Washington DC: Congress Heights

When people tell me not to go somewhere but neglect to give me a good reason, I usually end up going there. And so it was that I ended up strolling down Congress Heights, generally considered the poorest neighbourhood in DC. As I strolled down Martin Luther King Avenue, I passed by the sprawling St. Elisabeths Hospital. Built in 1852 as an Insane Asylum, it is now being converted into the new headquarters for the Department of Homeland Security. Nobody in DC noticed the irony in this.

St Elizabeths, making way for a new kind of insanity

There are also some intriguingly flashy stores on Martin Luther King Avenue, especially the ones that inhabit older buildings.

It all looks so appetizing, except perhaps the white bread

I also found a caution sign that I have never seen anywhere else. It seemed a bit cruel to me, but I suppose it's for everyone's safety.

I looked carefully, but could not find the Blind Pedestrian

Washington DC: Metro trip to Eastern Market

Hop into the Metro station, take the Yellow line to L'Enfant Plaza, transfer to Blue line (east).

Outside the Eastern Market (actual market building not shown)

Inside the Eastern Market

Still inside the Eastern Market

Library of Congress

On Hold

I am putting this blog on hold for the year. My workload is too heavy to write anything of quality.

However, I am happy to note that the Buttonbush photograph that I posted in this blog several years ago has been included in Encyclopedia Britannica.

Perhaps the same thing will happen if I post my photograph of the Prunus tomentosa.

An attempt to travel along Omand's Creek

Omand’s Creek enters the City of Winnipeg from the RM of Rosser and flows southward through St. James Industrial park until it reaches the Assiniboine River. Although the creek passes through several city-owned parks, walking the length of Omand's Creek is difficult, sometimes dangerous, and often impossible.

A rough sketch of Omand's Creek

Earlier this year, I attempted to navigate the portion of Omand's Creek that lies within the City limits.

As Omand’s Creek enters Winnipeg, it flows through a city park simply called “Omand’s Creek 9”. Accessing the park off of the highway is difficult; I had to leap over a marshy area to reach solid ground. There is no walking trail through the park. Attempting to walk through the park brings visitors through a field of thistles. A waterfowl nest is installed in the creek and mallard ducks were spotted nearby. There is ample room for walking, especially on the west side of the park. The park is crossed by a bridge and continues until it reaches Brookside Cemetery. Although the park and the cemetery are both owned by the City of Winnipeg, a series of chain-link and barbed wire fences block visitors from walking from the park to the cemetery. Because I did not feel like walking through the Creek or ripping my clothing on the barbed wire, I opted to take the (very) long way around.

Fence blocking access to cemetery

Brookside Cemetery has multiple winding paths. Many of them are cement, and a few follow directly along the the creek. All of the paths are forested and there are many benches along the water, and picnic tables throughout the cemetery. A pedestrian bridge crosses over the creek on the East side of the cemetery. Signs are provided for navigation. A path follows along the creek as it exits the cemetery towards Notre Dame Ave. Flowing under Notre Dame Ave, the creek re-emerges in property owned by the Winnipeg Airport Authority. This portion of the Creek is narrow and faces the back lanes of warehouses. Debris, such as cinder blocks and gravel, is sliding into the Creek. As the creek turns west, it is blocked by another fence. Yet another fence crosses over the Creek as it flows under Sherwin Rd.

Brookside Cemetery

The Creek continues along Dublin Ave. A small sliver of land (about 10 metres on each side of the Creek) is owned by the City of Winnipeg. Several culverts are built across the Creek to connect Dublin Ave to businesses on the other side. These culverts are very low and it was impossible to walk under them. Multiple train tracks cross the creek as well. Many of these tracks run on to property that is not used for industrial purposes. These tracks are likely not used; once they reach the other side of the creek, they are completely paved over. In some cases, the grass growing along the Creek has been mowed. Near the Peak of the Market warehouse at the intersection of Dublin and King Edward, gravel and large rocks are piled up to the edge of the water. Near the intersection of Border St and Dublin Ave, a small wedge - 1.26 hectares - of greenspace has been preserved. There are no paths along any of this segment.

Paved-over railroad track

The Creek turns South and flows along McCrossen St. A good 20 metres of walking space is provided on the West side of the Creek. There is no formal path, but the trail is quite accessible due to repeated use. A barbed wire fence runs along the Creek; I could walk along the Creek, but could not access to the Creek itself. On the East side of the Creek is the abandoned Dominion Bridge factory, which is - according to the most recent online tax information - owned by the City of Winnipeg (City of Winnipeg, 2010). A deteriorating barrier, presumably built to prevent industrial debris from falling into the Creek, is rusting and debris is falling through. Large slabs of concrete are slowly falling into the water. Thus, the Creek itself is completely inaccessible on either side. The path stops near Saskatchewan Ave., and there is a picnic table (only Heaven knows why) at this cul-de-sac. A chain link fence prevents anyone from walking further southward; a railroad track crosses the Creek on the other side of the fence.

Beside abandoned Dominion Bridge factory

After running under Saskatchewan Ave, Omand’s Creek flows along Empress St. To the West is a warehouse used by Safeway grocery stores. To the East is a road with no sidewalks. An old wooden fence runs along a small portion of the Creek; an old street sign lies in the tall grass. Further south, the Creek enters Westview Park, which is owned by the City of Winnipeg. There is no path along the Creek in this park, and still no sidewalk along Empress St. As Omand’s Creek crosses South under Wellington Avenue, it enters private property. The owner of this property, 4841035 Manitoba Ltd, has built a hideous parking lot directly over top of the Creek, making it completely impassible.

