Discussions

Welcome back! I'll leave it to others to have opinions on your thoughts, but one point I thought would be important for context...  
 
Brandon populations, 1996. 39,175  
Brandon population, 2016. 48,323  
 
In terms of pure population the city has seen growth by about a full quarter since you left. That's about double the growth rate of Canada as a whole.... so for all the good and the bad I'd wager someone's been doing some things right. With growth comes challenges and opportunities. It continues to be interesting to watch what doors can open for the city as we get closer and closer to the magical 50,000 mark!

Brandon is a backwards city, ex. Replacing the traffic circlcle on 34th , should be making it a 2 lane divided all the way to richmond+ got the room., but no make another circle and single lane. They got o get out of the box and look into the future. Traffic needs to flow. Also time the lights my god I hit ever red light going down every major street.

I won't argue with some of what the OP has said, but it's worth mentioning that most of the main arteries in the city are under provincial control, not city control.

Magnumchief said " Having worked for the City, I can tell you the good old boys club is alive and well. Brandon is engrossed in non-growth. Being away for 21 years, and moving back I have seen very little in progress. When compared to other cities of the same size, it seems we are struggling with a management team of very little vision. Our streets, namely 18th and 1st, are still problematic. 18th street has far too many bottlenecks. Flow is a problem that could be corrected with simple traffic loops. These are simple wires cut into the road that sense traffic. When no flow is detected, the priority defaults to the artery with the greatest demand. On a Friday at quitting time, 18th and Queens, 18th and Brandon Avenue do nothing but restrict flow. I have seen this problem countless times where traffic along 18th is stopped for no reason. The problem is simple. Install loops at the opposing streets to allow for our main ONE artery north to south to continue to flow.   I'm not surprised our City Manager has decided to move on. These simple problems have just touched the problems with this City. It's time for Brandon to take a look at what life could be like in this century.   We have a real gem here. I've lived here most of my life, and we just don't seem to have anyone on our side to advance us. It's more about how fast we can move up the City ladder. Edited by admin, 2017-06-05 21:23:10. Reason: Title"

Were you for the past 21 years and how was it so vastly superior? And why don't the rest of us know the province gave responsibility for 18th. Street to the city?

I do agree 100% with the op! It's annoying at 1am and do be stopped ah a red light when there isn't another car in sight ! Can we go to the same system Winnipeg has ? After a certain time put all the lights to flashing red and amber ?

Agreed - although it is not just the boys. It is the Boys & Girls club. Climbing the ladder (regardless of skills & abilities) is evident. "Buddies" are sheltered and rewarded. Respect & integrity is sorely lacking. And, along with entitlement, is an abusive culture encouraging bullying.

Adam said "Welcome back! I'll leave it to others to have opinions on your thoughts, but one point I thought would be important for context...     Brandon populations, 1996. 39,175   Brandon population, 2016. 48,323     In terms of pure population the city has seen growth by about a full quarter since you left. That's about double the growth rate of Canada as a whole.... so for all the good and the bad I'd wager someone's been doing some things right. With growth comes challenges and opportunities. It continues to be interesting to watch what doors can open for the city as we get closer and closer to the magical 50,000 mark! "

He's not talking about population growth. A city's population can grow exponentially without "someone doing some things right".  
 
If anything, pointing out the rate of population growth only further proves his point that the management of this city has fallen behind.  
 
It's either ignored or refused to acknowledge, in the way of infrastructure and city planning, the increased number of people calling Brandon home.

To me, it seems like the city has been against progress. "We are a small city and we want to keep it this way." Yet they fail to realize that a lot of people will go elsewhere to shop because Brandon doesn't have the stores.  
 
Here it is, June 6th, and there are a lot of street repairs that should have been done by now. How many streets do you drive on and it is bdump, bdump, bdump?  
 
It isn't just the city that is to blame either. MIT is also to blame. The streets under MIT jurisdiction should have been repaired by now too. 18th St North should have been twinned right to the #1, along with 1st St North when they were doing the work. 18th St South should have been twinned past Patricia Ave. The 110 bypass should have been twinned from Veteran's Way north to the TCH.  
 
Speed limits on major thorough fares should be increased to 60. Traffic lights should be timed for an efficient flow of traffic.  
 
