Damn dude you figured it out already! And agreed. I appreciate that low and high income are mixed in this country. Stark contrast to so many of the gated communities and ghettos/trailer parks I pass by when visiting South Florida.
Of the three grocery carts, one is No Frills which was across the QEW. You can take a path under the QEW to come up on North Service. The black suggests Pusatieri's at the mall, but I'm not sure if their carts are bulky like that. Other one no idea.
The reason this place is rundown I'm going to guess that the owners are just waiting for re-development/re-zoning to be approved so they can turn this into luxury homes or condos. Do only the bare minimum until then.
This is often the case in the nicer parts of the GTA for townhouses or plazas or dead malls. Or on empty former farm lands where there's one abandoned and boarded up farmhouse on the corner in places like Milton, Caledon, Stouffville. Owner is holding it in the family and paying property tax and liability insurance until that land is re-zoned residential and they can sell to Mattamy or whoever for several millions. Two former co-workers of mine said they know or met beneficiaries of such situations because their parents actually farmed that land and held onto it. And a current co-worker in his late 50s bought a piece of land in Milton with his cousin a few years ago anticipating the same thing. But this is many years away from happening so he's doing it for his kids.
One of our clients and retired developer says the Chinese have driven the price of this land way up, particularly in Markham around Elgin Mills and into Stouffville. They have the deep pockets to hold onto that land for the next or next generation.
I'm guessing much of this housing above is subsidized judging by some of the people I see hanging out in the front. It's not Parkdale, but the tenants aren't Yorkville either.
And being right next to the highway on the service road seems like the logical placement of this complex.