Garment Street Condos | 25 & 6 fl | U/C

[cherrypark]

I think having services like that in DTK is absolutely good, I just think it's an unfortunate use of ground floor space. As it is a specific destination, one doesn't wander in to a sleep clinic while passing by, it could easily be on the second floor.

I think it's sort of like when people bemoan the frontage that banks take up on King St. It's not that banks in DTK aren't an essential service, it's just that they don't really need more street presence than a door.

A sleep clinic, or a bank, is certainly much better than a vacant unit. But unless they focus on landing some landmark tenants it won't be DTK's version of the Bauer buildings.

While I generally agree with this (because I like exciting shops!), I don't feel that was ever realistic in the short term. Going back to the point I was making earlier in this thread, Victoria is such an unpleasant street to walk on. I specifically go out of my way to avoid it, and judging from pedestrian traffic I see there, others feel the same way. In my mind, this makes it a location for people to drive to (unless the business is directly serving the condo folks, like a convenience store), and thus not really part of DTK.

I especially feel this way because there are much more walkable, core storefronts in DTK that are sitting empty. This combination of being mildly inconvenient for both drivers (why not just go to a suburban strip mall instead of "downtown"?) and pedestrians (why not walk somewhere more pleasant?) means that it has to be something that people need like a sleep clinic or a bank.

Generally agreed that Victoria is not the mostly pleasant place to walk, but for what its worth, the addition of the 100 Vic street front (and eventual Glove Box frontage) has made that part much nicer and wider. Just need a few more re-developments to make the sidewalk a bit less unpleasant (and ideally Kitchener to start doing city clearing of the sidewalks in the core, because that is the worst time of year on that street with a patchwork of people actually clearing or not).