TrishP

My in-laws live in the Peg and we drive up from Ottawa to visit. It's an OK place, not the prettiest city in Canada, but certainly quite friendly. I would happily move there (used to live in NW Ontario, so the Peg was my nearest city, a mere 5.5 hours drive away ), but hubby's job is here with no possibility of a transfer.

Don't let numbers such as -40 scare you, as the sun will be beaming from a bright blue sky with not a cloud in sight, the roads are dry and the snow powdery! I'll take Winnipeg weather over Ottawa weather any day of the year.

Hurlabrick

You are not cheering me up

Obitim

Cheers Trish!

When we visited in June a lot of Peggers laughed about the weather and just advised us to make sure we got decent cold weather gear and we'll be fine!

That was after they said 'Why are you here?' tho...

JamesM

Winnipeg?????????????????????????????????????????? ??????

I actually thought I'd seen everything on this forum two or three times but this one could get interesting.

Pulls out cheer and opens bag of popcorn.

dormy

Winnipeg is an awesome city, don't let any naysayers put you off, most times they have never been or have visited for a day or so, so their expertise is somewhat questionable.


I have been here 6 years now so have a pretty good feel on what is what. Drop me a line if you need any advice

Obitim

Cheers Dormy! We will do!

We liked it there when we visited,loads gong on (we actually managed to catch the start of the Jazz festival!) and saw loads of stuff while we were there!

We're pretty damn excited to be honest! Just need to start the planning and cutting down on stuff!

Dominick

Hi Obitim,

Not to discourage you but I wouldn't call Winnipeg "awesome" (not only for the fact that I hate the word ) as it's simply a city with quite limited entertainment options (just partly because of the long winter), limited shopping, etc.
Sure, the summers can be nice and there's only 1h+ drive to get to one of the several beaches at the lakes but if you're not into nature, hunting or hockey you'll become bored
Not sure what place in UK you're coming from but moving from London was a big change in the aforementioned lifestyle matters.
Lack of traffic, cheap gas and friendly people is great but not enough to settle here for good...

Good luck with your adventure anyway!!

TrishP

Being the only large city geographically in the middle of Canada, Winnipeg gets much bigger named stars performing at concerts than Ottawa, which is sandwiched between the much larger Toronto and Montreal and only gets the dregs, like Bieber.
As for shopping, well, it's the same big box stores in every city in the country! One doesn't move to Canada for the exciting shopping prospects ...

Dominick

One doesn't move to Winnipeg to see "stars" like Bieber...
Besides, since Jets came back to the city there's much less MTS Centre availability hence not many big names are stopping in this beautiful place. No wonder that in the venue you can still see Beyoncé posters from 2007.

And I beg to differ with "big box" stores comment as there are very few shopping centres, with the main one (Polo Park) always being overcrowded.
Comparing to Europe it can be a cultural shock for some.

Former Lancastrian

Dominick I assume you live in Winnipeg and if so how long have you lived in the city?

Winnipeg is a Prairie city with a population of just over 700,000 people. Unlike any UK city you have to travel lots of miles to get to another one its not like travelling from Manchester to London 262 kms (163 miles) as opposed to Winnipeg to Calgary 13291 kms (825 miles) unless you are classifying Regina as a major centre which is still 570 kms (354 miles).

As for having Beyonce posters on the MTS centre that is done to show you who has appeared and this is also a little known fact about the MTS centre
The MTS Centre has cracked the top 20 of Venues Today’s annual rankings of arenas worldwide in the 10,001 – 15,000 capacity range. Placing at the number 13 position, the MTS Centre’s ranking is based on concert and event grosses from Oct. 16, 2015 to Oct. 15, 2016.

Winnipeg has a NHL team, a CFL team, a AA baseball team again with one of the best ranked stadiums at this level in North America. True it has shite soccer teams and the basketball team folded and there is really only a couple of places to play cricket. Yes it lacks in downhill skiing or luge facilities.

As for shopping well yes Polo Park is the main one but there are others such as St Vital, Kildonan Place, Garden City and Portage Place. They all carry the same stores give or take the odd different one. True you won't find Gucci, Louis Vuitton,and a host of other high end stores but you will be able to find their products if thats what you are shopping for. There are also other numerous places to shop like Kennaston Common, Grant Park and what used to be known as Uni City which is found just before the perimeter highway heading west on Portage Avenue.

As for culture if you want to call it that they have the Winnipeg Symphony, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, the Winnipeg Art Gallery, the newly opened Human Rights Museum and a raft of other places like the Childrens Museum and Planetarium & Science Gallery.

Per capita Winnipeg has the most selection of ethnic restaurants in any city in Canada. Approx 2 hours north they have one of the best rated beaches in Canada granted its on a lake and the fishing is rated as second to none.

Nobody living in Winnipeg would ever think of comparing it to any major European city nor would it want to.

Yes Winnipeg has its crime problems like any other city but it has affordable housing and rents compared to others.

