Letter writer sparks city-wide conversations

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/01/2021 (2019 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The power of the pen remains apparent in 2021.

Leading up to the 2018 municipal election, longtime Elmwood resident and community activist Michel Durand-Wood was tired of how little those running for office had to say about major municipal issues, such as sustainable infrastructure funding or infill housing. Instead of letting it get him down, though, he decided to write about it. 

“I just started putting ideas on the internet to see where it would go,” Durand-Wood told The Herald. 

Now, Durand-Wood’s Dear Winnipeg… blog has tens of thousands of local subscribers who all tune in and share his entertaining posts on municipal planning.

“City politics might not be the most exciting topic, but the idea was to make it accessible to anybody to get a sense of what is going on and how it affects them, and what they can do as citizens to maybe get the ball rolling in a different direction,” explained Durand-Wood, who signs each post as Elmwood Guy.

While Durand-Wood does not have a background in city planning or politics, he has been involved with the Chalmers Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation and the Glenelm Neighbourhood Association for years. His Dear Winnipeg… writing has been informed by the Strong Towns movement, which originated in the United States from the writings of Charles L. Marohn Jr., a city planner and engineer. 

“My goal is to take these principles and apply them to Winnipeg and see if it can apply here,” he said, noting that all data used in his posts comes from the City of Winnipeg’s own open data portal. “It’s a conversation starter.”

The subject matter, along with Durand-Wood’s conversational, often irreverent writing has certainly struck a chord with readers, as do the pop-culture references (Star Trek, The Simpsons, or Arrested Development, for example) that he peppers throughout each posts. Many of the blog’s entries have been shared widely on social media, sparking conversations among activists, citizens, elected officials and others with an active interest in shaping how Winnipeg makes decisions.

“This stuff isn’t super riveting stuff,” the father of three chuckled. “My goal is to condense it down to an accessible format, so people can stay informed and ask insightful questions that should be answered by our elected officials. If we don’t have the answers, we should seek them out.”

For Durand-Wood, it is important for anyone interested in shaping the city’s future to start at home, at the grassroots level.

“For me, it comes down to the most impactful things we can do is start with a bottom up approach,” he said. “It’s about quality of life for yourself, your family and neighbours. The neighbourhood is a microcosm of the city. Everybody has a lot of common wishes for what their neighbourhood could or should be. It’s a matter of working that together, to make sure we can meet those needs in a sustainable way so we aren’t just off-loading debt and responsibility into the future.”

To continue the conversation Elmwood Guy has started on Dear Winnipeg…, the blog will being hosting guest-bloggers from different neighbourhoods across the city. The idea, he said, is “to drive that point home, that we can all do this from wherever.”

Two guest posts are lined up, with more in the works. He’s also interested in hearing from others who might want to contribute.

“Get in touch,” he said. “I want to highlight the stuff people are doing in their own neighbourhoods to make those neighbourhoods and the city a better place to live.”

Visit dearwinnipeg.com to read past Dear Winnipeg... posts or subscribe to the blog.

Sheldon Birnie
Managing editor

Sheldon Birnie is the managing editor of the Free Press Community Review. Email him at sheldon.birnie@freepress.mb.ca or call him at 204-697-7112

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