Grocery Stores

[jwilliamson]

plam, you must live very close to me. I'm also about 5 minutes walk from that Sobeys, also without crossing Weber or Bridgeport.

[danbrotherston]

The basics on Highland, and the Sobeys, are both pretty easy to walk to; having done so many times myself... definitely could make it easier for those coming from other directions but from downtown it's not terrible. Superstore isn't too bad if you're living around Bankside, or can approach from Queen's blvd. but they could have done a lot better too.

Food Basic for sure is walkable for a lot of people. And the intersection of Westmount and Highland always has a lot of pedestrians. I can't say that I have ever gone through that intersection without seeing at least 2 or 3 people, even late.

Yes, there are many pedestrians there, it is an area with many lower income individuals who cannot afford cars. It is a shame the region only catered to drivers driving through the area when they rebuilt the road, and it is a shame the plaza is not built to serve people on foot either.

Seeing people there means people walk there, it doesn't mean it is walkable. You are actually talking about some of the most dangerous places in the city, places that are unwalkable, but places where a large portion of people do walk for various reasons.

[ijmorlan]

Seeing people there means people walk there, it doesn't mean it is walkable. You are actually talking about some of the most dangerous places in the city, places that are unwalkable, but places where a large portion of people do walk for various reasons.

This reminds me of something I observed on Victoria years ago. I can’t remember where, but it was further out where there are no sidewalks. In the winter, there are little trails packed down in the snow running from one business to the next. So even in an aggressively hostile environment designed with the assumption that everybody will drive everywhere, there are still people who walk from one business to the next. I wonder how many car trips would be avoided if the walk was more pleasant? Not necessarily even an ideal comfortable walk — just a walk on a smooth straight sidewalk.

[jeffster]

Food Basic for sure is walkable for a lot of people. And the intersection of Westmount and Highland always has a lot of pedestrians. I can't say that I have ever gone through that intersection without seeing at least 2 or 3 people, even late.

Yes, there are many pedestrians there, it is an area with many lower income individuals who cannot afford cars. It is a shame the region only catered to drivers driving through the area when they rebuilt the road, and it is a shame the plaza is not built to serve people on foot either.

Seeing people there means people walk there, it doesn't mean it is walkable. You are actually talking about some of the most dangerous places in the city, places that are unwalkable, but places where a large portion of people do walk for various reasons.

I would say that the Sobeys plaza is not very walkable, as you do have to go on the live traffic to get to many of the stores, but Evergreen Mall is totally pedestrian friendly.

[Chris]

Seeing people there means people walk there, it doesn't mean it is walkable. You are actually talking about some of the most dangerous places in the city, places that are unwalkable, but places where a large portion of people do walk for various reasons.

This reminds me of something I observed on Victoria years ago. I can’t remember where, but it was further out where there are no sidewalks. In the winter, there are little trails packed down in the snow running from one business to the next. So even in an aggressively hostile environment designed with the assumption that everybody will drive everywhere, there are still people who walk from one business to the next. I wonder how many car trips would be avoided if the walk was more pleasant? Not necessarily even an ideal comfortable walk — just a walk on a smooth straight sidewalk.

In my experience there are desire lines on Victoria extend from Bruce to Frederick with a really poor patch work of pedestrian infra in that stretch. I think the only place on this stretch that qualifies as a grocery store would the American Latina although Valumart isn't far at the Frederick mall. I didn't go to the Westin's outlet more than a couple times but it seemed super popular and it was sad to see them close it.

Bruce
https://www.google.com/maps/@43.462621,-...312!8i6656

Frederick
https://www.google.com/maps/@43.4662387,...312!8i6656

[tomh009]

It would be interesting to try to consider what changes could be made to make plazas like that more comfortable and attractive to pedestrians and cyclists. It's one thing to build something new from scratch, but how can we adjust existing spaces to be more friendly?

Build them as one piece with a continuous portico linking every doorway, and extending to the ends of the property.

Sorry to keep beating this drum, but I can’t be the only person who prefers walking to and between stores in a space that is not subject to rain and snow.

Incidentally, Highland Hills Mall (aka Sobey's plaza) has a portico, although it has a gap where the LCBO and Rexall are.

[neonjoe]

^ Kitchener Plaza....
Highland Hills Mall is the Superstore Mall.

There are a lot of older shopping centres with a Portico for instance Laurentian Hills Plaza (Freshco) Forest Glen Plaza (no-frills) it just seems that this thread has disappeared more recently.

[KevinL]

There are a lot of older shopping centres with a Portico 

Forest Hill as well (the Giant Tiger plaza).

[tomh009]

^ Kitchener Plaza....
Highland Hills Mall is the Superstore Mall.

You are right! I never look at the plaza names ...

[jeffster]

^ Kitchener Plaza....
Highland Hills Mall is the Superstore Mall.

There are a lot of older shopping centres with a Portico for instance Laurentian Hills Plaza (Freshco) Forest Glen Plaza (no-frills) it just seems that this thread has disappeared more recently.

I remember when Highland Hills Mall had the best food court in the region. They didn't have a lot of choices, maybe like 4 or 5, but all the food was great. It also had the best Zellers, IMHO, in Ontario. I really don't go there too much anymore, not really the same places that it was.

[KevinL]

Back when it was actually a mall, and not a Superstore with some ancillary businesses.

[jeffster]

Back when it was actually a mall, and not a Superstore with some ancillary businesses.

Cool thing about that mall/plaza is that you could find just about anything you needed. It seemed to have a lot of stuff for a fairly small mall. Always busy too. Country Kitchen (I think it was called) had the best chicken wings and gyros. There was a good Chinese place in there too, $4 for a platter that could feed two people. One of the better Radio Shacks, when it was still in business. As for the plaza portion, I can't remember what was in JYSK before, and after Consumers Distributing.

[neonjoe]

The JYSK location was a Winners and before that I believe it was a Tire Centre of some sort.

[jeffster]

The JYSK location was a Winners and before that I believe it was a Tire Centre of some sort.

Right! Now I remember the Winners. I don’t remember any sort of Tire Centre there though. I know Canadian Tire had a spot where the Shoppers Drug Mart/Parts Source/Goodwill is, at the Swiss Chalet Plaza at Highland and Westmount.

[GarthDanlor]

Back when it was actually a mall, and not a Superstore with some ancillary businesses.

Wasn't the original main tenant the Super Centre?  I vaguely recall it being huge and having a similar footprint to the RCSS, except for the smallish area where the foodcourt and a few businesses were?