Toronto 2200 Islington | 5.94m | 2s | RICE Group | Turner Fleischer

Hopefully this one doesn't desolve into a hurricane mess as is the standard for a big chunk of Canadian Tire stores. I have no idea how they get away with how bad a lot of their stores look.
 
Phase 2 of project now involves residential.
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Where are the 15-foot shelves packed to the ceiling? The merchandise littering the floor of the aisles? The exit maze?

Doesn't look like any Canadian Tire store I've seen.
 
Living there will be hell. So stupid to have residential here. Keep it industrial. A busy rail line, 2 highways, and car-oriented shopping complexes right next to you.

Oh and it's only a 700+ metre walk to the bus stop.
 
Went for a walk and checked out Canadian Tire and Costco today. My review:

The complex is horrifically inaccessible by the standards of a new build. I noticed a serious lack of ramps and few curb cuts. There were stairs everywhere. Also, the only way in or out of the whole complex seems to be from sidewalks along the driveways on Rexdale Boulevard. If you want to walk out to or from Islington, be prepared to walk down a flight of stairs, out through the parking garage, and across a lawn.

Worst of all was when I wanted to walk from Canadian Tire to Costco. There's no way to do it! There are no stop signs or crosswalks along Silver Reign Drive. I had to walk all the way back to Rexdale Boulevard to cross without being run over.

The funniest thing is though, the sidewalks in the whole area are actually very wide. Not sure why. To accommodate the one person per day who will actually walk here?

Now for the stores.

Canadian Tire: It's a Canadian tire. If you need to buy a bicycle, a blender, motor oil, skates, and a Christmas Tree all at once, this is the store for you. It is not yet overrun with merchandise like the CT stores in the area that it is replacing. I wonder if that will last. I laughed when I found a totally impractical 4 litre metal water bottle, then laughed again when I saw it was $63. Overall, the store was okay, I guess. Nice for a Canadian Tire.

Costco: What a hellhole. Today is the first weekend day since the grand opening and the place was packed beyond the point of fire code compliance. The whole place seems to be a monument to consumerist excess. Buy shit you don't need and buy it in ridiculous quantities so you can "save" money and justify that membership cost! The two most notable products were a safe like you would see in a bank in the old west, with a big heavy door and a wheel you have to turn to lock it (seriously who would buy this?) and a 10-foot tall teddy bear that costs $250. The structure seemed so cheap and ugly too, bare concrete and metal. It felt like being in a warehouse. The only nice thing I can say about it is that it is new.
 
Islington Express Bus said:
Went for a walk and checked out Canadian Tire and Costco today. My review:

The complex is horrifically inaccessible by the standards of a new build. I noticed a serious lack of ramps and few curb cuts. There were stairs everywhere. Also, the only way in or out of the whole complex seems to be from sidewalks along the driveways on Rexdale Boulevard. If you want to walk out to or from Islington, be prepared to walk down a flight of stairs, out through the parking garage, and across a lawn.

Worst of all was when I wanted to walk from Canadian Tire to Costco. There's no way to do it! There are no stop signs or crosswalks along Silver Reign Drive. I had to walk all the way back to Rexdale Boulevard to cross without being run over.

The funniest thing is though, the sidewalks in the whole area are actually very wide. Not sure why. To accommodate the one person per day who will actually walk here?

Now for the stores.

Canadian Tire: It's a Canadian tire. If you need to buy a bicycle, a blender, motor oil, skates, and a Christmas Tree all at once, this is the store for you. It is not yet overrun with merchandise like the CT stores in the area that it is replacing. I wonder if that will last. I laughed when I found a totally impractical 4 litre metal water bottle, then laughed again when I saw it was $63. Overall, the store was okay, I guess. Nice for a Canadian Tire.

