I realize compared to Toronto these are not prime destinations, but compared to the options for the LRT route that Brampton is floating?
ahh yes, lets take the LRT to a field, and some car dealerships! Said no one ever.
Just back from vacation and see you replied.....so:
1. No one is comparing the Brampton Mall to a Toronto location.....it simply is not a destination for anyone in Brampton.....it is an open air grocery anchored strip centre....like dozens of others all over town. The only good thing I can say about the Brampton Mall is that it is the only site north of Steeles on Main before the GO station where any sort of significant redevelopment can take place.
2. The very post you responded to I re-confirmed for the umpteenth time here that I agree that the route straight up Main is optimal so I am not sure why you chose to argue with me......but that has been voted on and killed.
3. The very fact that council is spending local money even studying alternative routes should be seen as a commitment by council to try and find some route that can get majority support that gets the LRT (now that it is being built) to it's logical end point of the GO station.
4. I believe McLaughlin route is only on the list because it would serve the high potential user group that exists at Sheridan college.....this group, alone, would probably provide higher ridership numbers than the entire stretch on Main (which I still think is the best route overall) between Steeles and Brampton GO. So I am not sure why you chose a picture from ~500 m north of Sheridan to judge the route (or maybe I can figure it out

)
5. Kennedy is a bit of a hodgepodge of crap just now....but it does have:
a) more higher density housing, now, between Steeles and Queen than Main will ever have.
b) more sites for potential redevelopment (by far) than Main could have.
Again, I don't think either alternative routes gets built.....I think a post-elections revisit of Main is what we are looking at......but I can see why those two routes are the ones being studied and I think the positive thing is that there is a commitment by all on council to find a way to get the LRT to the downtown GO "somehow".
What I don't (and never will) understand is why the province threw fuel on the fire by treating Brampton completely different than any other municipality that had the temerity to put local input into an LRT project.