Lights, sports and land: a wish list for West Broadway

Mayor Scott Gillingham would like us to phone our MLA regarding safety concerns in West Broadway, because homelessness, housing and addictions are a provincial concern.

This explains a lot.

Previously, Gillingham’s over-reliance on policing as a solution to social ills has puzzled me, in an if-you-only-have-a-hammer-everything-looks-like-a-nail way. But since the mayor seems unaware of the ways his office could lessen the harms and promote social cohesion in West Broadway, I’d like to help him out.

First up, some low hanging fruit. The streetlights in West Broadway are spaced illogically far apart. My block has two streetlamps, both on the same side of the street. Once the sun goes down, there are portions of street that are completely black. I cannot see someone approaching, let alone recognize them or assess risk.

Mayor Gillingham, install some better lighting, please.

Next, initiate youth sports in the neighbourhood. The school division is doing everything it can, having established an inner-city soccer league, an inner-city football league, and an inner-city basketball league that is wholly run by divisional employees and only during the day while the school year is underway.

There is no pathway to competitive sport in West Broadway. There is no regulation hockey rink, no club sports, no city-sponsored organized recreation of any kind during the evening. A lot of talented young athletes have recently arrived from countries where informal youth sport is central to identity and recreation.

Continuing in my helpful spirit, here’s a nice one-two punch that should be easy to campaign on, with Winnipeg’s municipal election set for Oct. 28.

First, please, please help with derelict buildings. There is one at the end of my street that has burned at least four times and, yet, still stands. The neighbourhood is dotted with others. People are living in these buildings, lighting fires, consuming drugs, swearing and fighting while children walk to school. Have you no pride in this city? Why is this allowed to continue? “We’re working on it” has been the answer to that question for an inexcusably long time.

Related to that, expedite permits and sale of vacant land in West Broadway. Prioritize applications that respect the neighbourhood need for a diversity of housing, not just the bare minimum needed for people to survive. A healthy neighbourhood needs a healthy base of long-term residents to maintain stability, and long-term residents need reasons to stay in the neighbourhood (see everything else on this list). We can’t expect things to improve without civic infrastructure to make the neighbourhood somewhat attractive.

Acknowledge that the only maintained soccer pitch, the only full-size basketball court and the best-maintained play structures in West Broadway are all administered — not by the city — but by the Winnipeg School Division. Among the school division, the neighbourhood organizations and individual citizens, there should be a contingent of city participation in revitalization, don’t you think?

During peak traffic times, a flood of commuters flow through West Broadway, looking to avoid southbound gridlock on Maryland. This is the same time children are coming home from school or heading out to friend’s houses. I watched one get hit by a car right in front of my house last year.

Prohibit turning onto Spence, Young, Langside or Furby streets from Broadway during peak times. Let our children and families enjoy their neighbourhood, the same way families in River Heights are protected from commuters trying to avoid the left-turn gridlock from Academy Road onto Stafford Street during peak times.

Finally, here’s my shoot-for-the-moon pitch for West Broadway: expand Sherbrook Pool.

Recently, one of the aforementioned vacant buildings was demolished adjacent to the parking lot. This leaves the pool with available land to the south that includes the parking lot and the empty lot — probably more than 100 feet of additional frontage, maybe more.

If you worked with the province, perhaps you could also acquire the Hydro land directly to the north. Build onto the pool to make a proper rec centre for our neighbourhood.

Give citizens a reason to love Winnipeg. Every little bit of it.

rebecca.chambers@freepress.mb.ca