CityStates: Commentary on an Urban World

Big Box Myopia: Why is Ikea Coming to Winnipeg?

The buzz has been intense, and building for weeks. But now it's fact: Winnipeg is finally getting an Ikea store. And not just any store -- a humongous 350,000-square-foot behemoth that will dwarf the city's existing Superstore and Costco outlets. It is so big that only one plot of land could hold it, a property just north of an already burgeoning big-box paradise known without irony as Kenaston Common. And to accommodate all the traffic that this new store will generate, the city and province are committing $18.5 million in public money to widen highways that were only recently completed, and for which major improvements have not previously been budgeted nor referred to in the City's long-range planning document, Plan Winnipeg 2020 Vision.

There is something almost surreal about this announcement. It's not just the sense of "fait-accompli" with which the announcement was made; or that this city has passed up spending any more tax dollars on bicycle facilities but is willing to spend millions to make driving to yet another big box area as convenient as possible; nor that Winnipeggers are so enthralled with the prospect of buying Swedish furniture that having been "snubbed" until now by the giant retailer was seen somehow as a blow to our civic self-esteem.

No: what makes this decision so difficult to fathom is that it comes during the early days of a rapidly unfolding economic crisis -- when Canadians are facing almost historic job losses while credit is drying up; when consumers are financially overextended with worse to come; when Canada is officially in recession; and when even Prime Minister Stephen Harper is waxing pessimistic about the prospects for the country's economy.

So all this begs the question: Given how rapidly the economy has deteriorated in just a few short months, how can Ikea -- and the municipal and provincial governments -- justify their optimistic largesse for a store that won't be open for five years? Exactly whom does Ikea believe will be shopping at this massive outlet in 2013, and how will these customers be paying for their purchases when the credit card bubble bursts? Why of all times did Ikea choose late 2008 to move to Winnipeg?

In short, this proposed development seems remarkably short-sighted; as if the proponents and politicians involved are trapped in another era - one in which the cruel realities of our consumer dystopia have yet to assert themselves. Spending public money to subsidize an economic engine based on consumer spending is so pre-2008.

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Obama's Infrastructure Spending Bid Gets Panned

The American planning community -- and the construction industry -- are listening very closely to President-Elect Barack Obama, who last week announced his intention to launch his administration with a massive economic stimulus package which would include a breathtaking array of infrastructure expenditures. It would be the largest public works effort by the federal government since President Dwight Eisenhower funded the Interstate Highway system. According to the Houston Chronicle,

"Obama's list of public works projects is far-reaching, indeed. It includes: upgrading and repairing traditional infrastructure such as roads and bridges, transit, ports and airports, wastewater treatment facilities and our power grid; expanding the nation's broadband superhighway; modernizing school buildings; reforming health care; and making public buildings more energy-efficient. Any one of these undertakings, on its own, would constitute an ambitious program for a new president. Taken as a package, they would represent nothing less than a complete makeover for the country."

However, even before the details can be known, the plan is drawing criticism. David Brooks writing in the New York Times feels that it is lacking in creativity, in that it will simply repair existing roads and bridges built for an outmoded urban form. Given how spread out and metropolitan America has become, he believes that the spending should

"create new transportation patterns. The old metro design was based on a hub-and-spoke system — a series of highways that converged on an urban core. But in an age of multiple downtown nodes and complicated travel routes, it’s better to have a complex web of roads and rail systems. Second, the Obama stimulus plan could help localities create suburban town squares. Many communities are trying to build focal points. The stimulus plan could build charter schools, pre-K centers, national service centers and other such programs around new civic hubs."

James Kunstler -- who generally disagrees with Brooks -- is also critical, but for different reasons. He things that spending money on roads and bridges will simply be a doomed effort to keep American motoring, which it can't do long-term. Instead, Obama should look at investments in rail and new piers and ports:

"Stimulus aimed at perpetuating mass motoring will be a tragic waste of our dwindling resources. We'd be better off aiming it at fixing the railroads (especially electrifying them), refitting our harbors with piers and warehouses in preparation to move more stuff by boats, and in repairing the electric grid. Unfortunately, our tendency will be to try to rescue the totemic touchstones of everyday life, things familiar and comfortable, regardless of whether they have a future or not."

The larger question too is the extent to which such federal largesse will even be affordable in the months to come: with the bailouts already promised now exceeding $4 trillion, and Obama's intention to pursue a wider war in Central Asia, the new President may not be able to afford to deliver on this promise.

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What's Past is Prorogue

The political drama unfolding in Ottawa is changing so quickly as to make timely commentary a challenge. Last week, for instance, before the Governor-General Michaelle Jean prorogued Parliament, I offered a glimpse on Planetizen as to how "city friendly" the proposed Liberal/NDP coalition might be. Now it looks like present Liberal leader Stephane Dion is about to be turfed by Liberal MPs in favour of Michael Ignatieff, who may put a kibosh on the whole coalition.

Despite some frustration with the 7-week hiaitus before Parliament can reconvene, a change in leadership is widely seen as the most positive first step in alleviating the crisis - but not just on the part of the Liberals: many -- including the country's newspaper of record -- are arguing for Prime Minister Stephen Harper's ouster as well.

Certainly the rhetoric accompanying all these shenanigans has sunk to uncharted depths. The U.S. election gave us a taste of extremism, with Senator Barack Obama being accused of everything shy of the Lindbergh kidnapping. Now we can enjoy our own politicians engaging in similar excesses: those opposing the Prime Minister are being accused of treason and sedition.

Meanwhile, back in the real world, Canada's economic downturn is only deepening: housing starts have dropped 18.8% to their lowest point in 7 years, and the unemployment rate is its highest since 1982. While Canada's economy is certainly not hemmoraging like it is in the U.S., it is truly astonishing that given what is going on here and abroad that our government could become so paralyzed.

The contrast with our southern neighbour is instructive: Even though he holds no actual political power yet, President-Elect Barack Obama is reinventing the presidency, taking to the airwaves and the Internet in weekly addresses to the nation, urging calm, promising action, and working to repair Americans' loss of faith in government.

Canadians are in dire need of the same reassurance. Our federal government is teetering on the edge of complete breakdown. We need leadership of the kind displayed by Mr. Obama: not just strength of ideas and commitment to purpose, but also someone who can communicate with the public and work constructively with whom they disagree.

The next six weeks must be used to rebuild a functioning federal government; how much longer it will take to rebuild our confidence as citizens in the government remains to be seen.

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