299 bloor call control.
Senior Member
All you have to do is look at the original plans for the Thornhill and Leaside Centres being cited as "best" to realize how shady this company is.
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Smart Centre developments
- Thread starter kettal
- Start date
kettal
Banned
Where do you find the original plans?
adma
Superstar
Weren't they in the Leslieville SmartCentre thread, or someplace? (I'm not up to searching; but there *was* a darned effective illustration of the company's bait'n'switch urbanism there. Maybe it made it to the Spacing blog as well; can't remember.)
urbanboom
Active Member
I still can't believe that SmartCentre on Laird was allowed to be built (I'm kind of jealous of Leslieville in that respects). The traffic on Laird just about tripled and it's a pedestrian's nightmare. Walking across that parking lot in the summer is like walking across the Sahara.
But in the long term, I could see the potential for it to be nice. Perhaps when that area becomes a little less auto-centric, It could somehow see that SmartCentre becoming a sort of pedestrian Mall similar to the new Don Mills Centre if they we're to take of parking space with some boutiques and terraced pedestrian access. I could even become pleasant (gasp), rather than the road rage generator it is today.
But in the long term, I could see the potential for it to be nice. Perhaps when that area becomes a little less auto-centric, It could somehow see that SmartCentre becoming a sort of pedestrian Mall similar to the new Don Mills Centre if they we're to take of parking space with some boutiques and terraced pedestrian access. I could even become pleasant (gasp), rather than the road rage generator it is today.
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adma
Superstar
To me, the worst thing about the SmartCentre is the way it's been clearcutting Leaside's industrial archaeology...
Duke-of-East-York
New Member
Hopefully the rest of this SmartCentre will have this faux-rural architecture that the Wal-Mart store has. It at least somewhat minimizes the culture clash with the Farmer's Market and surrounding Mennonite community. The Wal-Mart is all that has been built so far, but there's more stores slated to be built here this summer, and we can only hope.
urbandreamer
recession proof
^Although Mennonites, fwiw, love shopping at Wal-Mart. There's an Eastern European Mennonite Mission that has a deal with Wal-Mart--they send their crap straight from some central-USA wal-mart to Russia etc.
The horse and buggy Plain People have extra long buggies they use when they go "big box shopping." They love it! A family outing in the "city." lol.
The horse and buggy Plain People have extra long buggies they use when they go "big box shopping." They love it! A family outing in the "city." lol.
UrbanPrincess
New Member
when i saw the thread title I said to myself "seriously? best and Smart Centre shouldn't be in the same sentence". I just feel like the faux-ness of architecture and the grey, dull, boring cement walls and vast parking lots are just overkill. I absolutely detest smart centres. I live about 5 minutes from a large one in Brampton and when i did live in scarborough, I frequented the one on Eglinton near Warden. Aside from the faux-ness, it's the 'driving from store to store' that really makes me angry. One day, my mom wanted to drive to the store next door to the one we were in, i flipped out
W. K. Lis
Superstar
Those big box store centres are not made for pedestrian traffic. There maybe a bus stop at the entrance, but no sidewalks, just an afterthought. They have to get on the roadways in the centre to walk to any store.
Dan416
Senior Member
I can't stand the driving from store-to-store either. That's why I'll go to Square One or Erin Mills over Heartland any day. Even though I live very close to Heartland.
I had the same reaction.
nfitz
Superstar
Really ... people drive from store to store? I've always parked and walked ... and I curse how poor a lay-out it is for walking, give a few drivers the finger, and tend to shop elsewhere.
Kingsway
Active Member
Of all the SmartCentres, the most unsuccessful from both retail performance and functionality are the ones that have the highest degree of planner input (Thornhill). Crappy retail sites make for poor retail performance, poor retail performance means lower revenues for the landlord or massive vacancies which in turn makes for a lot of C rated retail strip malls. Yuk.
There are two very sad realities to the success of smartcentres....the first is that the mere dimensions of a 30,000sf Winners or 180,000sf WalMart make it impossible to be pedestrian friendly despite the wildest dreams of planners, the second reality is that the majority of people LIKE their cars and NEED them to truck their families to the SmartCentres and their loads of goods home.
The saddest part of SmartCentres is when planners inflict unreasonable design criteria and configurations that make big box stores try to act like street front retail.
There are two very sad realities to the success of smartcentres....the first is that the mere dimensions of a 30,000sf Winners or 180,000sf WalMart make it impossible to be pedestrian friendly despite the wildest dreams of planners, the second reality is that the majority of people LIKE their cars and NEED them to truck their families to the SmartCentres and their loads of goods home.
The saddest part of SmartCentres is when planners inflict unreasonable design criteria and configurations that make big box stores try to act like street front retail.
James
Senior Member
Apologies for a 5 year old thread resurrection but I didn't see any mention of this development anywhere on this forum.
SmartCentres is proposing a 320,000 sqft centre at Leslie & York Mills, just south of the 401, with Walmart as their anchor store.
http://smartcentres.com/locations/toronto-york-mills
Site details here in PDF format: http://smartcentres.com/sites/default/files/summary_pdfs/Toronto (YorkMills).pdf
Similar to the Leaside development when it was coming into fruition, I don't see this as adding much value to the neighborhood. Most locals and local retailers cite increased competition, increased traffic and discontinuity with the feel of the neighborhood with the 90,000 sqft Walmart coming in. I'm not a huge fan of any SmartCentre but this one certainly seems like an odd location. To be honest, I don't think many locals will shop here, which might translate into increased traffic from people driving in from other areas of the city. What are everyone else's thoughts on this new location?
SmartCentres is proposing a 320,000 sqft centre at Leslie & York Mills, just south of the 401, with Walmart as their anchor store.
http://smartcentres.com/locations/toronto-york-mills
Site details here in PDF format: http://smartcentres.com/sites/default/files/summary_pdfs/Toronto (YorkMills).pdf
Similar to the Leaside development when it was coming into fruition, I don't see this as adding much value to the neighborhood. Most locals and local retailers cite increased competition, increased traffic and discontinuity with the feel of the neighborhood with the 90,000 sqft Walmart coming in. I'm not a huge fan of any SmartCentre but this one certainly seems like an odd location. To be honest, I don't think many locals will shop here, which might translate into increased traffic from people driving in from other areas of the city. What are everyone else's thoughts on this new location?
James
Senior Member
Just to add some more details of this development, here are some concept sketches from SmartCentre's website:
One interesting thing about this 90,000 sqft Walmart is what they describe as "unique upper level retail and service retail opportunities". I'm not sure how a 2nd level would work on top of a Walmart. Is this something SmartCentre has done before at other Walmart Supercenter locations?
One interesting thing about this 90,000 sqft Walmart is what they describe as "unique upper level retail and service retail opportunities". I'm not sure how a 2nd level would work on top of a Walmart. Is this something SmartCentre has done before at other Walmart Supercenter locations?