RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Owl mural by Fred Thomas in Transcona. A national report has listed Transcona as a 'hidden gem' neighbourhood, in large part due to the walkability of areas such as the downtown
Transcona — long the butt of many jokes in the rest of Winnipeg — has been identified as the city’s top "hidden gem" in a national study of neighbourhood livability.
"We generated all those jokes to keep bad people away," Alex Morrison, executive director of the Transcona BIZ, said jokingly.
RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Alex Morrison, exec. director of Transcona Biz, is ecstatic that her neighbourhood is honoured with new listing.
"What we have here in Transcona — an authentic downtown, a totally walkable community — is what millennials and young families are demanding," she said.
The 2019 Re/Max Livability Report surveyed Canadians from coast to coast on how their neighbourhoods met key factors identified as making an area "livable." Tops on the list were easy access to shopping, dining and green spaces, followed by proximity to public transit, work and preferred schools.
The study ranked Bridgwater Lakes, River Heights and West Kildonan as the top three for access to green spaces and parks, walkability, retail and restaurants, while singling out Transcona as a "hidden gem."
That wasn’t a surprise to Morrison, who pointed to the area’s restaurants and shops and services along Regent Avenue and, to the west, Plessis Road, as well as transit connections along Regent, as key factors to the area’s livability.
"We have a lot of things going on, a lot of growth, that’s going under the radar in the rest of Winnipeg."
In addition to Canterbury Park, which is continuing to be built out south to the railway tracks north of Dugald, there are apartment buildings, retail spaces, a new library and a grocery store along Plessis Road. As well, a mix of multi-family and single-family homes are under construction or already occupied north of the Costco store.
Light industry is expanding to the north, some of which is in the RM of Springfield, while major employers are CN Rail, New Flyer Industries and Griffin Canada.
Akash Bedi, owner of Re/Max Executive Realty, said the affordability of Transcona, combined with its many amenities, is driving growth.
"When we have buyers saying they want these amenities at this price, we’re typically encouraging them to look at Transcona: go for a walk with their kids, go shopping and often they come back and say, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’," Bedi said.
"You typically save 10-12 per cent, for the same type of home or condo versus other parts of the city," Bedi said, pointing to a condo development in Starlight Village as one example.
"You get about 1,100 square feet, quartz counters, wrap-around deck, all for about $300,000," he said. "You move that same condo to the south of the city, you’re looking at $340,000."
RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Family members Steven Lilley (left) and his cousins Carey Reykdal and twin brother Kory Reykdal take a break from building their upscale restaurant and bakery at 101 Regent Ave West in Transcona. The new, multi-use building will house a unique bakery and deli concept on the main floor featuring house-made artisanal baked goods along with a select menu of craft beer and Canadian wines.
Area Coun. Shawn Nason said it’s the people that makes the area thrive, from cul-de-sacs and crescents that close down for neighbourhood Canada Day parties and winter celebrations to the widespread support for its retailers and celebrations such as the Hi Neighbour Festival.
"We have young families moving in to renew some older neighbourhoods," he said. "It’s a good mix of people."
The Regent Avenue downtown — between Winona and Kanata streets — is home to hair salons, restaurants, tool retailer, bars, a comic book store and a community performance stage.
Morrison said a new restaurant, Quinlan’s — named in honour of Frank Timothy Quinlan, who was instrumental in building the works yard and who was killed in action in the First World War — is set to open on the corner of Day Street and Regent Avenue.
Transcona was founded in 1909, and grew up around the Transcona Yards, which today are owned by CN Rail but at the beginning gave the area its name. Transcona is a portmanteau of Transcontinental and Strathcona, referring to National Transcontinental Railways and Donald Smith, Lord Strathcona, who was instrumental in building the Canadian Pacific Railway.
The townsite was intended to be south of the rail yards, but was moved north due to flooding in what’s now South Transcona.
Peter Squire, vice-president, market intelligence for WinnipegRealtors, said he’s careful about any study that ranks neighbourhoods, but agreed with everything the study said about Transcona.
RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Connie Andrusiak with some of the purses available in the Beautiful You Spa and Salon on Regent Ave. West in Transcona where she works.
"I think Transcona is an excellent example of livability, not just locally but nationally, too," he said. "It has a real symbiotic relationship between a really strong retail strip and good residential. They really feed off each other.
"The best example, and I’ve used it for years everywhere I speak, is that Regent Avenue strip, all the way from Nairn to deep into Transcona. You have access to practically anything you need all along there."
Squire said buyers need to do their own assessments of potential neighbourhoods, as the various subjective values surveyed are dependent on each individual.
"The thing I always say that’s great about Winnipeg is the choice of neighbourhoods that appeal in different ways to different people," he said. "I would see this as more of a series of examples than a ranking."
Squire said not surprising in the survey was that 89 per cent of Canadians love their neighbourhoods.
"Winnipeg in my view can hold its own with any Canadian city in terms of having a wonderful array of spectacular and unique neighbourhoods that Winnipeggers are proud to call home."
kelly.taylor@freepress.mb.ca
Kelly Taylor
Copy Editor, Autos Reporter
Kelly Taylor is a Winnipeg Free Press copy editor and award-winning automotive journalist. He's been a member of the Automobile Journalists' Association of Canada since 2001.