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Exchange District

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This article was published 04/12/2024 (586 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

David Pensato has been a big fan of the Exchange District since his older brother first took him to visit the area back in his high school days. For a kid from Charleswood, excursions to such a different locale were always memorable.

“It’s such a unique part of the city,” said Pensato, who, fittingly, is now executive director of the Exchange District Business Improvement Zone.

“It was a neat place to hang out, and it continues to be a great place to hang out and spend time. I think the Exchange District is a really unique ecosystem, a really unique neighbourhood in our city,” he continued.

Established in 1989, the Exchange District BIZ encompasses an area east and west of Main Street from Waterfront Drive to Adelaide Street, and north and south from Galt Avenue to Portage and Main. A board of directors of up to 12 elected members from Exchange District businesses, plus one city council appointee, oversees the BIZ operations and represents the broad range of business activity in the area.

Initiatives for the area’s ongoing improvement run throughout the year. A maintenance and beautification team keeps the neighbourhood looking its finest, running the area’s recycling program, cleaning up unwanted graffiti, planting flowers and working with city staff to ensure physical infrastructure is maintained. The community safety team includes the Exchange patrol, which acts as the neighbourhood’s eyes on the street. Promotions and community-oriented activities include popular historic walking tours, outdoor active-living programs, and more.

While staff numbers fluctuate seasonally, a core of four to five office staff keeps operations running year-round.

For Pensato, achievements over the last year have involved returning the whole neighbourhood to conditions before the pandemic.

“Restoring things, having the area come back to life, supporting the Fringe, Nuit Blanche, doing the Alleyways event in the Exchange every month, Lights on the Exchange with Artspace and the Winnipeg Arts Council; getting back into the swing of things, working behind the scenes, having core services in place: it’s all kind of like pre-pandemic,” he said. “We were doing bold and exciting things. It feels more like we’re getting it all back.

“We really like to focus on building the strengths that the neighbourhood already has, to expand on what’s there, move forward to extend what’s already working, with events like Nuit Blanche that has people spilling out into the streets. We want to make it easy for people to do things. Arts, culture and creativity really help the Exchange District to thrive.”

Years ago, many Winnipeggers would think of Old Market Square and the surrounding area when they thought of the Exchange District. They needed to be reminded about the East Exchange. Nowadays, making those connections is easier.

“The distraction between east and west has been melting away,” said Pensato. “Bannatyne has become a strong connector between the two sides of Main, and with the significant residential growth, and a lot of new businesses, people don’t feel that disconnected anymore. There’s more than just east and west, there are little pockets, a few different little sections,” he explained, encouraging visitors to explore when they’re out and about in the area.

“If you just stop for a moment and walk and look and pay attention — I love walking around every day. I love this neighbourhood.”

Pensato challenges people to take a walk in the area and discover some of the top-notch restaurants, the architecture, the streets, shops and galleries and take in the innovation and creativity the Exchange has to offer.

“The business owners just keep making it work. They love it and are committed to it. People are inspired to open their first business here. Many are surprised to see the residential population increase. There’s a lot of demand from people wanting to live in the Exchange District, contributing to more excitement. We’ve weathered the pandemic better than a lot of places. The Exchange is alive and well.”

On Nov. 30 — which was Small Business Saturday — the Exchange District BIZ launched its annual Shop Local, Shop the Exchange campaign. For details, and information on all that the Exchange District BIZ does, visit exchangedistrict.org