dove grace

writer, bon vivant, Winnipegger

Entry for 09/09/06

It's been a while, hasn't it?

    Admittedly, my page has been a very low priority.  I've been busy (as my alter-ego Conceited Jerk) with a bunch of other things these last few months, and as such, haven't had a lot of time exploring issues.  Which is a shame, since I missed out on the Winnipeg Folk Festival, the Fringe Festival, Folklorama, the Critical Mass movement vs Winnipeg Police controversy, among the more interesting.

    Now that we're nearing Autumn, I'll be updating more often.  I'm an Autumn person and tend to be out-and-about more during the Fall months, camera and coffee in hand.  I will also be working hard on the design of my page, perhaps even registering my own domain!  All in good time.

Entry for 01/21/06

Hello hello!

    I did something different today.  I did my part to help Winnipeg's "Downtown Renaissance" by buying groceries at The Bay.  Admittedly, it may sound a bit naive to believe the simple act of buying potscrubbers, bread, and milk downtown made a difference, but hear me out.  While there, I'm comparing The Bay's prices to those of the grocery stores in my area, and if the prices are comparable, The Bay may just work its way into my routine.

  When I leave work every evening, I take the bus downtown, walk through the skywalks (The Bay, Portage Place) to my transfer point, then catch the North Main Express bus to West Kildonan.  If I have grocery shopping to do, I usually take the bus to Garden City in order to go to Safeway, then bus it back to my place.  It usually adds 30-45 minutes to the trip.  Now, if The Bay thing pans out, I can spend the 10 minutes in the store, then walk across Vaughan St to catch my bus, adding at most 15 minutes to my trip, with a lot less walking.

So, how is this going to help Winnipeg's "Downtown Renaissance"?  I'll tell you!  I'm increasingly doing my personal shopping downtown already (McNally Robinson for books, mags; HMV for music; The Bay for clothes; and of course the many coffee shops and restaurants!), therefore pumping more and more money into downtown businesses.  I'll be studying the viability of all this compared to shopping "locally", and post my results here.  My hope is to show fellow Winnipeggers, who either work downtown or travel through it each day, to stop and smell the roses.  Our downtown has everything the suburban malls have, and it's on the way home!

Granted, not everyone is riding the bus.  One common complaint I hear from motorists is about the (perceived) lack of available parking downtown. When people complain about the lack of parking, I usually point out that there are several parkades downtown.  More often than not, I notice what they're really complaining about is a lack of FREE parking...

- dove