David A
Senior Member
You are absolutely right about that area being a solidly built up main street. Its not the fanciest area, but it does work.Yeah, I'm extremely familiar with the history of Boyle Street, including Edmonton's original Chinatown. I'm not suggesting there's nothing Chinese in Boyle Street but you're smoking something good if you think the density of businesses and institutions is anything near the level in McCauley.
When I say 97th is filled in, I mean both in terms of businesses in CRUs as well as in the physical realm. Boyle Street, for better or worse, still looks like a bomb went off in most places. The scars of decades of neglect and urban renewal going nowhere have left it with huge gaping holes. Say what you will about 97th, but it's one of the most solidly built up main streets in the city, with great, fine-grained urbanism from Pacific Mall to St Josaphat's. The area is well-regarded in foodie circles as a hidden gem with a lot of great restaurants, plus grocers like Lucky 97 really anchor the area. The area's obviously had a rough go for the past few years in particular, but even with a little more vacancies, it's still miles ahead of where Boyle Street is in terms of the Chinese community.
There is quite a contrast between the area north of 104 Ave to 107 Ave and the area south of it. Both areas are a bit rough with their share of problems, but somehow the north part has done fairly well over the years considering, while the area to the south has languished and declined.
Sometimes well intended, excessive urban renewal is more of a curse than a blessing and it may be better sometimes when an area is mostly left alone to find its own niche.