Winnipeg’s iconic Osborne Village neighbourhood has changed drastically since the COVID-19 lockdown began.
Typically a spot where you can grab bite, do some boutique shopping and dance the night away, it’s now more of a ghost town to foot traffic.
Restaurants can no longer host in-house dinners, bars and clubs are closed and shops have changed to online sales to help slow down the spread of the novel coronavirus.
“We have decided that we will keep our doors closed and we are going to focus more on the curbside delivery.”
With the changes comes challenges. Business owners like Coy saying some helpful changes from the city would be appreciated.
“Moving forward, it would be nice to maybe see some temporary time for parking, like maybe five-minute parking.” Coy said.
“And I think that to keep it clean and to maybe have some more walk by police once in a while, that would be nice.”
Sherri Rollings, city councillor for the area, says there’s been an increase in the number of people wandering the village with shelters in the area having to lower their capacities.
Rollins says she’s been working on safety plans for the area and will be putting forward a motion for the addition of curbside pickup lanes to help businesses cope with the new reality of shopping in the Village.