Quote:
Originally Posted by Drybrain
I feel like Mike Campbell of the Carleton is holding on a little too hard, in his public comments, to what Argyle used to be (i.e., a strip of past-their-primes bars stuck in the 90s, primarily catering to tourists and undergraduates). His negative comments worry me more than any dip in business--it sounds to me as if he's extremely skeptical about the street's future and is weighing his options. I think this is a huge mis-reading of the situation on his part.
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I think there's been a sea change over the last 20 years in terms of downtown living and the attractiveness of the downtown area in general. Business closures used to mean vacancies and a lack of demand but lately they've been driven by the rising cost of space and, to some degree, by demand that is moving upmarket. General social and technological changes (e.g. buying stuff online) are happening at the same time so there's been a lot of churn in the businesses.
It's hard to see right now because the construction is bad for many businesses but when these buildings open I think areas like Argyle are going to be a lot more vibrant. Just compare the Nova Centre to what was there before; it used to be the Herald building and a large parking lot. Soon there's going to be ten times as much stuff happening on those blocks.
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