Parking lot built over top of Creek

On the South side of Sargeant Avenue, there is a path that runs along the Creek. This path is built to allow pedestrian to cross over the culverts that cross over the Creek. The path is gravel and provides limestone benches nearby. However, the path runs very close to the blank wall of a Wal-Mart, which is rather imposing. This path (and the Creek) runs through private land. South of Ellice, the gravel path runs directly next to a large parking lot: there is no separation between the Creek and the concrete lot.

Bluestem Nature Park

As the path crosses southward over St Matthews Ave, it enters Bluestem Nature Park, which is owned by the City of Winnipeg. Bluestem Park provides a nature buffer in between the commercial development and the gravel path. There are interpretive signs and a pedestrian bridge that crosses the Creek. At the end of Bluestem Park, the Creek flows under a train bridge that is still actively used. The gravel path does not continue under the bridge, but repeated wear from pedestrians has created a small path.

Omand Park bridge (flooded at the time)

Flowing southward under Portage Ave, Omand’s Creek enters Omand’s Park. While preserving much of the natural surroundings, Omand’s Park also provides benches, lit pathways, two baseball diamonds, and smaller walkways along the river. At the time of my visit, a pedestrian bridge that crosses over Omand’s Creek was impassible, as it was flooded by the Creek. Omand’s Creek continues through the park until it reaches the Assiniboine River.

If (for whatever reason) you want to read more about the Creek, you can download my somewhat longer report on the subject.

Murder, Poverty, and the Inner City

What are the two things that people think of when they hear the term "Inner City"? Crime and Poverty. Those two seem to go together like bread and butter. Or do they? I wanted to find out if there really was a correlation between the two, and examine what the nature of the correlation was. Using data from the most recent Census data (2006 Census, which reported 2005 income data) and Winnipeg Police press releases, I made a combination choropleth/dot map showing Homicide and Low Income incidence in Winnipeg's inner city. The the darker the neighbourhood is shaded, the higher its proportion of low income people. Each dead body shows the location of a homicide in 2005. You can examine the results for yourself.

The map. Click to view full size.

Or, if you prefer, the map is available in SVG format.

OurWinnipeg "Call to Action" - a travelogue

Full disclosure: As you can see from my previous post, I was formerly employed by SpeakUpWinnipeg in order to collect qualitative data for the new city plan. I am no longer employed by them and had no role in shaping the plan itself.

Ian Hall sits in front of a table and greets visitors as they enter the hotel conference room. The walls of the room are plastered with pinstripe wallpaper; the carpeting bears a floral print. At the centre of the room is a cornucopia of fruit and cookies. This prosaic atmosphere belies the event’s ambitious purpose. For in this room is the embryonic form of an initiative that will shape the future of Winnipeg for the next 25 years.

“It’s not the Plan,” says Hall, a Policy and Program Planner for the City of Winnipeg, “It’s a milepost on the way to creating a plan.”

Mr. Hall sports a plaid shirt and red hair. He talks excitedly about SpeakUpWinnipeg, the City’s initiative to involve citizens in shaping the city’s long-term plan. This open house, he says, sums up what he has heard from the community over the past few months.

Hall insists that it is possible to build the future of Winnipeg on unanimous consent. “There does seem to be a consensus on the broad ideas here,” he says “and people are really keen to get down to the details.”

The most important issue by raw numbers is Safety. “A lot of that centres around different philosophies of how to create safe communities,” explains Hall. In other words, the old prevention-versus-cure debate.

In elementary school science fair style, cardboard displays of different topics are arranged around the perimeter of the room. Each poster bears a title from a section heading of the OurWinnipeg Call to Action, the document released for public consultation. There are six main posters with each with a title: Sustainability, Safety and Security, City Competitiveness, City Building, Communities, or City of the Arts.

Visitors are encouraged to post sticky notes with their comments on the poster. Sometimes the comments are posted on the wrong poster. One comment on the City of the Arts poster reads “Actually hire people to implement your Climate Change Action Plan. You have nobody.” Other comments are simply confused. “Put [these] actions in plain language so we can understand,” one sticky note begs.

Michelle Peters, Executive Director of the Association of Manitoba Book Publishers, ambles around the room, glancing at the posters, trying to digest the information. This is the second time she has attended a planning consultation. “Tonight seems to be a 3D form of the website,” she observes. Indeed, all of the information in the posters is identical to that on the City’s website. Yet the open house does seem to have more of a human touch. “It’s nice to be able to access people [from the planning department] to ask them questions.”

Walter Schurko certainly intends to take advantage of the open house’s human element. He spends about ten minutes talking about recycling bins with a representative from the City’s Water and Waste department. Schurko, recently retired, believes that it is his responsibility as a citizen and a taxpayer to know where Winnipeg is headed. But he has some misgivings about the draft plan.

“It’s very impressive,” Schurko says, “I take a look at this and say ‘Is this just a dream?’” He doubts that the plan will ever transition from dream to reality because the City continues to increase spending but does not increase taxes. “I’m retired,” he declares, “I’d like to see higher taxes. I’d like to see the city look a helluva lot better than it is now.”

A display in the corner of the room brags about the high citizen participation levels in SpeakUpWinnipeg. Thirty-thousand people have participated in the planning process so far through various media including the website and open houses. These numbers are not apparent in the barely-occupied hotel conference room. Representatives from the City outnumber attendees. The planners spend much of their time talking amongst themselves.

Ian Hall admits that the open houses have only attracted 40 to 50 people every night. “But,” he adds, “the quality of engagement is very high. These people spend a lot of time here and give good feedback.”

The Call to Action can be read its entirety at http://speakupwinnipeg.com/home/call_to_action/