[lrt's friend]

Yes, back in the 1960s, it was routine for my mother to drive right downtown to do most of her shopping. Not groceries but remember that in those days milk and bread were delivered to your door. There were also convenient car parks next to Murphy Gambles on Queen Street, Ogilvy's on Besserer Street and Frieman's on George Street. Things have changed a lot in perception as well. Back then, it was routine to have larger items delivered. Now, everybody dumps their purchases in the SUV. The immediate gratification thing. They also don't want to pay a $25.00 delivery fee and usually nobody is home during the day to receive a delivery. That was not the case back in the 60s.

Personally, I like going downtown to shop but it is inconvenient so I don't go often. With all the construction in the Rideau Centre, the number of stores available is temporarily reduced significantly making it not worth the effort. Driving downtown is not great even on Saturdays. Streets like Bank Street can even be worse on Saturday than on weekdays.