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What do you think of this project?

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    59
IanO said:
There is a reason that they call these 'anchors':)

I just hope that enough people are willing to walk with bags, for it's incredible how many folks in our building drive the 5 blocks to SaveOn.
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I am always surprised at that, too. For the most part, you would think living in a neighbourhood with a higher walkability score would lead to more people walking.
Not to be too cranky, but it also bothered me when I lived in a single family neighbourhood and people let their front yards become weed infested or their was very little attempt to clean sidewalks of snow. Come on people! Lol
 
Loblaws prices won’t help... if I’m doing a small shop i walk to brewery, but if I’m doing a big shop I drive to Kingsway superstore. Some items are literally half the price. Same company, same items, VERY different prices.
 
Sure, but that's the beauty of something a couple of blocks away.

Convenience over price.

It will be interesting to see the elasticity, demand, and elasticity of demand, but to grab stuff on the way home from work on a walk versus 30-45mins to to go Superstore is an easy decision for me.
 
IanO said:
There is a reason that they call these 'anchors':)

I just hope that enough people are willing to walk with bags, for it's incredible how many folks in our building drive the 5 blocks to SaveOn.
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Walkability is not just about the distance, also. If it's not a pleasant, interesting walk, I'll take advantage of the free parking and drive (and then, probably go to a further away, cheaper and bigger store). Example being: I'll sometimes walk to the Loblaws in the Brewery District, but there's no way I'll walk to Safeway on Oliver Square, or to the Save On Foods on 109 (granted that this one is a good 12 blocks from home, if Jasper was actually pleasant to walk in, I'd certainly walk).
 
IanO said:
As do and would most.

We must improve the experience, remove accessibility barriers and pair it with 2-3 other reasons to walk and not drive everywhere.
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I get what you're going for, and it's not a bad goal. It just appears you are trying to push your belief onto others.

I used to live in Oliver, 3 blocks from a grocery store, even had a Shoppers Drug Mart a block away. For small stuff, sure I'd walk to Shoppers. In my entire period living in Oliver, if I went for groceries at City Market, I'd drive. I'd assume most people with a car do the exact same thing. Time is valuable to most people, walking for 10 minutes each way, carrying bags is not appealing unless that is your only option. If I feel like going for a walk, I will, but I'll drive and get my groceries, go park at home, drop my stuff off, then go for a walk. It's also why people don't cycle. And again, it's not saying that we can't do better to make things easier for people.

It's just common sense that walking for groceries is regressive compared to driving for groceries. In a dense neighborhood such as Oliver or Downtown, maybe this is more close to feasible as traffic/parking make walking more time efficient at times. Without these factors though, majority of people will drive, and do so because we choose to. Won't even get into other factors as those with families or mobility issues as it seems pretty straightforward.
 
Existing reasons to walk:
-- Birds are singing and it is a beautiful day
-- girls are jogging in short-shorts
-- free ice-cream at the store for pedestrians only
Existing reasons to run:
-- very large boyfriend caught you winking at his jogging girlfriend
-- a grizzly bear came up from the river valley
-- pigeons are flying overhead
Existing reasons to take the car:
-- dogs are dog-tired
-- there is a blizzard and you are very hungry
-- you own a sports car that attracts young joggers
Existing reasons to order in
-- there is a compelling hours-long show on television
-- you are in the middle of whipping a nasty neighbour at a game of whist (for financial rewards)
-- you are preoccupied with writing witty repartee on the skyrise cities site and can't be bothered
 
What's your definition of groceries though.

The world over we shop for 1-2...maybe 3 days, not the week and want fresh over boxed in many cases. For me, grocery shopping is as important a process/commitment as good knife skills/prep and the act of cooking. I derive pleasure from it.

To each their own; I am miles down the road from my indoctrination chapter and comfortably into my acceptance period.
 
For me personally, groceries are going once a week for my wife and I. Basically get enough stuff to eat for the week, and meal prep for lunches at work.

The world over where you shop for 2-3 days is also largely by necessity, not out of choice. When I worked overseas in London, would have a tiny flat with a tiny refrigerator 1/2 the size of an average one in Edmonton. Lived and worked in the CBD, and was fortunate to have a grocery store a couple blocks away. Had to walk, because I didn't drive there. So I guess I just like to make the point that people (on average) walk out of necessity, not out of choice (there are some that choose to, and for sure they are out there, but these are largely a minority).

Apologies if I misconstrued what you wrote, but I took it as vilifying people who drive instead of walking. I guess I just don't want to be defending myself for choosing to use a car, when for me, I can make a choice of what's most efficient for my situation. It's also probably why so many initiatives aren't overly effective to get people out of using cars. There is the capacity to drive, and it's affordable. When Edmonton gets dense where this isn't the case anymore, I feel only then will cars be less impactful on our decisions (and yes, we should be planning for that, but not at the expense of people's current utility).
 
@jason403 I had a different experience overseas -- when I lived in Deutschland I used to commonly eat at the local Gasthaus where I could always seem to find something to wash the food down with; when I moved to Paris, a Brasserie became the new hang-out for old reasons. "I was so much older then; I'm younger than that now".
 
The reference is Bob Dylan's "My Back Pages". kitchen -- from the Latin coquere ‘to cook’ -- coquere "down" in the basement or coquere "out" on the patio -- I don't care; I'll be at the pub tossin' a few.
 
@jason403 Honestly you do you man, if you really like the weekly bulk trip the best then that's great. For me though, I'd LOVE to live in a place where, on the way home, I could walk/bike/transit to a small local grocery, pick up what me or my (future) family needs for the next day or two, and then walk/bike/transit home! Grocery shopping would feel much more wholesome and nice and could just be part of the daily routine, unlike the once-a-week trip my family does where we load the super-sized cart to the max of 5 adults worth of stuff (getting more junk food than we need), spending over $100-$200 each time, unloading everything in the car, unloading everything again at home and putting it all away. Of course, if I'm having a party or something (which I'm NOT for the record 😄) stores like Costco are helpful, but I'd definitely not enjoy shopping there every single time when I'm older.
 
jason403 said:
I get what you're going for, and it's not a bad goal. It just appears you are trying to push your belief onto others.
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How is giving people more mobility choices and a more comfortable non-driving experience pushing beliefs onto others?
 
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