The city could be a lot better than it is, but the good old boys and girls think it is great as is so why change it from ok to great?

Here Brandon in a nut shell is complaining about the streets and the flow of traffic when people don't have the slightest clue what actually goes on in Brandon. The homelessness, hunger, sexual exploitation, etc. But no one seems to care because you all are too busy worrying about the flow of traffic.

the op didn't mention the worst 1st problem in Brandon is traffic flow.  
And I agree with the op but Manitoba has only 1 big city maybe once you have visited other big cities you will realize what the op means. I am from a province with more than 2 big cities.

Axes_Up said "I do agree 100% with the op! It's annoying at 1am and do be stopped ah a red light when there isn't another car in sight ! Can we go to the same system Winnipeg has ? After a certain time put all the lights to flashing red and amber ? "

no thanks lol a huge portion of the drivers on the city streets cant adhear to the lights and signage as it is. this would be a disaster. plus have you not seen all the vehicular accidents in winnipeg lately?? when the lights go out in this city during a rare storm or accidental cause, its like a hell breaks loose and no one knows who is to do what,let alone the left lane at intersections lol good grief thats like rocket science for some. so pleasae no after hours flashing lights

Anyone going north on 26th street after Richmond will hit every single set of lights unless they speed. It is timed the same no matters what time of day. Why not time the lights so you hit green lights when you're doing the speed limit or less instead of forcing people to speed to get through them...

For all you complainers and whiners about what a bad community we have may I suggest you do something productive like run for city council or sit on any of the city''s committees. Election coming up in 2018. Your community will only be as good as its citizens want it to be. Can''t rest the responsibility on politicians who come and go. Everyone likes to sit around complaining, but leaves it to others to fix the problems. Be the change you want to see in the world!  
 
Edited by Dunno, 2017-06-06 16:58:17

are great places to live. I really am pleased with what Mr. Chrest and the council have done. They are keeping taxes low, and still keeping growth going. I know a lot of people want upgrades. I get it. Everyone always wants everything. The problem is that upgrades cost money. Increase in spending requires increase in taxes. I doubt anyone who complains about lack of progress wouldn't also complain about increases in taxes, or road closures during construction.  
I for one, love Brandon. Where everyone else is complaining about how we don't have the newest toys, I see the unlimited growth we have experienced as a city. Population is growing higher than anyone else's. Businesses are growing( despite what some people think, but name brand and stores like that aren't always better. Don't get me wrong. Growth is great and we welcome it. But try shopping with local businesses and supporting local owners first).  
I see the positive movement we are making as a COMMUNITY. Samaritan House is growing, and still working hard to supply and help to those who need it. We have a great cultural experience going on Downtown with local vendors and arists. Downtown Brandon has lots of local "mom and pop" shops, with great food and entertainment.  
Big Brothers and Sisters has experienced a few unfortunate setbacks this year, but I have seen some positive work being done by the community to help support it( thanks Cando!), and their vital children's programs.  
There are some hard working locals, including Mr Larry Maguire who are also fighting tooth and nail to keep Candian Blood Services here in Brandon as well. I am very confident in what people are doing to make Brandon an amazing place to live.  
The Riverbank project is seeing some great progress,with a lot of people working hard to develop some new additions that should be ready this year, that will truly represent the wonderful spirit of Westman. And despite what some people and their outlook is, I am very confident that our city, working alongside our provincial leaders, have done an amazing job ensuring the long term success of the Riverbank area with all of the work on the dikes and drainage areas.  
My wife and I have been running the Grim Acres Scare Away Cancer Halloween yard haunt display for about seven years now. We have seen some amazing things happening in this city. Positive, strong willed people who are always willing to help with our project. Last year, Simard Industrial donated all of the wood we needed for our project. All of it! You know who does something like that? People who have an amazing heart, a passion for helping people,and seeing something grow, that's who! Like all not-for-profit charity events, we still have a lot of needs this year. We are confident that someone will always be willing to help out.And that is my point here: our growth isn't dependant on our infrastructure. Our growth is dependant on our ability to help each other out. By making sure we all succeed.  
On Oct 1st of this year, from 1-4 pm in the Manitoba Room of the Keystone Centre out Grim Acres Scare Away Cancer project will involve a kickoff event called Be A Superhero in the Fight Against Cancer World Record Attempt Event( we are trying to break the current world record for most people dressed as superheros in one area) that we hope will put Westman on the map. Not just on the map locally. Not just in Canada. Globally. And not just to recognize our project. We want the world to see the amazing ability, integrity, strength, support, unity, and growth this community has.  
You see, our greatest asset isn't our buildings, our roads, our infrastructure.  
Our greatest asset as individuals is the value that we put INTO our people and our community.  
I, for one, am Westman proud. And always will be.  
 