Costco: What a hellhole. Today is the first weekend day since the grand opening and the place was packed beyond the point of fire code compliance. The whole place seems to be a monument to consumerist excess. Buy shit you don't need and buy it in ridiculous quantities so you can "save" money and justify that membership cost! The two most notable products were a safe like you would see in a bank in the old west, with a big heavy door and a wheel you have to turn to lock it (seriously who would buy this?) and a 10-foot tall teddy bear that costs $250. The structure seemed so cheap and ugly too, bare concrete and metal. It felt like being in a warehouse. The only nice thing I can say about it is that it is new.
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I went by on opening day and can pretty much agree with everything you've said. It's great having a local costco but it could've been designed so much better, the elevator system they have going on with the underground parking is horrendous. Also the LCBO parking was over run by people parking for costco even with "LCBO parking only" signs.
 
Islington Express Bus said:
Went for a walk and checked out Canadian Tire and Costco today. My review:

The complex is horrifically inaccessible by the standards of a new build. I noticed a serious lack of ramps and few curb cuts. There were stairs everywhere. Also, the only way in or out of the whole complex seems to be from sidewalks along the driveways on Rexdale Boulevard. If you want to walk out to or from Islington, be prepared to walk down a flight of stairs, out through the parking garage, and across a lawn.

Worst of all was when I wanted to walk from Canadian Tire to Costco. There's no way to do it! There are no stop signs or crosswalks along Silver Reign Drive. I had to walk all the way back to Rexdale Boulevard to cross without being run over.

The funniest thing is though, the sidewalks in the whole area are actually very wide. Not sure why. To accommodate the one person per day who will actually walk here?

Now for the stores.

Canadian Tire: It's a Canadian tire. If you need to buy a bicycle, a blender, motor oil, skates, and a Christmas Tree all at once, this is the store for you. It is not yet overrun with merchandise like the CT stores in the area that it is replacing. I wonder if that will last. I laughed when I found a totally impractical 4 litre metal water bottle, then laughed again when I saw it was $63. Overall, the store was okay, I guess. Nice for a Canadian Tire.

Costco: What a hellhole. Today is the first weekend day since the grand opening and the place was packed beyond the point of fire code compliance. The whole place seems to be a monument to consumerist excess. Buy shit you don't need and buy it in ridiculous quantities so you can "save" money and justify that membership cost! The two most notable products were a safe like you would see in a bank in the old west, with a big heavy door and a wheel you have to turn to lock it (seriously who would buy this?) and a 10-foot tall teddy bear that costs $250. The structure seemed so cheap and ugly too, bare concrete and metal. It felt like being in a warehouse. The only nice thing I can say about it is that it is new.
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So at one point you complain there’s no sidewalks, but then complain the sidewalks that are there are so wide for the 1 person a day that’ll be walking there 🫣…so you want sidewalks or you don’t?

The rest of the post you complain about what Canadian Tire and Costco sell. What does that have to do with the development? So don’t shop there if you don’t like it…
 
JBR said:
So at one point you complain there’s no sidewalks, but then complain the sidewalks that are there are so wide for the 1 person a day that’ll be walking there 🫣…so you want sidewalks or you don’t?
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Since @Islington Express Bus specifically said he walked to the site and around it, I think its safe to say he does want sidewalks, I didn't find that point confusing.

What he says is that they are poorly designed and situated, including missing segments and connections so as to make them far less pleasant and convenient than they might be; and that that will likely leave many of them relatively empty.

So clearly, he wants more, better sidewalks and pedestrian connections.

JBR said:
The rest of the post you complain about what Canadian Tire and Costco sell. What does that have to do with the development? So don’t shop there if you don’t like it…
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Actually, he observes several reasons you might shop at a Canadian Tire and notes that this one is better (less cluttered) the the one it replaced. He's offering his observations of the store environment, which I think is perfectly reasonable.

His notes on Costco are essentially to say, its overcrowded/zoo'ish (as per the norm for Costco); and that there is nothing particularly novel at a particularly good price for the average person (also the norm for Costco); but how would he know they hadn't done something novel if he hadn't looked?

I find his observations fair and reasonable. Costco is not a particularly good retailer, and they didn't make an effort to improve here; too bad.

"So don't shop there if you don't like it" is not really a UT appropriate response anymore than if you don't like the look of the architecture of a building just avert your eyes.

This is all our city, and we come here to share opinions on it. His are a fair take.
 
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