By Joyanne Pursaga, Winnipeg Sun
Let's face it: We Winnipeggers are often not the best promoters of our city.
Many of us whine about mosquitoes as though each summer brings a biblical plague's worth of blood-suckers.
At times we play right into the stereotype that the city is a bone-chillingly cold wasteland.
It seems many Winnipeggers complain about the city they secretly love to fuel the impression each whiner is one of a hardy few who can muster up the strength, patience and loyalty needed to survive here.
As wind chills plummet well below -30 C and Malathion maintains its enduring status as a local household word, there remains, of course, a kernel of truth to these stereotypes.
It's a tough pitch amidst this long-standing tradition for Destination Winnipeg to ask residents and outsiders to see their city as "cool" rather than just cold.
The city's economic development agency, however, is attempting to lead the way to positive thinking.
Its new "Incredibly Cool" campaign, which was unveiled Monday, pitches the city as an attractive place to visit and live.
The key website of the campaign, incrediblycool.ca, lists short commutes, "world class" culture, affordable homes and Manitoba's cottage country among the top reasons to move here.
But the all-too-common self-deprecating statements and pessimistic attitudes residents of this city often cling to make it one difficult community to sell to the outside world. For example, we all seem to have plenty of time to complain about the weather but barely a moment to consider a string of good news stories about the local economy. Last week, Statistics Canada unemployment numbers showed Manitoba's jobless rate actually dipped one-tenth of a percentage point to 4.2% in November, which remains well below the national average.
This placed the province with the third lowest unemployment rate of all Canadian provinces, trailing only Saskatchewan and Alberta.
By contrast, the country lost 70,600 employees as a whole, including 66,000 in Ontario, pushing national unemployment figures up to a recession-like level of 6.3%.
Perhaps it's natural our municipal and provincial gains were over-shadowed by frightening national headlines that reflected the broader picture. But the fact the local story got little mention at all is an eye-opener.
Then on Tuesday, the Winnipeg Realtors Association announced its members managed to set a new record in home sales this year, even as the real estate market began to cool down.
Home sales reached an unprecedented $2.33 billion for 2008, with a few weeks left to spare. The number of homes sold did drop 25% in November and the amount they sold for fell 24%, compared to the same month of the previous year, according to the WRA.
Yet even through 2009, the city is one of the few Canadian centres set to see the value of the average home rise or hold steady, making that investment a little safer here, according to Re/Max.
Obviously, there is no doubt Winnipeggers are affected by the global economic downturn. But it would be nice to see us recognize our accomplishments for a change and take heart in the fact our local economy appears to be a little more resilient and our home values seem a little more stable than those of other Canadian cities. Some economists even predict the city will lead Canada in economic growth next year.
In that context, the Destination Winnipeg campaign's clever play on the city's stereotype as a cold, remote location makes sense.
It highlights the TV shows credited for putting the city on the prime time map and targets a younger generation through You Tube and Facebook.
"Yes, people moan about the cold, but we wanted to attack it in a different way. Winnipeg is not cold, it's cool," Lori Walder, the agency's marketing and communications director, told Sun Media.
In the midst of the apathy and negativity that often plagues our city, it's refreshing to see a realistic yet interesting campaign that explains why the city is actually cool.
The site offers tangible reasons for a move to the city and avoids whining about temperatures and insects.
There are bound to be a few who lash out at the campaign as yet another vain attempt to sell a city with an unfair crappy reputation.
But instead of dismissing the sales pitch, maybe it's time we all take an interest in promoting Winnipeg and sharing the reasons why we choose to live here.
It wouldn't hurt to show a little hometown pride in the 'Peg. In fact, it could be pretty cool.
Right on! Bring on the pessimists...
