Talk:Winnipeg/Archive 2

message: The Mennonite population percentage in the revision as of 19:39, 3 August 2005 was put there by 216.55.219.238 on  23:24, June 26, 2005. This anonymous user provided no source for this other than their own claim that there are 33,000 Mennonites in Winnipeg. If that were the case, the percentage would be closer to 5%, but they put in 3.4% instead (another reason not to take their claim at face value). In the religion section there is a link to the Stats Can page used as a source, if you follow the religion link on that page you will be brought here http://www12.statcan.ca/english/profil01/Details/details1rel.cfm?SEARCH=BEGINS&PSGC=46&SGC=4611040&A=&LANG=E&Province=46&PlaceName=Winnipeg&CSDNAME=Winnipeg&CMA=&SEARCH=BEGINS&DataType=1&TypeNameE=City%20%2D%20Cit%E9&ID=8144
That page does not list Mennonites directly. Since we have no reliable source for info on Mennonites at this time I am going to put the religion section in sync with the StatsCan page.Qutezuce 18:01, 20 September 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Would it be acceptable to list 3.5% as other cause the math does not add up to 100%... It just urks me that someone would consider one denomination as another--Captain433180 02:03, 25 September 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: The reason it does not add up to 100% is stated on the page, because the religions with less than 1% are not listed. If you want to make it add up to 100% just make sure the data comes from the StatsCan page, or some other reliable source. Secondly, as the page currently is, no one is considering any denomination as another, there was one erroneous edit that put the Mennonite percentage into Protestant, but as I pointed out, that Mennonite percentage had no source. The StatsCan numbers are self reported numbers, so if a Mennonite considers themselves to be a Protestant then that is what StatsCan lists them as, or if they report themselves as other Christian, then StatsCan lists them as other Christian.Qutezuce 02:48, 25 September 2005 (UTC)

text: Where did this figure come from? I've not seen the word "Mennonite" on any of StatsCan pages. Qutezuce 02:02, 5 February 2006 (UTC)

text: Calm down there, try to be civil. I was just asking for your source, so that you're statement can be verified. Qutezuce 03:26, 5 February 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Mennonite Population 

message: Being in the centre of Canada, and the general consenses by most Canadians that Winnipeg is a hole, would'ntit be worth mentioning that many people refer to Winnipeg as the "ANUS" of Canada. After all, who realy wants to live there with the bugs, crime, extream hot and cold ect. Nobody i know would choose to live in Winnipeg,and the people who used to would"nt go back.Thats why the populations remained stagnent for 40 years.
:OK, your comments are your own, but I feel they deserve a response. I have been to all ten provinces and the three territories of Canada as well as all of the major cities. Granted, Winnipeg does not have the best reputation (the departure of the Jets really hurt), but I have heard NO ONE ever refer to it as the "Anus" of Canada. Almost without exception, people who I have spoken to who have actually visited Winnipeg left with a more favourable impression of the city than the one they had before visiting. As for the climate, yes, the winters are very cold, but they are cold almost everywhere else in Canada and they are not nearly as miserable in Winnipeg as they are in much of Quebec and the Atlantic Provinces where there is considerably more snow, freezing rain, fog, wind, and grey skies than Winnipeg, despite being milder. As for extreme heat, it is seldom unbearably hot in Winnipeg and the summers are in general much more comfortable than in Southern Ontario or the Montreal area due to significantly less humidity and much better air quality. Also Winnipeg virtually never sees snow in August or September and frosty nights and cold days like Edmonton and Calgary experience in late summer and early fall.  So climate is very subjective, if one is a snowmobile enthusiast they would have no desire to reside in Vancouver or Victoria!  
:As for nobody wanting to live here you are quite mistaken. I know many people who would die for the opportunity to live in a city where a regular working family can still afford a nice home and have no more than a 20 or 25 minute commute to work. Yes, Vancouver is beautiful, but it is hard to really enjoy it when you are stressed out about making the next payment on your $400,000 mortgage (for a house that is not particularly nice) and you are faced with living with tenants for much of your working life. In Vancouver, it's called being house poor, and most people are.  Also, the recreational opportunities are excellent in Manitoba for almost every interest except downhill skiing. If I'm not mistaken, Winnipeg has the highest percentage of people who own a recreational home of any Canadian metropolitan area. I work in an office where there are people from all over Canada. Almost without fail (yes, even including the ones from BC) they enjoy living in Winnipeg because of the good and affordable quality of life,  and the friendly people. They also remark on how interesting Winnipeg is with its various neighbourhoods, beautiful old well-treed residential areas, and some great architecture. It's not modern like Calgary or Edmonton with freeways and glass towers, but it's not sterile either.  I have many friends and family in many other cities including Toronto, Minneapolis, Calgary, Vancouver, Victoria, and Melbourne, Australia and most would return to Winnipeg IF THEY COULD FIND SIMILAR EMPLOYMENT TO THE KIND THEY HAVE FOUND IN THOSE OTHER CITIES!  You see, that is the real root of Winnipeg's problem. Due to the provincial mindedness and short-sighted attitudes and policies of Manitoba's political and economic elites at least since the 1920's, Winnipeg and Manitoba do not enjoy the same economic opportunities of those other locations. I am even considering relocating myself for these reasons. You can only climb so far up the ladder in Winnipeg and the wages/salaries are ludicrously low while taxes are proportionally too high. So, essentially, a catch 22. A great place to live if you have a decent job and are not too ambitious! You are also wrong about the population over the last 40 years. In that period of time Winnipeg has grown from about 475,000 to over 700,000. Definitely slower growth than most other metro areas in Ontario and Western Canada but not overly slow compared to US metropolitan areas in the Midwest such as Omaha, Kansas City, St.Louis, Milwaukee, or even Chicago. Check yourself if you don't believe this. --207.161.40.173 06:13, 24 October 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: I second the above notion.  I love Winnipeg, I've been here for over a year, and plan to stay for lots longer.  Winnipeg is a great city.  I've lived in a few cities across the Canada, namely Saskatoon, Calgary, and Metro Halifax.  Saskatoon was also highly under rated, but not as under rated as Calgary is over rated.  I left Calgary because I literally could not stand living in the city.  Winnipeg has been welcoming to me, with low housing prices, and friendly people.  Yeah, there are some rough spots, but the city has a good heart and has a welcoming feel to it.  The weather isn't bad either.  Its not that cold compared to Saskatoon, and less bad weather and more sunshine than the east coast.  Also, summer is fantastic here compared to Calgary where you might get snowed on in July.  Close access to Lake Winnipeg, the Whiteshell, lovely character neighbourhoods, trees, 15 minute drive to work!  Music and arts scene is alive and well. --Mf135gas 04:59, 4 December 2005 (UTC)

