By Brent Bellamy, Creative Director and Architect
The Red River Mutual Trail regularly attracts skaters to get in some winter activity. (BRENT BELLAMY)
It is mid-January, and through hard crusts of frozen breath on their tightly wrapped scarves, Winnipeggers across the city can be heard muttering to themselves "Why do I live here?"
By Brent Bellamy, Creative Director and Architect
Every young intern architect in the country has been through the experience of having their eyes glaze over when first trying to solve the Rubik's Cube puzzle known as the National Building Code of Canada. For those in Manitoba, that challenge just became much more difficult.
By Brent Bellamy, Creative Director and Architect
Weighed down by book-filled backpacks, groups of young people brave the autumn cold as they race between monumental stone buildings set geometrically around a sprawling open lawn. This pastoral scene is the traditional image of a university campus, but today, post-secondary institutions across Canada are creating a new backdrop for student life by returning to the bustling streets and soaring office towers in the cores of cities.
In an age of globalization and mobility, universities increasingly have to compete nationally and internationally for students. Young people today are more often looking for cosmopolitan lifestyle choices and are beginning to focus on educational programming that will make them career- or enterprise-ready upon graduation.
By Brent Bellamy, Creative Director and Architect
Two weeks ago, Winnipeggers made an emphatic statement that it is time to move in a new direction. On Election Day, voters rewarded mayoral candidates who were not afraid to dream. They overwhelmingly supported those with urban-focused priorities, moving past the traditional debates of potholes, photo radar and synchronizing traffic lights, to engage with ideas that described a broader vision for the city.
By Brent Bellamy, Creative Director and Architect
Winnipeg's population is increasing only because of immigration. Its downtown is expanding largely because of public subsidies. Crime rates in the city remain high and social inequity is growing. Roads are crumbling, civic services are declining and taxes are rising in an attempt to keep up with the low-density, sprawling city we have decided to build. The people chosen in Winnipeg's upcoming municipal election will have a number of significant challenges ahead.
The difficult solution to many of the city's issues is to increase opportunity and prosperity for its citizens, improving their quality of life, growing the economy and civic revenue.
In business, the greatest success is rarely the result of following trends. Wealth comes from being ahead of the curve, predicting and investing in what's coming next. A city is no different. Prosperity, particularly in this age of unparalleled mobility, can only be achieved by building a city that inspires and attracts the next generation.