Neighbourhoods in Regina, Saskatchewan

Apart from the remaining residential portion of the original town of Regina, Saskatchewan between the CPR tracks and Wascana Lake, Regina's residential areas are typical of western Canadian cities, largely consisting of post-World War II single family dwellings on substantial lots, pleasant but undistinguished. Five neighbourhoods are of any considerable note, whether for good or ill: (1) the Cathedral Area (see below); (2) Germantown (see main article: Regina's historic buildings and precincts), originally an impoverished and ill-serviced ghetto of continental Europeans; (3) the historic and affluent Crescents area, immediately to the north of Wascana Creek west of the Albert Street bridge and dam which creates Wascana Lake); (4) South Albert Street, adjacent to the provincial Legislative Building and office buildings, a neighbourhood of imposing mansions dating from the 1920s; and (5) the latterly notorious North-Central district (see below), an area of low-rent housing characterised by serious problems of crime, drug use and prostitution.

"Cathedral Area" (the West End)

Blessing of Holy Rosary Cathedral, 1913

A 235-hectare (581 acres) largely residential area west of downtown Regina, this neighbourhood is defined as the area west of Albert Street, northeast of Wascana Creek and south of the CPR mainline. The area has some commercial properties on the north and east and along the 13 Avenue shopping district, the neighbourhood's main street.

Holy Rosary Cathedral on 13th Avenue opened in 1912, and it is what has latterly given the area its sobriquet, it previously having been known as the West End. In 1927, the City of Regina passed its first zoning bylaw, setting the patterns for land use in the area. Over time, additional bylaws encouraged the construction of high-density housing, which replaced older housing near Albert Street.

By the 1970s, inner-city problems rose, such as declining population, decreasing quality of housing stock, increasing crime, more car traffic and fewer parking places. By the middle of the decade, several area residents organised the Cathedral Area Community Association.

Through the work of the associations — as well as joint municipal, provincial and federal social programs — local conditions improved. In addition, the spread on non-residential properties and high-density housing was controlled, and a large number of older homes in the area were renovated extensively.

Source: "History: The Cathedral Village is a happenin' kind of place!". Cathedral Area Community Association. Retrieved 2007-03-24.

The Crescents

This is the historically most desirable area of Regina. Originally a residential property development by the McCallum-Hill property company to the immediate north of Wascana Creek after the Wascana bridge was relocated to the east of its original location, it soon became Regina's most desirable residential location. Regina's Roman Catholic Archbishop and Anglican Dean live here, as do many of Regina's social elite.

Germantown

Holy Trinity Serbian Orthodox Church, Winnipeg Street in the heart of Germantown

The area known as Germantown (Broad Street east to Winnipeg Street and Victoria Avenue north to the CPR Yards) was settled by continental Europeans — Germans, Romanians, Hungarians, Ukrainians, Poles, essentially anyone neither British Isles, French or aboriginal in ancestry. In the early-predominant Anglo-Celtic mainstream non-francophone continental Europeans whatever their origin were generally referred to either as "Galicians" (Galicia actually being Austrian Poland) or as "German."

File:Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Descent of the Holy Ghost.jpg

Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Descent of the Holy Ghost, Winnipeg Street

Europeans became established around the former Market Square by 1892. German, Ukrainian and Romanian religious, secular and educational institutions and services were early established in the neighbourhood — including St Nicholas's Romanian Orthodox Church (established in 1902), the oldest Romanian Orthodox parish in North America, St George's Cathedral, the seat of the Romanian Orthodox Bishop of Regina and the now long-demolished Holy Trinity Serbian Orthodox Church and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Descent of the Holy Ghost, both formerly on Winnipeg Street.

Regina's Anglo-Saxon élite grievously neglected Germantown in the early days and basic services of water and sewerage came scandalously late to the precinct. Many residents of the Germantown quarter of Regina lived in squalid shacks without basic services till well into the 20th century, when issues of loyalty to the British Crown during the First World War were comprehensively resolved in the favour of the residents' complete Canadian-ness.. By the 1960s invidious past ethnic prejudice had long since passed and Ukrainian food had become pan-Saskatchewan food. Apart from German Lutheran and Roman Catholic establishments throughout Regina, however, European churches and cultural clubs remain concentrated in Germantown.

