Quote:
Originally Posted by BrianE
I'm just having a hard time finding a reason to object to this development. To me one huge shopping area surrounded a thousand parking spaces and 6 or 7 slightly smaller buildings surrounded by a thousand parking spaces is essentialy the same thing. People can still meet for lunch or coffee, the only difference is that it's in a separate building from the walmart instead of being attached to it.
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But it's different. Yes the current parking and traffic situation sucks, but that can be fixed without reconfiguring the entire area. The big box plan is awful BECAUSE the buildings are separated. So now, they are going to put traffic crossings and parking lots between each store... hell for pedestrians. So people who have cars will actually drive from store to store rather than walking. Have you tried walking from home depot in ancaster to the "neighbouring" Winners? it's a nightmare. SO seniors and kids will be out of luck, they will have to walk across parking lots to get from store to store.
And above all that, it's not just nostalgia that attaches people to this mall. It's the feeling inside. To me, it may be "dumpy" by today's retail standards, but it could be brightened up a bit through renovations. Despite the dumpiness though, the real magic of this place is in its layout. Most of the stores are smaller -- a more human scale than the uncomfortable enormous warehouse store model. And there are lots of little independent shops. It's almost like a mini indoor market.
So, a lot of us on here "rally against" retail developments. Personally, I am not at all against retail development, as long as it's done on a human scale, and put onto land that makes sense for retail (i.e. not prime industrial land). I know that it seems hypocritical for some of us to defend this mall, but let's be honest - it's already there. The services are well used and well needed by the community. I don't think any of us are going to advocate removing retail from that spot. But most of us would generally rather see smart redevelopment whenever possible rather than razing a place and starting over -- even if the original place is a little ugly.
Smart Centres just doesn't have the creative ability to make current spaces work. All they know is building disposable boxes on "shovel ready land". I have little hope in any character remaining at that spot. I have no nostalgic attachment to that mall other than my occasional visits to Bulk Barn in the past year (a store which probably won't find a place in the big box style redevelopment). But I do have an attachment to the fact that this space is scaled more toward humans and less toward hummers.