The last City Conversation – “Should the corner store, and coffee house, return to residential neighbourhoods?” – provided a hook for Globe and Mail reporter Kerry Gold to explore the subject in Corner stores mean solid neighbourhoods:
Last week a group of about 50 people gathered inside a downtown Simon Fraser University classroom to learn about the chances of survival for an independent coffee shop and corner store in Vancouver.
We might not give much thought to these oases in the urban desert, but their existence can improve a neighbourhood and raise property values. Because they succeed best in areas with diverse incomes and urban density, they represent an equilibrium, the happy existence of a multi-layered community. There is a correlation between the corner store and affordable housing. They go together.
Full story here.
