Major city plans for Winnipeg neighbourhoods

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/03/2021 (1994 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The City of Winnipeg is currently in the final stages of developing major, city-wide plans. These include OurWinnipeg 2045, a 25-year development plan for everything the city does, and the related Complete Communities direction strategy. Complete Communities is a plan which will guide land-use, growth, and development in the city. These plans will govern the way neighbourhoods such as West Broadway change and grow over the next two decades.

From 1971 to 2019, the built-up area of Winnipeg has increased by 92 per cent while our population has only grown 37 per cent over the same period. The built-up area includes housing, stores and other developments to support the city’s growth. Between 1971 and 2016, the population of Winnipeg’s old neighbourhoods declined by 82,000 persons. This occurred due to a mix of smaller family sizes and people buying larger, single family houses taking up much more land in new suburban neighbourhoods.

This pattern of growth has had major consequences for Winnipeg. From 1971 to 2016, Winnipeg’s length of linear water pipes grew 131 per cent. This is over four times the city’s population growth in the same period and, obviously, puts a on strain on the city’s budget and services. The city estimated that there would be a $6.9 billion infrastructure deficit, spending needed for new and existing infrastructure, from 2018 to 2027. This results from a mix of needing to service much more land-per-person and a decade long property tax freeze n the 2000s.

The OurWinnipeg plan and Complete Communities aims to encourage more sustainable growth to address challenges like these. Key to this is the concept of a complete community, where people can live, work, and play in the same compact neighbourhood. With its mix of homes, workplaces, restaurants, shops and greenspace, West Broadway may be the epitome of a complete community in Winnipeg.

These plans set targets for smarter growth. They want 50 per cent of new housing units to be in the existing built-up areas of the city and for more housing and jobs to be along transit hubs. The plan also includes a more careful approach to outer suburban greenfield development and the goal of monitoring development trends.  

OurWinnipeg is currently undergoing finalization and approval, which involves review by the province. If implemented, it could govern the growth of neighbourhoods across Winnipeg and hopefully lead to a more sustainable city.

Dylon Martin is a community correspondent for West Broadway.