It is a heavily-traveled street linking Portage Avenue, Polo Park, and the St. James Industrial area.
North of Portage Avenue, it enters the Polo Park and Old St. James districts, one of the city's busiest retail and commercial areas.
Further north, it enters the St. James Industrial Park, which encompasses the area immediately east of the Winnipeg airport.
It features big box retailers such as Canadian Tire, Costco, Best Buy, Best Sleep Centre, Visions Electronics, Staples, Mark's, Old Navy, Michaels, Fabricland, and The Brick.
[citation needed] St. James Street has been regarded as one of the most poorly maintained streets in the city by local residents and was voted as the "Worst Road in Manitoba" twice (2012, 2014) in annual polls conducted by the Manitoba chapter of the Canadian Automobile Association.