12-13-2020, 11:43 AM
(12-13-2020, 10:47 AM)ac3r Wrote: There was never any real pull major there at any point in time. I grew up in the area for a while when I was a kid and came back a lot over the years. There were a few unimportant shops, Vincenzo's and I think a Beer Store. Vincenzo's did indeed bring a lot of people there for lunch (from Sun Life, as you said, as well as the old factories and Grand River Hospital). It wasn't until about 2010 that they tried to really force it into being an urban village but that has not really been a success...it's still basically just a few strip malls with restaurants and dentists. Urban villages generally fail most of the time. There's quite a lot of good planning/architecture theory into why this happens.I would take an urban village anyday of the week over the strip malls and power centre's built now a days. Maybe it is just because I usually go to Belmont in the summer, but it always seems busy. It has a great indian and Italian restaurant. Probably the best place for beers in the region, a donut shop, old timey diner, a sub spot and a bunch of cafes. All uique independent businesses. Not sure what else people would like to see as a draw?