text: I agree with the original notion.  Having grown up, lived away from Winnipeg and now am back for no more than two years, I can safely say that coming back was only due to family.  The idea that Winnipeg is a "fantastic city where you can live rich for cheap" not only highlights the very heart of Winnipeg's problems but also deliberatley steps in the way to omit several other details.  The incestful business and political climates here are strangling themselves to death.  Winnipeg is a city of half-measure attempts to address it's issues.  Every problem either has a book thrown at it or gets some diminished bargain-bin version of a solution from a company owned by a friend on the inside.  People who "love" Winnipeg usually have managed to crack the code to one of the closed circles and has derived a sense of belonging from this unwelcoming city...You have to sacrifice a lot of yourself to live here.
"It's not what you know, but who you know" applies just as equally in Toronto and Vancouver as it does in Winnipeg. It's just more obvious here, given the smaller size of the city. The winters are harsh, though, but could be ameliorated somewhat if the city would make a minimal effort to keep the city clean (why so much sand everywhere, and Winnipeggers, stop littering! Well, of course, the trash cans are usually overflowing). I agree that the small-mindedness of the local elite can be frustrating beyond belief at times. Does no one have any vision? Is tearing down buildings for parking lots the answer to everything? Have aesthetics absolutely no place in this part of the world? The fact that a city with a population of nearly 3/4 million has no form of rapid transit or any freeways (red lights on the Perimeter Highway, yikes! Dangerous or what?) is baffling. People who have visited from Minneapolis or other cities cannot believe this! I certainly would not want to see freeways tearing apart the urbanized area but a properly and safely constructed by-pass would be a sound economic investment. --142.161.176.111 08:38, 18 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: It's a personal opinion, nothing more. When Mayor Sam Katz and the House of Commons tells everyone that Winnipeg is the "anus" of Canada, I'll glad not delete it if it ever gets put it. Until then, it stays off of Wikipedia. I love living here. If you have a problem living here, find a way to solve it. But don't put it on here. Disinclination 03:48, 15 September 2006 (UTC)

