[Halifax] Motherhouse Redevelopment | Proposed

[Wishblade]

Originally Posted by Halifax Hillbilly

I imagine Superstore or Sobeys are both unlikely since they have stores on Joe Howe and Lacewood respectively. Shame though. Is there anyone else in the local market other than No Frills?

I think that will be a significant step as Halifax becomes more urban and vibrant: the return of small and medium scale grocery stores instead of only huge stores catering to big catchment areas and people driving.

Maybe Pete's will open a location here.

[someone123]

That's one big difference between Toronto/Montreal/Vancouver and Halifax. I've lived in a few neighbourhoods of walkups and houses in Vancouver and they've all had half a dozen or more grocery store options within walking distance. There are the Safeway and No-Frills type stores but there are also lots of small produce places, some butchers, etc. In the nicer neighbourhoods there's also a higher level of stores similar to Pete's (Whole Foods, maybe Urban Fare, Capers, Stong's, Choices...). It is great to be able to walk to a small shop daily to pick up fresh food.

Instead of that sort of vibrant commercial ecosystem, neighbourhoods like Quinpool have giant 1970s-era grocery chains combined with a limited set of small shops. Downtown Dartmouth doesn't have any grocery stores as far as I know. How great can a neighbourhood really be if grocery options consist of a 15 minute drive to Superstore?

[resetcbu1]

Calgary seems to have that issue as well , not that there is a lack of grocers but they all seem to be big chain stores other than a couple like sunterra market. I honestly believe this to be a result of the way in which the city is built ...... it's like terrible suburbia as soon as you leave Downtown/Mission/17 Ave area. The business area is very dense but as soon as you leave this area it seems like a 1970's suburban nightmare, most people don't even know many of their neighbors other than next door or across the street..... this seems like the way to build new sub-urbia well thought out , friendly , and easy to picture living with all types of amenities