There’s plenty to praise about the ‘Peg

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/12/2023 (628 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

One Great City, the mournful love letter to Winnipeg recorded by the Weakerthans, features a series of vignettes that most long-term residents of this city would instantly recognize: a dollar-store clerk counting loonies; a Winnipeg Transit bus late on its route; a car stalled by relentless cold, blocking a turning lane. They are all images of a Winnipeg that, lamentably, are top of mind for many Winnipeggers who seem to only see this as a glass-half-empty community.

The song culminates in the now-infamous chorus that mimics what many Winnipegger say about their city: “I hate Winnipeg.”

Of course, Winnipeg is so much more than all that, and Weakerthans frontman John K. Samson’s poetic examination of Winnipeg’s psyche is not actually a condemnation of the city.

It is, in fact, a condemnation of the attitudes in this city.

What Winnipeg really needs is a more objective analysis based on the facts of life here. Perhaps even a national analysis of this city compared to other communities based on an array of sober metrics.

Fortunately, that is exactly what the Globe and Mail did late last month. And guess what? Winnipeg rocked the survey.

After examining 32 “aspects of a community” that “comprehensively depict each city’s attributes and characteristics,” Winnipeg was ultimately rated as the third most-livable city in Canada (behind only Victoria and North Vancouver, respectively) and the top city to raise kids.

And Winnipeg wasn’t the only Manitoba community to rank high in this study: the province’s second-largest city, Brandon, ranked 22nd in livability and third as a place to raise kids.

For context, those rankings are out of 439 communities in Canada.

The Globe and Mail acknowledged the results put Winnipeg — a city that is greatly disparaged both within and without — in “unfamiliar territory.” The paper’s story quoted Prof. Jino Distasio, director of the University of Winnipeg’s Institute of Urban Studies, as noting that Winnipeg’s relative geographic isolation, cold winters and gritty downtown often contribute to negative impressions. But the reality, using objective metrics, is that we’ve got it pretty good.

Prof. Distasio noted those negative impressions are easily belied by Winnipeg’s enduringly affordable cost of living, vibrant arts and culture, and abundant public amenities. Even things like the cold weather, a negative in many parts of the country, have become an important element of Winnipeg culture that we embrace, rather than avoid.

Winnipeg certainly has its challenges, and one national study won’t eliminate the need for the people of this city to confront problems with mental health and addictions, street crime, poverty and ongoing reconciliation with Indigenous people.

Those problems can seem — both in number and scope — too big to make this a livable city. Again, the reality is that every city has these problems, or a version of these problems, that threaten the overall quality of life.

Many Winnipeggers may not know how to react in the face of plaudits like this. Here’s a suggestion: bundle up and take a long walk on the frozen Red River trail, have a great meal at the Forks Commons, and then maybe walk a few blocks and take in a performance at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre.

And remember that our ability to do all that, in a single day, is what makes Winnipeg so great.