Winnipeg vs Calgary: The Forks vs East Village
Then it hit me; The Forks isn’t an urban village it is a tourist district.
Recently I was in Winnipeg for a wedding and had some time to wander their mega urban redevelopment The Forks, which is aptly named as it is located where the Assiniboine and Red Rivers meet in the middle of their City Centre.
As I wandered around at noon hour on a nice Friday in early October I wondered; “Where are the condos? Where are the office buildings? Where are the people running along the river?”
I couldn’t help but reflect on how the location next to two rivers and just east of downtown was very similar to Calgary’s East Village and yet so different.
The Esplanade Riel Bridge connects The Forks to the community of St. Boniface across the Red River. It has a restaurant in the middle that offers spectacular views of downtown, the river and the Human Rights Museum.
East Village's pathways along the Bow River in St. Patrick's Island Park with the George King bridge in the background.
Similarities
Both sites were meeting places for First Nations peoples long before the pioneer settlers arrived.
Both sites are about the same size - The Forks is 63 acres (doesn’t include Shaw baseball park) and East Village is 49 acres (doesn’t include Fort Calgary Park).
Both sites were once industrial sites, with The Forks being an old CN rail yard next to their Union Station, while East Village being more of a light industrial area with a rail line running along its southern edge.
Both sites struggled in the middle of the 20th century to find new uses. CN Rail moved their yards to the suburbs in 1966 leaving the site vacant. East Village buildings were torn down in the ‘60s to create ugly overflow surface parking lots for downtown.
Both sites lack good connectivity to downtown and neighbouring communities due to rivers and railway tracks.
Winnipeg's Union Station and railway sheds separate The Forks from downtown.
Today, both sites are managed by a CEO who reports to a government appointed Board of Directors. The Forks CEO, Paul Jordan reports to The Forks North Portage Partnership Board which was established by the Federal, Provincial and Municipal governments. East Village President and CEO, Michael Brown reports to Calgary Municipal Land Corporation Board appointed by City of Calgary.
Both sites have a major new museum, Human Rights Museum at the Forks and National Music Centre in East Village. Both of which are only national museums located outside of Ottawa. The Forks also has a Children’s Museum, Children’s Theatre and skatepark, while East Village has a mega new library and the family oriented St. Patrick’s Island Park. And each has popular pedestrian pathways, plazas along the river’s edge and an iconic pedestrian bridge over the river.
Both The Forks and East Village have very active programming to attract people to the site. The Forks attracts over 4 million visitors to the site and is the City and Province’s number one tourist attraction.
The uniquely shaped Human Rights Museum dominates The Forks. In the foreground is a multi-purpose plaza that can serve as a skatepark, busker/performance space or casual sitting area.
East Village's National Music Centre
The Fork's river landing and pathway along the Assiniboine River just before it flows into the Red River.
East Village's Riverwalk with the Langevin bridge, 4th, 5th and LRT flyovers in the background.
The Market at The Forks is part food court (main floor), part retail space (second floor).
East Village: The Simmons building has an upscale restaurant, cafe and bakery.
Winnipeg's Children's Museum is one of several cultural facilities located at The Forks.
Computer rendering of the Caglary's new Central Library looking west from East Village.
Differences
The Forks North Portage Partnership purchased all of the land from CN Rail for $66 million, whereas the City of Calgary owned about 50% of the East Village lands at one point.
Aerial view of The Forks
The Forks has no master plan governing how all of its land will be developed eventually, but rather is governed more organically adapting to new opportunities and needs as they arise. The first thing CMLC did was create a comprehensive master plan with a detailed 3D video to help everyone understand the vision of the new East Village as a 21st century urban village.
The Forks is actively working with developers to convert 12 acres of surface parking lots next to the railway tracks and Union Station into Railside. The vision calls for $500 million to be invested by large and small developers to build 20+ buildings no taller than six storeys with retail at street level and offices and condos above and $50 million in public spaces. (Railside will be more like Calgary’s University District than East Village in that the land will be leased not owned, as The Forks partnership wants to retain ownership of the land).
New condos and the East Village sales centre.
East Village’s development was funded by a Community Revitalization Levy (CRL) that was used to upgrade infrastructure and help build new public amenities like St. Patrick’s Island Park, National Music Museum and new Central Library. The $357 million CRL has resulted in $2.4 billion in private sector development and is expected to generate $725 million in new tax revenues by 2027, which will more than pay back the $357 million levy.
The Forks is a unique government led partnership with the return on investment (ROI) being shared by the three parties - City receives new property tax revenue, Province provincial sales tax paid on site and Federal Government getting all GST revenues.
Like East Village, two of the most popular reason for visiting The Forks are Canada Day festivities and summer concerts. What is very interesting is the Forks has been very successful in creating winter attractions – skating on the river and the Winter Park are listed as the third and fourth most popular activities in a 2015 Survey and not far behind summer concerts the second most popular activity, festivals being number one.
East Village hosts an ambitious year-round program of events.
Winnipeg's ice skating trails
Winnipeg’s Winter Wonderland
The Fork’s “Warming Huts” is a stroke of genius. Since 2009, an international competition has been organized inviting designers to submit proposals for shelters to be installed along the river skating rink so people can stop, chat and warm up. The program has captured international attention including the New York Times with the Travel Section headline “In Winnipeg, a Skating Rink That Doubles as a Sculpture Park.”
It has also captured the imagination of starchitect Frank Gehry who designed an igloo made of clear blocks of ice in 2012.
Winnipeg Ice Hut
Last Word
East Village is an intriguing example of private public collaboration based on an ambitious vision, master plan and implementation with a 20-year return on investment and build out. It reflects Calgary’s corporate culture and the love of the mega projects.
After 30 years, The Forks is just now completing the return on investment for the three levels of government and is still decades away from complete build out. It reflects Winnipeg’s government culture and love of grass roots development.
Paul Jordan and his Board of Directors are happy with The Forks’ slower redevelopment timeline as it allows for organic growth and the ability to respond to community needs over time rather than being locked into a fixed master plan.
I guess you could say there is “more than one way to skin a cat.”
If you like this blog, you will enjoy:
Winnipeg vs Calgary: Urban Hot Spots (Part 1)
Winnipeg vs Calgary: Urban Hot Spots (Part 2)