DIVIDED PRAIRIE NEIGHBOURHOOD West Broadway’s Story of Hope, Challenge, and Resiliency Jino Distasio Mike Maunder Sarah Zell Dave Quanbury [this page is intentially blank] Primary Authors: Jino Distasio & Mike Maunder, with assistance from Sarah Zell & Dave Quanbury Research Assistance: Reinaldo Contreras, Kyle Wiebe, and Evan Sinclair Design: Stephanie Whitehouse © Institute of Urban Studies 515 Portage Avenue Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 2E (204) 982-1140 [email protected] Title: Divided Prairie Neighbourhood: West Broadway’s Story of Hope, Challenge, and Resiliency ISBN 978-1-894858-21-2 Suggested Citation: Distasio, J., Maunder, M., Zell, S., & Quanbury, D. (2020). Divided Prairie Neighbourhood: West Broadway’s Story of Hope, Challenge, and Resiliency. Winnipeg: Institute of Urban Studies, The University of Winnipeg. This publication is available for download at: uwinnipeg.ca/ius/ This research project is funded by a multi-year Partnership Grant awarded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). This seven-year project titled Neighbourhood Inequality, Diversity and Change: Trends, Processes, Consequences, and Policy Options for Canada’s Large Metropolitan Areas is held at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto under Principal Investigator J. David Hulchanski. See: www.NeighbourhoodChange.ca The Institute of Urban Studies (IUS) is an independent research arm of the University of Winnipeg. Since 1969, the IUS has been both an academic and applied research centre. Over the last 50 years, IUS has published more than 500 articles, reports, and research highlights on a broad range of topics. See: www.ius.uwinnipeg.ca/ius CHAPTER 1 Postcards from West Broadway 1 CHAPTER 2 1969–1987 Diverse, Dynamic, Deteriorating 21 CHAPTER 3 1988–1994 “Everybody’s Going in Different Directions” 38 TABLEOF CONTENTS CHAPTER 4 1997–2002 “I” Spaces Becoming “We” Spaces 50 CHAPTER 5 2003–2019 “We” Spaces Becoming “I” Spaces 67 CHAPTER 6 West Broadway: Home to Many 86 List of Sources 101 Photograph and Image Credits 103 Divided Prairie Neighbourhood Postcards from West Broadway CHAPTER1 Welcome to West Broadway West Broadway is an older, centrally located neighbourhood in Winnipeg, Canada. It is an area with a compelling and difficult story and history. Its growth over the last 50 years is marked by periods of hope, struggle and uncertainty over its future. In telling West Broadway’s story, we draw from stakeholders who reflect on decades of personal experience. As well, we delve into the neighbourhood’s history using an archive of visual and written documents. All told, these sources help reveal the reality of neighbourhood change in a di- verse community located in the heart of Winnipeg’s inner city. Ultimately, our goal is to examine neighbourhood change and income inequality through the Postcard of Ralph Connor’s Church, known as Elim Chapel experiences of West Broadway. In the following sections, we describe the path taken and the today. Post marked 1907. processes by which we examine a unique neighbourhood that has been at the centre of one West Broadway’s Story of Hope, Challenge, and Resiliency 1 Divided Prairie Neighbourhood the most dynamics periods of urban change in Winnipeg (1970–2020). For West Broadway, this period is characterized not only by deepening poverty but also extensive resiliency and community actions that resulted in the complex interplay of income inequality, urban revi- talization, community development and possibly gentrification. map 1 Throughout this book we discuss demographic and economic indicators at several different geographic levels. The West Broadway neighbourhood boundaries were defined following the amalgamation of the City of Winnipeg in the early 1970s. The Inner City was first defined by the Core Area Initiative; however, its current boundaries were set out in the 1981 Winnipeg Characterization Atlas. Census Subdivisions (CSDs) are created by Statistics Canada and correspond to municipalities or areas of equivalent statistical significance. CSDs are made up of smaller census units called Dissemination Areas (Das). Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs) are created by Statistics Canada and represent one or more municipalities clustered around a ‘core’ with a total population of at least 100,000. The Winnipeg CMA includes the municipalities of Rosser, West St. Paul, St. Clements, Brokenhead, East St. Paul, Springfield, Taché, Richot, MacDonald, Headingly, St. François Xavier, and Winnipeg. CMAs are made up of smaller areas known as Census Tracts (CTs). Census Tract 15 includes West Broadway and Armstrong’s Point. Why Neighbourhoods Matter In any Canadian city you will find a range of neighbourhoods, each with a unique set of defining characteristics that set them apart. This includes neighbourhoods thriving and growing, with new families and a range of amenities that contribute to positive changes. At the same time, there are neighbourhoods displaying varying levels of decline, ranging from the initial stages of blight, where there is peeling paint and broken fences, to the more pervasive symptoms of widespread abandonment such as increased crime, depopulation and the loss of retail and other amenities. Despite all the challenges and defects, there are neighbourhoods we hold close to our hearts regardless of perception. These are the places that inspire us with architectural beauty and stories of the unique characters, places, and events that define them over time. Such neighbourhoods provoke intangible feelings that we can’t quite describe but are felt and experienced with each visit or memory. All told, neighbourhoods offer a bundle of spatially West Broadway’s Story of Hope, Challenge, and Resiliency 2 Divided Prairie Neighbourhood Defining the very term entangled attributes which together shape and define places, making them home for gener- neighbourhood is fraught with ations (Galster, 2001). complexity and often conjures mixed views that attempt to The elements that contribute to a deepening sense of place also promote neighbourhood impose boundaries (physical, stability. A neighbourhood is where we feel a profound attachment to home. Geographers political, or even emotional). have written extensively about this within the context of territoriality. Territoriality results Suzanne Keller’s 1968 definition in a protectionist view by neighbourhood residents to defend places from unwanted change. still captures much of this complexity. For Keller and many This helps explain why some neighbourhoods exhibit resiliency in the face of decline. The others, neighbourhoods are best protectionist attitude of residents contributes to overall stability and character while main- known as being self-defined in taining the fabric and texture of place (Duncan and Duncan, 2001; Sack, 1983). But territo- terms of their “boundaries and riality can become “protectionism,” reinforcing and strengthening exclusion by limiting or well-established traditions” or restricting access to the community through high prices or by fending off new developments “fluid, vaguely defined subparts of that might change the socio-economic mix. a town or city whose boundaries are only vaguely apparent and Due to their proximity to the downtown, “shoulder neighbourhoods” like West Broadway differently perceived by its are often places where the visibility of urban decline is more obvious, both to area residents inhabitants.” and to those passing through. This high visibility can heighten the perceptions of decline or link the challenges of the downtown into nearby residential areas. Increased uncertainty about a neighbourhood’s future can also impact the overall confidence in the area among residents and the wider public. However, it is in these same neighbourhoods where rejuvena- tion efforts can help counteract lowered confidence among residents and outsiders (Perkins & Long, 2002; Varady, 1986). Ultimately, older neighbourhoods struggle with the opposing forces of urban decline and renewal, which tend to sway back and forth, greatly impacting optimism, confidence, and certainty regarding the future. This has very much been the case for West Broadway, especially over the period of 1970 – 2020, which has been marked by many ebbs and flows of activities. Towards a West Broadway Story: Methods, Lenses and Questions Academics often frame the discourse around the concept of neighbourhood change within a theoretical lens to better explain the complex processes associated with such evolution. However, equally powerful is the lens of storytelling. The stories told by residents who expe- rienced change within a neighbourhood can resonate to project a view that can be honest, exaggerated, or even faded over the decades. There is bias in any story, and even our story of West Broadway inevitably leaves out other views of the neighbourhood, and how neigh- bourhood change impacts various groups. We acknowledge our approach to this research presents an inherently limited perspective, largely filtered through a middle-class view of neighbourhood change. Yet, regardless of the challenges related to accuracy and bias when drawing on memories, stories present a potent testament to the power of place and the attachment we have to our neighbourhoods and homes. To tell the story of West Broadway, we augment interview narratives with data and other writings, set primarily within a framework of 50 years of neighbourhood change informed by theory, community practice, and observation. Our framework builds on the concept