Making the most of our assets

I saw a piece on the CBC news this evening talking about extending Winnipeg’s skating trail to Assiniboine Park, very near where I live. My first thought was, “That is awesome! I am totally going to skate to work!”

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When I read a couple of the comments on the online version of the story at cbc.ca that talked about the trail reaching south into St. Vital, I thought about about what it would be like if we embraced the trail as more than a tourist attraction and looked at it as a genuine option for commuting. After all, there aren’t that many cities that can boast being organized so closely to rivers, as well as the ridiculous cold required to freeze a large river.

Too often in Winnipeg we make decisions designed to appeal to outsiders; our insecurity drives an obsession about what others think, and whether they will bother to visit. On the other hand, as many other cities will no doubt report, the best thing you can do to attract people to your city is to provide a great environment in which to live, to motivate your existing citizens to speak highly of their city instead of building a culture around criticizing it.

So instead of measuring our river rink against the Rideau Canal (and bragging about a Guinness Record that nobody really cares about), why don’t we think about how we can create the coolest new option for commuting. As it is, there are plenty of Winnipegers who will fork out for studded bike tires at MEC and brave icy, snow-covered roads in -20C weather. Imagine offering them an opportunity to travel away from traffic and noise and get some skating practice at the same time.

A river trail like this would work perfectly within a larger strategy for alternative transportation. Rather than investing heavily in further roads and road upgrades, more money should go into all-season trails, bus service (so we don’t have to do the sardine thing every morning) and other options.

Bragging about a city focused on options like that would be way cooler than simply bragging about a really long skating rink.