Regina neighbourhoods

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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 distinction, 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.

1 Cathedral Area
- 1.1 History
2 North Central
3 Notes
4 External link

[edit] Cathedral Area

A 235-hectare (581 acres) 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 does have some commercial properties on the north and east and along the 13 Avenue shopping district, the neighbourhood's main street.

[edit] History

The Holy Rosary Cathedral on 13 Avenue in 1912, and it is what gives the area its name. 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 programmes — 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 on March 24, 2007.

[edit] 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.^[1] 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.

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^[2] — 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.^[3]^[4] 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.^[5] The $494,000 necessary to reach this target have not been fully provided.

A recent article in Maclean's^[6] has helped prompt the city government to look at new ways of providing better housing to residents.^{[citation needed]} 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.^[7]