP only mentioned he was unemployed, it was the commenters in the CBC story that felt the need to mention that he was on welfare, and link to a story (that I couldn't open because I'm not a paid Globe subscriber) that implied it would dish all sorts of other details about this man and his life.

I think that more than anything, what the reporting for the Linden Woods fire stories are missing are more details about the cause of the fire. We've now learned that it was caused by a heater in the garage, but I want to know way more details and I think the media is missing out on a great opportunity to educate the public. Forgive me if one of the media outlets did go into more detail and I just happened to have missed it - I was pretending to have a bit of a life this weekend and reading excessive amounts of news is usually more of a weekday thing.

So what exactly caused the Linden Woods fire? Was it because they plugged a heater in with an extension cord? Did they drape something over the heater? Was it a baseboard heater with faulty wiring? Was the heater just plain left unattended like all the instruction manuals warn us never to do??

On a very random note, did you know that it seems to be Linden Woods not Lindenwoods? One of the main streets that crosses through there is Lindenwood Dr. so I suppose that's where the confusion comes from. It also seems as though business are split on what to call it as there are both when they use the community name in the business name. I think I corrected all my "errors" but I will likely revert to my old ways eventually - I've apparently been spelling it wrong for about 20 years already!

And this is why there are no strangers in Winnipeg

We've all heard it expressed before that Winnipeg is one giant overgrown farm town, and that everyone knows everyone, but I just had one of my strangest experiences to date. So while browsing the MLS (as one does. Right? Everybody does that right?? I mean, that's how I found this place, which is still for sale, with a $10,000 price drop from the time of the original post) I came across this charming little place on Selkirk Ave.

After reading the wordy description, which I of course liked, as I have, ahem, been known to be a bit wordy myself, I decided to click through to the pictures to see if it would better jog my memory as to which house this actually was. And what did I find? Well gosh darn it if I didn't find a piece of original "artwork" designed by Winnipeg Girl herself! Seriously. What are the odds of that? Now, of course you're all wondering if I'm actually some sort of high profile artist that you've seen in a gallery (okay, maybe one of you is wondering) and that of course then it wouldn't be odd to come across my works occasionally in Winnipeg homes.

The MLS link will go dead after the house sells so here it is.

What if I told you that it was a piece I decorated back in the day (well, more like the middle of the night actually) when I used to get home from late night restaurant shifts and needed to do something to unwind while watching Law & Order reruns at 2am? What? There were no blogs then. Plus, I lived in a non descript concrete construction apartment block in River Heights so there wasn't really much to blog about. Don't judge.

So, I called (okay, texted) the friend who had bought the chair from me at my yard sale only to find out that she had in turn sold it in a yard sale a few years later. So my admittedly primitive piece of "art" went from a yard sale in the North End to a yard sale in St. James and ended up back in the North end on Selkirk Ave. And then I saw a picture of it on the internet. To think that people actually wonder how it is that everybody knows everybody by three degrees of separation or less.

It also makes me happy that it is nicely displayed and not shoved in a corner :)