Im sure the citizens of Winnipeg would be typical of Canadians and apologizing that their city is not like London, Paris, Rome, Berlin and Amsterdam etc but neither is Vancouver or Toronto.

But yes Winnipeg is a shit hole city out in the middle of the frozen tundra aka The Prairies.

dormy

Sure the winters can be a little restricting if you are not prepared to seek out the entertainment, you need to look for it but it is there in heaps. It all goes indoors and underground in Winter, and its the winters that make Winnipeg such an arts and cultural centre during the summer. Almost every weekend from Victoria Day to Labour Day there is a festival of some kind, which are all prepared for over the winters. I always smile when Im at a party/gathering and spontaneous "arting and crafting" breaks out. Winnipeg is a very artistic city. Get involved, volunteer, give back and you are welcomed in and included from the get go.

Obitim

Hi Dominik,

We're coming from Leeds, and when we were looking we saw that Winnipeg is comparable in size, we like Leeds, it's big enough to feel like a city, but not so big that you get swamped (London never really appealed to me, I like to visit though!)

When we were looking at where to go, we thought about Van and Toronto and the large cities but you'd be up against a lot more immigrants, plus other Canadians as well. As a result we researched where else to go.

Last June we took a holiday and visited the prairie cities of Regina, Saskatoon and Winnipeg.

Regina was the first port of call and we thought it was OK, however, when we compared it to Saskatoon and Winnipeg we preferred both of those cities (I know that a few days does not give you the full impression but it was enough for us to make a judgement call )

@Lancastrian:
We tried to see as much of the city as possible, including a trolley tour (Neil Young's House FTW!) and went to the Canadian Museum of Human Rights which was really though provoking.

No chance of a game of hockey, but we did manage to get a ball that had been hit out of the baseball stadium and visit the Forks a few times!

I've been listening to one of the Winnipeg radio stations and I know City and Colour played there (we missed him in June cos it was a busy gig) and also the Lumineers, both bands we like so I reckon the chance to see some stars will be ok (I'm not a massive fan of Bieber either so don't mind missing him!)

We also like the feel of a few bars as well, especially The High and Lonesome which had a nice feel to it, and also the Kings Head (but maybe that;s cos it looks like an Ex pat pub?)

So there's a bit more about us and also the reasoning behind Winnipeg, but any other advice or help is still greatly welcomed!

Obitim

Cheers Dormy, that sounds really promising! We do like a good festival and spontaneous fun!

Dominick

Former Lancastrian, that's a correct assumption.
I'm quite aware where Winnipeg is on the map, although I think you've slightly overestimated distance in km to Calgary ; )

As for Beyonce poster it's a matter of opinion and I'm sticking to mine.
The MTS is also one of the smallest NHL venues. I've been to few other than sports-related show at MTS and I've quite enjoyed some of these.

NHL team are doing ok-ish (NHL in general it's a great show to attend), CFL Bombers are being mocked even by Winnipeggers (although I enjoyed watching them live but they got another beating) and the Goldeyes (I believe it's A-division which is 4th tier in North America)... Well, if you're into baseball than maybe, I'm much of a European football person and one hour of Goldeyes was enough for me.
Downhill skiing (if you're not too demanding) is just 2h drive in La Riviere.

Shopping - oh well, any 200k+ population city in Europe beats Winnipeg hands down. Yes, there are few "shopping centres" but when some Winnipeggers were getting excited few years back about opening of H&M, Old Navy or Ikea, then that should suffice for a comment (thanks god Minneapolis is only 7h drive).
And if you want to feel like in early Nineties in Central Europe shopping mall, then pay a visit to Portage Place. Just make sure to be aware of any drunk/intoxicated gentlemen (ladies too) at the food court ... Entertainment guaranteed.

Culturally I agree it could be worse and the symphony is really, really good. And don't forget Folklorama festival - it's great, especially the Brazilian pavilion.
Same with restaurants, we're spoilt for choice.

And rather than apologizing about their city, Winnipeggers are often defiant and VERY critical of Toronto and people over there. It must be chip in a shoulder ...

And I also agree with the last line but my intention was to:
1. Provide my opinion for the poster to have a broader view of the city.
2. Do not let others to misinform the poster that Winnipeg is an awesome city or that the global superstars are tripping over each other to perform in our lovely city. No, they don't and let's be honest about that.
As Colin Farrel's Ray character said in a beautiful picture In Bruges: "Ken, I grew up in Dublin. I love Dublin. If I grew up on a farm, and was retarded, Bruges might impress me but I didn't, so it doesn't"

Dominick

Hey Obitim

Good to know and once again good luck with your adventure!
My reasoning behind moving over here was exactly the same and I picked MB over SK as well.
The good thing is that you can have your PR withing two years whereas I know people in Toronto who spent A LOT of money and it took 5-6 years to get the residency.
I believe the Peg is definitely "enough" for the Canadian story to take off but not necessarily as a final destination ; )