Trinity Lutheran Church — now occupying a large but undistinguished A-frame building in the heart of Germantown — remains the centre of Regina's Lutheran constituency, though Canadian Lutheranism, while maintaining the historic episcopacy and indeed being in full communion with the Anglican Church of Canada, does not designate metropolitan churches as cathedrals. Trinity for many years maintained a traditional German parish church in Germantown; in due course, when it had built its new modern building, it sold its impressive German pipe organ to an Anglican parish church.

North Central

Neighbourhoods of the North-Central part of the city have been the subject of controversy and concern over the years due to the high concentration of poverty, prostitution, and rundown rental housing. It is estimated that there are more IV drug users in North-Central per capita than in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Although crime rates in the area remain relatively high, they have fallen in recent years due to efforts by the Regina Police Service and several agencies, including a stolen vehicle program, an anti-drug strategy, and an increase in the number of police officers in the area.Although, this has been a national trend for sometime[1]. However in the Regina,the murder rate increased by 33% between November 2005 and November 2006. Other violent crimes have also increased: third degree assault (20%), robberies (35%), kidnapping (25%), arson (50%). This is attributed to the lack of concentration on violent crimes against persons, as crimes against persons is not one of the police services official objectives.As of November 2006, nearly 18% of the crime in Regina occurred in this neighbourhood, which has less than 6% of the population, or a 153-block area containing approximately 10,500 people.

In recent years the local government's commitment to invest in the inner-city has been questioned in view of its attempts to close inner-city library branches and a proposal to implement a base tax which would have lowered property taxes in outlying areas, where average household income for all residents is more than triple that of all residents in the inner city — but would have increased taxes for inner-city properties. Positive efforts to engage the social problems in North-Central include the Inner City Family Foundation, community association programs and a rental property inspection team provided via a volunteer organization. The City of Regina has legal authority to create a rental licensing program and an inspection team, but has not yet implemented either of these solutions. At the beginning of 2007, City Council increased funding for six inner-city community associations by $19,000, but disbursed the total $369,000 to an additional 18 associations. A change in funding structure will result in the three low income neighbourhoods of Cathedral Area, Al Ritchie and Argyle Park having funding reduced by $40,000 collectively and North Central having funding increased by $15,000. The $494,000 necessary to reach this target have not been fully provided.

A recent article in Maclean's has helped prompt the city government to look at new ways of providing better housing to residents. The mayor has met with First Nations chiefs to create a dialogue, the first time during his tenure in office (6 years)[2]. Also, It has spurred renewed discussion of establishing Regina's first urban reserve with in the city, in association with the Piapot Cree Nation. Several years ago, the City of Regina negotiated a servicing agreement with the Nekaneet First Nation to establish an urban reserve in the northeast Industrial Area. The reserve has not yet been approved by the federal government.

External link

• Neighbourhood profiles

The Crescents

This is the historically most desirable area of Regina. Originally a residential property development by the McCallum-Hill property company to the immediate north of Wascana Creek after the Wascana bridge was relocated to the east of its original location, it soon became Regina's most desirable residential location. Regina's Roman Catholic Archbishop and Anglican Dean live here, as do many of Regina's social elite.

 | date = 2007-01-30
 | url = http://www.actupinsask.org/content/view/234/2/
 | accessdate = 2007-01-31 }}</ref> A change in funding structure will result in the three low income neighbourhoods of Cathedral Area, Al Ritchie and Argyle Park having funding reduced by $40,000 collectively and North Central having funding increased by $15,000. The $494,000 necessary to reach this target have not been fully provided.

A recent article in Maclean's has helped prompt the city government to look at new ways of providing better housing to residents. Also, It has spurred renewed discussion of establishing Regina's first urban reserve inside North Central, in association with the Piapot Cree Nation. Several years ago, the City of Regina negotiated a servicing agreement with the Nekaneet First Nation to establish an urban reserve in the northeast Industrial Area. The reserve has not yet been approved by the federal government.

External link

• Neighbourhood profiles