City of contradictions

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Winnipeg will be getting its first IKEA store, giving it more of a big-city feel. New York City got its first IKEA store last June in Brooklyn, complete with an actor portraying the iconic Statue of Liberty at the grand opening. ( MARK LENNIHAN / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES)

The 350,000-square foot-IKEA store is being seen as a kind of validation of the city. It is as if, at last, we've grown up and become big enough to attract a true megastore. Calgary has one. Edmonton has one and now Winnipeg is getting one.

No longer will we have to order shelving online from Montreal and wait two to three weeks for it to arrive. In just a few years, we'll be able to drive to Kenaston Boulevard and Sterling Lyon Parkway, load our flat-packed furniture on to an IKEA shopping cart, push it past the check-out, choose the option of having it delivered at very reasonable cost and receive it the very next day.

When folk in Toronto ask: "How big is Winnipeg?" The answer can come back, "Well, we've got an IKEA and, oh yeah, there's the Canadian Museum for Human Rights."

In terms of bragging rights, Winnipeg is becoming a Big City.

Will Saskatoon, Regina, Halifax or Thunder Bay be getting a national museum or an IKEA in the near future? No way. Suddenly, we are back where we think we should be -- in a list of cities that's not only a tour stop for the biggest bands -- it's a retail and historic centre, too.

How long can it be before the Phoenix Coyotes come back home?

That's one side of Winnipeg. It's right that we should celebrate the recognition of our success that such projects bring. But it's the contradictions that I wanted to write about.

The city and the province will spend $18.5 million to upgrade and widen Kenaston to handle IKEA traffic. The city could not, however, find any extra money out of its $476.1 million capital budget to add to the relatively small $2.25 million it has committed to cycle paths and sidewalk and curb repairs. At the same time, a developer just walked away from his plan to build a 331-unit apartment building in North Kildonan because of local opposition.

The city seems to lurch two steps forward and one step back. What do apartment buildings and cycle paths have to do with a new IKEA and the human rights museum? On the surface, not so much. In reality, all these things are connected to what kind of city Winnipeg can become and what we want it to be.

There was a time when Winnipeg would have been a natural choice for a major retailer. That era is represented by the magnificent Bay building and was once reflected in the huge, warehouse-like Eaton's department store where the MTS Centre now stands.

That era has long gone.

For years Winnipeg has been in relative decline as Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver have taken its place as vibrant, growing cities. Over the past decade Winnipeg's relative decline has been replaced by new growth and a renewed optimism. The coming of IKEA is the most obvious result of the way Winnipeg's prospects are now viewed by outsiders. The city is ceasing to be the butt of jokes. The province's economy looks likely to be among the best in the country.

But Winnipeg's city leaders are still failing to grasp the opportunity that is before them. IKEA is a store beloved by younger people, by those looking to furnish small spaces effectively, fashionably and cheaply. The Canadian Museum for Human Rights should be a beacon for students and should spur the intellectual life of the city. The city has the opportunity to attract and keep a younger population.

That young population wants to see the city caring about the things it cares about: affordable rental accommodation and, the most obvious of all, a plan to develop every kind of transit that can attack climate change.

Developing bike paths and cycle lanes is a small thing. As a symbol, though, it is huge. Council, however, fails to see how a small commitment can have a big impact. They have the opportunity to appeal to younger people and they turn it down.

If I were IKEA, I would want to see the city becoming a younger, smarter place. I would see the human rights museum as a huge step. But I would wonder at the lack of vision at city hall. Young people need apartments to live in, and cheap ways of getting around the city. When is council going to get it?

Nicholas Hirst is CEO of Winnipeg-based television and film producer Original Pictures Inc.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition December 18, 2008 A15