60 years of American design.

My column today: From residential zoning policy to trees, transit, Portage and Main and others, the summer 2025 was a season of urbanist change in Winnipeg. Some with immediate impact, some with impact in the future, and some are still a work in progress. www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/anal...

My column today: From residential zoning policy to trees, transit, Portage and Main and others, the summer 2025 was a season of urbanist change in Winnipeg. Some with immediate impact, some with impact in the future, and some are still a work in progress. www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/anal...

Protest t-shirt at the game today. CFL rules produce more scoring, more passing, more touchdowns, and more comeback wins than the NFL. Turning our backs on a century of history just to look more American on tv is selling out our uniquely Canadian game.

Walked through a few days ago. The opening is going to be amazing. Proud to be part of this project.

I am part of discussion panel at The Forks tomorrow (Tuesday) for the Winnipeg Design Festival. We will be chatting about the Railside development. I will be focusing on the design thinking behind the project I am working on. Link to register. www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticket...

Announced changes to the CFL game are embarrassing and disappointing. The answer to making it more popular is not to make the game less exciting just so it can look like it’s American.

$350k condo in a vibrant and walkable urban neighbourhood in a city of a million people. Germany intentionally created specialized industry sector hubs in secondary cities, instead of concentrating the economy in a few mega-cities. Could this be a solution to Canada’s affordability issues?

Exciting to listen to Dr. Lloyd Axworthy discuss Rail Relocation in the city of Winnipeg. The first public engagement session in an ongoing provincial study. It will be great to finally have an informed conversation about the costs and opportunities.

Exciting to listen to Dr. Lloyd Axworthy discuss Rail Relocation in the city of Winnipeg. The first public engagement session in an ongoing provincial study. It will be great to finally have an informed conversation about the costs and opportunities.

How can anyone think speed cameras are unfair? They are well marked and in the same place every day. The alternative is a police officer hiding behind a tree with a radar gun. If you don’t like it, just don’t break the law. Cars shouldn’t even be allowed to speed anymore. We have the technology.

My column today is a topic that I have been exploring in my own work as an architect. Why do people often like old buildings and dislike modern ones? Can architects bridge this public disconnect with modern design? www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/anal...

My column today is a topic that I have been exploring in my own work as an architect. Why do people often like old buildings and dislike modern ones? Can architects bridge this public disconnect with modern design? www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/anal...

My column today: Trump signed an Executive Order last week to Make Architecture Beautiful Again. He wants new public buildings to look like old buildings. Is it crazy, or is it a commentary on a more pervasive public disconnect with modern architecture? www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/anal...

Was travelling a bit this summer. Felt like there was a difference between Irish Pubs in Ireland and Irish pubs in Canada, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.

About to have the last of my stash of Nutty Club candies. A fixture in Winnipeg’s Exchange District for 120 years. It’s a shame they didn’t at least sell the trademark to another maker. It feels like there would be value in the brand.

The beautiful white sand beaches on Lake Winnipeg feel like a missed opportunity. Like ocean beaches, with nothing similar for thousands of kilometers, they might be a destination from across the centre of the continent if developed with quality resorts and tourist amenities.

Disheartening to see a second major arson in Winnipeg’s Exchange District. Fully expect one day the abandoned St. Charles Hotel will suffer the same fate, and the beautiful Peck building which is now surrounded by a fence, presumably to protect people from decades of neglect.

Nice to see a refreshed corner store in Winnipeg’s Elmwood neighbourhood. The world needs more corner stores. Cities need more neighbourhoods built to accept and support them.

Walking down the street in Victoria and an old guy sitting at a bus shelter points at me and yells “CURT HARNETT!!!” I asked. The Olympic cycling guy from the 90’s? He replies. No the guy from the Pert Shampoo commercials.

The anticipation of a prairie rainstorm this afternoon. Much needed.

I had no idea that Winnipeg’s St. Charles was designed by 2 of the 3 greatest golf course architects in history. They did 9 holes each. Alister MacKenzie also designed Augusta (Masters) and 3 of the top 10 courses in the world. It was his only Canadian design. I’m open to an invitation to play!

