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Old Posted Sep 18, 2013, 6:17 AM
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ScreamingViking ScreamingViking is offline
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Join Date: Jun 2013
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Quote:
Originally Posted by niwell View Post
I'm only really familiar with the GTA but I would say that downtown Burlington is one of the better examples. Oakville is good as well, but can be a bit too upscale to be considered fully functional (it does have jobs though). The only problem with these is they function as nice downtowns of places with maybe ~50,000, not 150,000.
Agree with the last sentence. They're both nice and "downtownie" but could be more for the size of city they're within.

Downtown Burlington has a lot of boutique retail and restaurants, but it lacks larger stores (which it will never get with one large regional mall only 5 minutes away, and another mall a bit more distant in another direction). There are several condo developments with more on the way, and a few rental buildings, and there is a cluster of apartment towers close by. There are also some townhouse strips, and many beautiful older homes just a block off the main streets. But employment-wise it's also lacking - a few modest office buildings to go with houses converted to professional offices and other businesses. Most of Burlington's employment, including office employment, is concentrated along the QEW.

There's a lot of potential for intensification, but I think there are many who live in the downtown area who would oppose that.
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