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Originally Posted by someone123
I noticed the chains in Kingston. Is it the smallest Canadian city that has retailers like that in urban storefronts? Presumably Queen's is a factor in those stores being viable. It's also somewhat rare for Canada in that it doesn't have much of an office core (if I remember correctly mostly just the odd 70's-era hotel or apartment). The nicer parts are fairly retail focused and have a lot of heritage buildings. On paper I'd guess that it looks like a fairly low density area, yet it's one of the nicer downtowns in Canada.
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I think you're probably right about the chains. Maybe Whistler and Mont-Tremblant could qualify as well - but their villages are artificial.
Approaching downtown Kingston on the main drag Princess Street you go through of a long stretch of typical commercial sprawl where it's actually a highway with stop lights masquerading as a "street". Then you have a half dozen blocks where it's denser but it's a bit depressing and run-down, kind of like some of the down-on-their-luck post-industrial cities of southern Ontario (shabby but not scary). Then when you get to the actual downtown it's really very nice. And reasonably large.