Quote:
Originally Posted by Acajack
That's part of the appeal of truly urban cities, but I would say that in terms of amenities even in our best cities not even close to all of even the most urban neighbourhoods offer a full complement of what you "need" within walking distance, from a shoe repair shop to a liquor store. (Though quite a few of them do.)
Just thinking of a city like Ottawa, in dense, vibrant, affluent inner city neighbourhoods like New Edinburgh (Beechwood) or Old Ottawa South, which have strong main streets, there isn't anywhere to buy alcohol within walking distance, for example.
Even Toronto and Montreal have lots of inner neighbourhoods that while they are very good, still have these "amenity gaps". Just think of how many of them aren't even close to being served by rapid transit.
In large cities around you don't generally have as many of these "amenity gaps", and when you book a hotel in a central but non-downtown area you can be reasonably confident to have most of what you need or want.
Think about how many secondary or tertiary urban districts in major Canadian cities have a non-mall *department store*. There are virtually none in the entire country.
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This is often easier for smaller cities but the selection, of course, is weaker. We don't have everything (the two that stand out to me, besides the obvious, are no professional ballet, as far as I'm aware, and no downtown library) but what we do have is all within easy walking distance of me.
As far as I can tell, the most important thing is to maintain a wide variety of reasons for all classes of society to live relatively close together and in the core. For example, within a couple blocks of me, is a large community group building serving/employing people with mental ilness, the most prestigious private school in the province, one of the largest public high schools with the best theatre programs, one of the poorest neighbourhoods in the city in one direction, one of the most successfully gentrified in the other, both ringed by one of the most expensive. No matter what I need, whether it's a black barber, or a spa, or a tailor, or dog grooming, or a manicure, or methadone... I can get it all without walking more than a big city block. And all of the amenities of downtown are only a few times farther away.
But, of course, the variety and quality is different than larger cities. We may or may not have an AHL hockey team at the time. And that'd be by far the most prestigious sporting event available.
And the suburbs, of course, are awful compared to even an identical built form in a larger city. You won't find many hidden suburban gems here, unless you head out to touristy suburbs that were previously separate, old coastal villages. Quidi Vidi, for example, has some of the best restaurants and accomodations in the country. Petty Harbour has the best fish'n'chips in the region.
But you go out to the cul-de-sacs, and there is almost no creativity to the amenities. Manna Bakery is the suburban amenity that gets any sort of love that comes to my mind at the moment. Everything else is Kelsey's, Fionn MacCool's, Needs, Pipers, Coleman's, Walmart, Kent, Canadian Tire, Marie's, Mary Brown's, KFC, generic office low-rises, industrial parks, whatever else. They're the types of places that turn everything you do into an errand, not an experience. And you have to go to the core to find anything that feels all that different from a large American truck stop.
I think in a larger city you can have even shitty suburbs without getting quite that bad. Gun to my head, there's no question even I would choose Mississauga or Markham or Laval before Mount Pearl or Conception Bay South, even accounting for the fact it's easier to get to our core from the suburbs.