Edited by Mr.BDS, 2017-06-07 08:28:51

Few of us will die if our shopping trip across town takes 11 minutes in stead of 10, but there's no harm in exploring how we can be better.  
These threads are usually a tricky tension of opposites.  
On one side you have a rant that perhaps does make a very valid point or two while presenting things in what could be seen as an overly dramatic way.  
On the other you often get a person or two that take offence and try to belittle the person for sharing their opinion.  
 
Reality as it so often does falls about in the middle. We don't get better without acknowledging or some might say shining a light on weaknesses. At the same time that acknowledgement is going to be taken more seriously and be the basis for truly constructive discussion when it's heavier on fact and lighter on the inflammatory. When the person sharing it is willing to answer followup questions to help us dig further.  
 
What sayeth you OP? What are the examples of fast, smoothly growing similarly sized Western Canadian cities that we can draw comparisons to and perhaps even learn from? To me without knowing anything about their growth, cities in our weight class are Moose Jaw, Prince Albert perhaps Lethbridge, Red Deer, Medicine Hat? Or are you looking further West or East?

Robert said "Brandon is a backwards city, ex. Replacing the traffic circlcle on 34th , should be making it a 2 lane divided all the way to richmond+ got the room., but no make another circle and single lane. They got o get out of the box and look into the future. Traffic needs to flow. Also time the lights my god I hit ever red light going down every major street. "

I don't drive on 34th every day, but when I do, I've never really felt like it's overly congested: traffic flows pretty well. 2 lanes there seems like overkill considering the massive cost that would come with it.  
 
I'm happy they're re-doing the traffic circle and not getting rid of it, when I saw the sign I was worried a 4 way or lights were going up there instead.

2 areas of this city that I find the traffic lights terrible are from 10th street to 6th street along Vic. heading east. Generally if you get stopped at 10th you are hitting all the reds, also Rosser avenue is bad the lights are no longer timed and two of them turn red at the same time not allowing for traffic to flow. I travel both of these streets very frequently and they frustrate me terribly.

nights for the past couple weeks, and the number of times I had to sit at a red light when there was no one on the cross street was insane!!

No matter what city you go to, you will no doubt find a number of people who don't like the city they live in. I have heard many people in Winnipeg say that Winnipeg has a small town mentality, that it's not growing fast enough or that everybody is cheap, etc. I would be willing to bet that you would hear several of the same complaints we've heard on here about Toronto from people who live in Toronto.  
 
If you go on YouTube, there is a channel dedicated to hating Brandon. Whoever has the channel was very brave and disabled the comments, but posted several videos dissing our city. Does that channel by any chance belong to someone who posted above? Well, never mind, but what I don't understand though, is why if someone hates Brandon or any other place that much, why do they stay? I mean, if I hated the town or city that I lived in that much, I would pack up my car, fill the tank and hit the highway, buy a bus, train or airline ticket or be standing on the side of the Trans Canada with my thumb out, if need be.  
 
Brandon is a nice city, compared to other cities of it's size. It may not be perfect, but it ain't that bad either.  
 
Edited by Triplethreat, 2017-06-07 23:57:02

is for the City to complete the projects already underway, or left unfinished. Example, complete the walkway on Kirkcaldy from about Patterson East, it just stops, it used to go all the way to 1st street. Clean up the path at the Discovery Centre, that leads to the walking bridge, that hasn't been worked on since the flood a few years ago. Maybe add a crosswalk or three on Kirkcaldy, traffic is increasing and it's becoming less safe to try to cross, especially if you are with kids.