Tuesday, February 26, 2013

On walking to the restaurant or bank or drug store



I believe the new Dolcetto is a locally owned business. The Italian diner is very handy to my suburban home. As can be seen from this picture, beside the Docetto there is a TD Canada Trust branch and next to that there is a Shoppers Drug Mart.

The common criticism of suburbia is that there are no businesses one can walk to. But there often are, as you can see from my pictures. But, do many folk walk to this shopping center. I'd bet the answer is no. Whether the folk live right across the street or some blocks away, I'd bet most residents of the neighbourhood take a car to the little, outdoor mall.

Is this all that much different from downtown? I doubt it. When I took my wife out for dinner recently, we went to one of our favourite downtown places. Of course, we drove, and I'll bet everyone in the diner that night drove.

When I was a kid we walked. I walked, my mother walked, the neighbours walked. Was this because the stores were even closer to our older, traditional neighbourhood? No. It was because back then lots of folk didn't have a car readily available for a quick, short trip to the store. Walking wasn't done by choice, life demanded one walk and walk and walk some more.

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