I will never get tired of walking across Portage and Main.

I will never get tired of walking across Portage and Main.

Canada needs to just lay low now. Stop reminding Trump that 95% of our trade is protected. Focus on supporting steel, aluminum, lumber, and vehicles until they realize they need those things from us. We have a year to diversify until CUSMA negotiations.

Canada is protected by the CUSMA free trade agreement for 95% of its US trade. This 35% tariff is just theatrics. Why not just say thank you and move on? Focus instead on diversifying and supporting the key industries that are impacted - steel, aluminum, lumber, autos.

I love the idea of this new ice cream truck parked in a little makeshift plaza beside a corner store in Wolseley. I wish it sold chips too!

Dickie Dee Ice Cream bike at Portage and Main. Winnipeg is healing. Fun fact: Ice cream bicycle vendors (Dickie Dee Boys) originated in Winnipeg almost 70 years ago. At their peak in the late '80s they could be found in over 300 cities across North America.

I’m in the construction industry and I’m willing to give the City some free advice that will save them in excess of $750 million.

I adore this new public art in Winnipeg. Tyndall Stone letterpress blocks (which are backwards) spelling T. Eaton Printing Plant in front of the beautiful historic warehouse where for 50 years Eaton’s catalogues were printed for all of Western Canada. Artist:: Sean McLachlan

Canoe parking racks.

A few sunset photos from this weekend over The Exchange District. One of Winnipeg’s special places that I talk about in my column today. www.numberten.com/try-out-bein...

Winnipeg is a French and English city that grew together as one. It has a 20-city-block National Historic Site at its centre, Canada’s First Skyscraper, a perfectly preserved 200 year old fur trading fort, the oldest church in the west… The city offers a story that is unique in Canada.

Moving to Toronto/Ottawa, it taught me to be a tourist in my own city. I always experienced a wide variety of sights and experiences in Winnipeg, but returning home I now have a greater appreciation and love of our city. Be a tourist! See the spaces you pass daily without actually looking at them.

Winnipeg is a French and English city that grew together as one. It has a 20-city-block National Historic Site at its centre, Canada’s First Skyscraper, a perfectly preserved 200 year old fur trading fort, the oldest church in the west… The city offers a story that is unique in Canada.

My column: Rather than exploring the architecture & history of other places this summer (particularly in the US) we might become tourists in our own city. Often under appreciated, the stories Winnipeg can tell through its architecture are unique in Canada www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/anal...

Very cool. Mondetta is moving into bricks and mortar retail and is launching its flagship store ‘Modern Ambition’ at True North Square in downtown Winnipeg.

This video of Winnipeg Jet Gabe Vilardi explaining that NHL players dislike Winnipeg because of its downtown is a harsh reality. Cities competing for business investment, tourism and growth are judged by their downtowns.

They are building a replica of the Grassy Knoll in Bird’s Hill Park for the filming of John Travolta’s movie about JFK.

Yeah. It’s cool and all, but you should see how wide the parking stalls are at the Costco where I live.

Pedestrian crossing lights embedded in the sidewalk in Dublin.

Second largest emitter on earth complains about the impacts of their emissions.

I can’t believe there was a three page spread about the snells of Winnipeg with no mention of the mushroom factory that has plagued the entire St. Boniface neighbourhood for decades.

Two of my favourite pieces of European design. A Porsche 356 Speedster, the most beautiful car ever built, and a Dutch bike, the most beautiful bicycle ever built. Sadly, mine is the less expensive one.

Without fanfare, the City of Winnipeg has been on an absolute tree planting blitz over the last few weeks. Almost every boulevard in every mature neighbourhood has been replanted.

Really exciting to see Graham Avenue being transformed into Winnipeg’s first permanent pedestrian street. @coolstreetswpg.bsky.social is painting the pavement. Planters, furniture and art is being installed - including a giant fan that can be pedaled to cool people off.

My column: During construction half of the lanes at Portage and Main were closed. After a few weeks, congestion dissipated and traffic ran normally. A lesson that might allow us to reduce the width of the intersection and add new public space in the future. www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/anal...