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[smick]

and who my SO prevented me from killing in a rage when I witnessed them throwing a cat at each other/the side walk with the force someone would normally save for slam dunking a basketball)

Your SO was probably right, but you likely should have ran over them.

[Drygioni]

the recent ad campaign

This is a completely terrifying campaign. Not only is it kind of non-sensical, but the only other places I've seen the phrase 'It's your (area)' is in racist/xenophobic propaganda. We got a British National Party leaflet telling us that 'It's your country... stand up and make it yours by speaking out against foreign parasites' etc. The funny thing is that this leaflet probably got sent to a lot of people the BNP would not want in the country, causing amusement/puzzlement for many. 'Taking back our town' is probably not what Winnipeg means, but they should at least TRY to not have such crappy ad campaigns.

And with that drivel, I've now submitted 500 posts!

[smick]

Well... I guess I can kind of see why they're doing it.

The town I live in is suffering from immense sprawl, while the downtown is dying.   We have a building here that was to be turned into a parking lot.   When they were part way through the demolition, one of the financers backed out.  I walked by that building on July 4.  The smell of mold almost knocked me over, from across the street.

Most of our downtown is empty barring the first floors of the buildings.   Even then, none of these first floors are local businesses that would generate foot traffic.   It's dying.   If you lose the downtown of a city, you lose the soul.   It's all T. G. I. Applechillis and Wal-Marts from there.

It's sad to see.

[CortJstr]

Basically, downtown Winnipeg is in crisis.  My SO and I were recently laughing at the recent ad campaign which uses the catch phrase "It's Your Downtown" which we translate into "It's Your Problem."  Just look at the accusatory tone of the "Top 10 Reasons It’s Your Downtown, Winnipeggers!" - it's a bizarre list that makes the downtown sound like shit while subtly blaming the citizenry.  My favorite is "If you don’t like downtown, you have the power to change it. Quit complaining, get off your butt and do something about it."  Okay, so I built a house downtown on an abandoned lot, I live downtown, work downtown... what more would you like me to do?  Oh right... I need to police my own neighborhood and put out fires.  No problem.

I thought I Hate Winnipeg sounded especially emotional last week.

[linnea]

Basically, downtown Winnipeg is in crisis.  My SO and I were recently laughing at the recent ad campaign which uses the catch phrase "It's Your Downtown" which we translate into "It's Your Problem."  Just look at the accusatory tone of the "Top 10 Reasons It’s Your Downtown, Winnipeggers!" - it's a bizarre list that makes the downtown sound like shit while subtly blaming the citizenry.  My favorite is "If you don’t like downtown, you have the power to change it. Quit complaining, get off your butt and do something about it."  Okay, so I built a house downtown on an abandoned lot, I live downtown, work downtown... what more would you like me to do?  Oh right... I need to police my own neighborhood and put out fires.  No problem.   

Holy shit. I am sad to hear that stuff like that goes on in Canada. I had always assumed that it was an American problem, and that only American cities had problems with suburbanization and "white flight" and dying downtowns. I guess I assumed that most Canadian cities were like Toronto and Vancouver, which shows you how precious little I know about your country. That really sucks, and I hope that someone in power does something fast to remedy the situation.

[Doc]

Damn, I know nothing about Winnipeg but from the name I always assumed it was quite and the cold winters basically killed off any undesirable elements.

As for your neighbour problem they sound like the types of people who never ever ever move until they basically get kicked out of their house so if you can't deal with them buying the place next door may not be a great idea. Then again it could make your resale value kick ass so from that point of view it might be worthwhile. In my personal experience really bad neighbours are ignorable but I'm the type of person who spends very little time at home and doesn't really care much about my house, you sound like you want a space you can spend time and be proud of, shouty neighbours may not be conducive to this.

My general point of view is that people will do stupid stuff (like setting bins alight) but most know when to draw the line (eg before setting fire to a house). Then again it might not be worth taking the risk. Making your local authorities aware of the problem is definitely a good idea, yourself purchasing and removing the giant fire hazard is an equally effective (though slightly more extreme) measure.
A slightly kookie idea: Is there any chance you'd be allowed to put some loud-ass smoke detectors in the house? Might give you a peace of mind that you'd get at least some warning if someone tried to torch it.

[Hobot]

Arson is not a good sign.

[side_show]

Cort, I listen to that albume all the time when walking to work - and that song in particular is pretty bitter sweet when I'm walking past our legislative buildings.

Update:  Today, the indigent people I mentioned before decided to have a party in the abandoned houses' backyard, then dragged a matress from someone elses garbage over to the abandon house's car park and passed out.  I called the police and one guy ran for and a woman was taken away in an ambulance.

[pmcd9]

And they didn't invite you?  Where did he run to?  Did you tell the police he lives in the house next door?

~Paul