Turning around the decline of Portage Avenue

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/08/2024 (396 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Portage Avenue, as it runs through downtown, was once a great street to visit, walk along and shop. It’s not so much anymore.

Today, little remains of its glory days as one of Canada’s busiest shopping streets. What contributed to this demise and is there a way forward?

Portage was a vibrant and diverse street with large retailers anchoring bustling sidewalks lined with shops and services that catered to the needs of a fast-growing Winnipeg. Cars, bikes, buses and streetcars all made their way along the street and sidewalks were lined with pedestrians, often shoulder to shoulder.

In its heyday, you could grab a coffee, see a movie, shoot a game of pool, get a haircut, buy a magazine or attend a medical appointment.

But this diversity faded and by the 1970s, decline and empty storefronts began to dominate, especially on the north side of the street. In 1980, government intervened and poured hundreds of millions of dollars to bring back retail.

This saw investment in projects such as the Concourse, Portage Place and Eaton Place that were all connected to a growing skywalk system.

Despite these investments, Portage Avenue endured a stunning loss of several million square feet of retail over the last few decades. To put this in perspective, you could think of stacking at five or six IKEA stores on top of one another to come close to what has been lost!

It’s safe to say the large format retail experiment on Portage Avenue failed. Why? There are lots of theories such as the rise of the suburban mall and the suburbs in general; slow population growth; a faltering economy; the loss of businesses; young people leaving the city; the expanding skywalk system that moved people off the street to perhaps the rise of online shopping (let alone a pandemic).

So can we move forward?

Over the past 20 years, there has been a resurgence in the downtown generally but Portage remained stalled and much like nearby Graham and perhaps Ellice Avenue, there just was not enough “good” to spread around. Perhaps the following considerations might help Portage reclaim its title as a great street.

First: Portage needs to become a great walking street.

We can only do this by encouraging people and businesses to make it such. Investment has to make it attractive to stroll, shop and linger with a range of service types and experiences available.

For example, on a recent Friday at noon, I counted a mere 250 people on Portage between Memorial and Main. We need this to rise to several thousand.

This might sound impossible but there should be 50,000 workers, 20,000 students, 18,000 residents and thousands of daily visitors to draw from in the downtown on any given day.

Second: The redevelopment of the former Bay and Portage Place.

It might seem counterintuitive to say the loss of over a million square feet of retail in these two projects will help grow retail, but my view is this will create street-level opportunities.

There simply must be a reasonable threshold of retail function along Portage to support the population noted above.

What better location than on a highly visible and historic thoroughfare? As well, these two projects will add even more housing to Portage that includes some already great office conversions.

Third: Creating a vibrant street-level environment.

To encourage visitors, residents and workers to truly experience the street, there must be more investment in design, great lighting, better sidewalks and art. This will make walking and experiencing the street so much better.

Four: Using sidewalks more creatively.

While encouraging patios can help, sidewalks offer opportunities for small-scale retail, food carts, art installations and pop-up activities. We must plan for this to be, where possible, year round. We are a winter city and it’s time to use our outdoor spaces in the downtown more creatively year round.

Five: Removal of the bunkers at Portage and Main.

Portage must be walkable to and from the Forks and Exchange. This will enhance movement and encourage more pedestrian engagement along the street.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

Head Start

Weekday Mornings

A quick glance at the news for the upcoming day.

Sign up for Head Start

Sign Up

I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

We have thrown a lot of money at Portage Avenue in hopes that large projects would leverage further investment (both retail and commercial).

This did not pan out well.

For Portage to become a great street again, it needs to start with an invitation for people to come back — but only to a street that has more to offer. In my view, there are plenty of people in the downtown.

They just need better reasons to be on the street.

Jino Distasio is a professor of urban geography at the University of Winnipeg and is a lifelong Portage Avenue walker, visitor and shopper.