text: Well, most of my points were already answered. Also, many don't choose to read long paragraphs (not meaning they are bad or anything). And when I referred to the Mayor, I meant that whenever Winnipeg officially becomes the 'anus' of Canada, I'll consent to putting it up. But until then, I'll disagree. Yes, Winnipeg has its ups and downs. But that certainly doesn't deserve that sort of derogatory title. No city does. I just feel it doesn't belong on Wikipedia, especially if our job here is to provide a wife variety of information, not disgusting nicknames that are not deserved. Disinclination 06:38, 19 September 2006 (UTC)

text: http://www.superpages.com/global/hotels/winnipeg-canada-hotels.html , and http://www.umanitoba.ca/campus2000/introduction/index.shtml . Just Google it if you want more.
The first link gives exactly the same introduction to Winnipeg as the Wikipedia article. OK, I'm not going to argue that Winnipeg is the greatest place in the world, it has many faults, but "asshole of the universe" is going way too far. And it's not that cheap to live here, especially considering the wages are lower than in BC and Alberta. I lived in Vancouver for four years and while it is very beautiful there I really was not all that impressed to be honest. I mean $700,000 for a 1,200 square foot bungalow on the West Side, get serious, almost no one can afford that, and if you have to live anywhere else in Vancouver (save the North Shore) it's not worth it because all of the other areas are rather disgusting and dirty especially Surrey and New Westminster (talk about dumpy and there are meth camps everywhere, yes drug addicts living in tent cities on Crown land within throwing distance of people's homes). There's a lot of money there but I've never seen so much poverty or so many people who are spiritually dead even in third world countries. Also the people are somewhat reserved (read unfriendly) compared to Prairie people and the nightlife sucks, I should say ABSOLUTELY SUCKS!!! WORST OF ANY CITY IN CANADA BY FAR AND AS AN INSULT VERY EXPENSIVE!!! All people do for entertainment is get high and watch TV or a movie. There's little culture to speak of and the architecture is by and large hideous. I also really detested how smug the people were there, most of whom had never been east of the Rockies and didn't know what they were talking about, but thought they were so much better than the rest of the world. I loved the mountains though, and how green it stayed year round but I remember one winter I was there Vancouver went 55 consecutive days without one ray of sunshine. Also the summers are not nearly as nice as in Manitoba, and there's no where to swim because the water stays ice cold year round. --209.115.235.79 05:28, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

text: Hey, people... obviously the first comment was a WP:TROLL. Don't feed the quacks and they'll go away. Really. I've seen it happen. CMacMillan 06:31, 10 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Winnipeg the "anus" of Canada? 

message: It seems absurd that the sports section should focus so much on a team that left town a decade ago. Sports didn't end with the Jets; why not move it lower in prominence behind the existing teams like the Bombers, Moose, Goldeyes, Bisons, Wesmen, Rifles, and the like? -Anon.
Agreed, I'll get to work on it.  I'm a sport's geek anyways >_>
::Because the Jets were a big part of our identity, until they got sold. Now its apart of our identity as the city that lost their NHL team. The majority of people I know still talk about the Jets, either when the played or our lack of such a team. Hell, even Prime Minister Steven Harper remarked that he'd love to see the Jets back in Winnipeg. It deserves alot of focus. Now if only we could ever get a bigger arena, or more money. Disinclination 06:19, 4 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text:  (add-on) But I agree that we really need more information on the Bombers and other teams (including Ringette, which houses the largest ringette community centre outside of Ontatio/Quebec). Disinclination 03:50, 15 September 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Sports

message: I think that musical acts with no articles associated with them ought to be removed from the main Winnipeg page. I think the convention should be that they get listed on the main page if they are known locally, or nationally or internationally and have a body of work that can be referenced in an article. Otherwise, they can be listed in List of Winnipeg Musicians. jdobbin 17:14, 19 January 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I agree that we should trim the list and list only the most notable on the main Winnipeg page, with the rest going to the seperate list page. But I don't agree that we should automatically remove a group/person if they don't have a Wikipedia article, as that may not be an accurate reflection of notability. How to determine notability I'm not sure. Qutezuce 20:19, 19 January 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Agreed on not removing them altogether. Just a move to the List of Winnipeg Musicians page. I hope thereafter someone can determine whether they are an actual musical group though. jdobbin 21:36, 19 January 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I've checked most of those currently listed, as far as I can tell they are real, and at least somewhat notable. Qutezuce 21:52, 19 January 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Winnipeg Musical Acts

message: I've added a section a lsting of mayor and councillors. I was thinking that a picture of City Hall would be an appropriate addition for that section. Does anyone have one? jdobbin 23:59, 29 March 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Pictures in the Government section