General University Area Updates and Rumours

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Purely anecdotal, but my great-grandfather did not drive. He lived in a single family home, walked to work and church, and walked everywhere to do his banking and pay his bills (in the days when you could walk in the front door of your utility company and pay your bill). Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge used to be that way; the urban form is largely still there.

One thing that I have noticed during this pandemic is the rise in stores offering delivery and people willing to have things delivered to their home. Back in my great-grandfather's time (and really up until about 40 years ago), stores did home delivery because there was usually at least one person home during the day. Now, with the rise of remote work, there are more people at home during the day. No longer will we need to head to a store to bring home a mountain of groceries or other parcels; we'll be able to place and order and have it delivered to our door.

The one sticking point in this new order is high-rise buildings that may not have planned for large-scale parcel delivery and delivery companies that have dramatically shrunk the delivery window for each parcel (I've heard 45 seconds from vehicle to door and back again)

The future is looking more like the past again.