South Osborne: doing it right

Every year, Time Out, which publishes listings magazines, websites and apps for 333 cities around the world, creates a list of the world’s coolest neighbourhoods.

For travellers, foodies, music geeks, theatre mavens, art connoisseurs and various other pleasure seekers, the Time Out list is essential reading, even if financial circumstances and geopolitical considerations mean they’ll never visit most of the cities listed.

Regardless, it’s fun to nod knowingly and have your taste affirmed when you happen across a district you’ve been to and enjoyed — such as Red Hook in New York City, Camberwell in London, or Montreal’s Plateau.

According to Time Out, what makes a neighbourhood cool is that “they’re places that reflect the very best of their cities — its culture, community spirit, nightlife, food and drink — all condensed in one vibey, walkable district.”

There’s no Time Out website for Winnipeg but, if there was, it’s likely that its editors and writers would have noticed the harmonic convergence of restaurants, bars, taprooms, funky stores and live music venues in this city’s South Osborne district, considered the criteria for cool neighbourhoods, and offered it up for consideration.

Stretching south to the St. Vital Bridge from the Osborne Street underpass and Osborne Station rapid transit stop, Osborne Street South is bounded on the east by Riverview and on the west by Lord Roberts, which are home to nearly 10,000 people.

For locals, Osborne is the neighbourhood’s main drag — its “high street,” as the Brits say — home to commercial necessities such as a major grocery store, gas stations and convenience stores, fast food restaurants, coffee-chain franchises and the public amenities and recreational activities offered by the Fort Rouge Leisure Centre. All are places where people can take care of day-to-day needs quickly and efficiently.

Over the past two decades, South Osborne has also become home to a bustling evening and weekend scene, as legacy businesses such as dry cleaners, tailors and appliance shops have moved on or run their course.

On any given Saturday, people can grab an artisanal coffee from a local, independent coffee shop or a frozen treat from a gourmet ice creamery and then window shop — or actually shop — as they stroll along a street of independent groceries, bakeries, a games store, a bookstore, fashion boutiques or hair and esthetics salons. At night, the area’s pubs, restaurants and live music venues serve as anchors of activity, bringing a critical mass of people to dine, see their favourite local and touring musical performers at Sidestage or the Park Theatre, or just to hang out and catch up over drinks or, in the case of Park Alleys, a few frames of bowling.

The latest buzz in the neighbourhood is that local breweries Nonsuch Brewing Co. and Good Neighbour Brewing Co. have opened storefronts on Osborne Street South in the past three months, and the former Grape & Grain home-brewing supply store will soon reopen as Dastardly Villain Ale Works, a nanobrewery (i.e., an extremely small micro-brewery) and taproom.

The local business association, South Osborne BIZ, is now thinking about adding a taproom tour to its already-popular restaurant tours, and Dastardly Villain owner Scott Tackaberry told the Free Press he hopes South Osborne “will become a little tourist strip, like Osborne Village or Little Italy on Corydon.”

Tackaberry’s in the midst of getting a business up and running, so he can be forgiven for not being quite up to speed — the truth of the matter is that South Osborne is already a happening place.

In fact, it might just be the brightest new feather in River City’s cap, joining, and maybe even superseding the likes of Osborne Village, Corydon Avenue, the Exchange District and Old St. Boniface as a cultural and entertainment hub.