Winnipeg has a long history of group segregation. City districts are divided economically, politically, racially and socially. But a few things do unite Winnipeggers, one of which is our regressive views on crime, homelessness and the downtown.

Walking around downtown Winnipeg on a weekend night is a thought-provoking experience.

Although there are waves of exceptions in the summer, you can walk a city block during the other three seasons and not pass anybody. It’s shocking and certainly isn’t true for most other urban centres in Canada.

Many Winnipeggers seem to think this is because downtown is not a safe place to be.

Downtown is seen as a shitty place not worth the risk to one’s safety. There is too much crime, too many homeless people, and not enough cops at the city’s disposal to deal with the violence. 

Regardless of class or race, Winnipegger’s self-deprecation is seen as legitimate, as something which we all share.

When people hear about a crime that has been committed downtown they will frequently respond “of course” or “wouldn’t be Winnipeg without it.” Even locking up your bike on Portage Avenue can cause people to question your judgement. 

In turn, people avoid going downtown, but then out of sheer hypocrisy wonder why it’s so dead. 

Downtown would be a lively place to go if people didn’t hold such attitudes.

If we expect violence to occur regularly in the downtown, then it will continue to happen. As each crime is reported, it allows people to reinforce their stereotypes regarding downtown’s safety, or lack thereof. 

Regressive services like the Downtown Watch are fuelled by these attitudes. Its existence is clearly tied to Winnipeg’s embarrassment of homeless people and fear of crime (there is an illogical connection between the two, but that’s another whole issue beyond this article). They’re a sweeping service meant to keep up the appearance of safety to Winnipeggers’ eyes.

“ Fixing downtown and reducing crime rates could be done more effectively if we all made an effort to go there and stopped mocking ourselves about it

Fixing downtown and reducing crime rates could be done more effectively if we all made an effort to go there and stopped mocking ourselves about it.

Waiting for business ventures to attract people and revitalize downtown is a far slower and imperfect process.

Business, recreation and culture ultimately thrive where people spend their time and, it follows, their money. 

Winnipeg is notorious for having lazy capitalists. Our business leaders rarely invest without knowing for sure that they will see positive feedback.

Even with guarantees they tend to take their time. Because of this, extra work is required to get them to invest in downtown.

Aside from the potential, there are already affordable, safe and enjoyable places to spend time and money downtown.

Crime is reduced as jobs are created and communities finds a sense of pride. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has been advocating this for years in their policy reports.

Moreover, the self-deprecating norms Winnipeggers share actually only fuel our own segregation from one another.

Regardless of who is elected in the upcoming municipal election, downtown revitalization efforts can only be mildly effective without people making an effort to get to know their downtown.

It is imperative that this happens. A great first start is changing our passive and self-deprecating attitudes about crime in the area. 

Matt Austman is a politics student at the University of Winnipeg.

Published in Volume 65, Number 7 of The Uniter (October 14, 2010)