Walkable Vegetables: Bringing back small scale grocery and supporting the fifteen minute city.

One question people have been asking me to write about is, “how can we usher back the return of local retail to our neighbourhoods?”

One question people have been asking me to write about is, “how can we usher back the return of local retail to our neighbourhoods?”

I recently sat down with Italian Centre CEO, Teresa Spinelli and asked her general advice about the grocery opportunities and what she was looking for in choosing a new location. She had a lot of important feedback, but one that still rings for me is: “show me the rooftops.” In other words, the chicken and egg tension between which comes first: retail or population growth?

I am a huge advocate for the idea that we should be able to get whatever we need within 15 minutes of our house by walk or wheel. Part of the promise of the Edmonton City Plan is that we shift towards refilling mature neighbourhoods and have more amenities, closer to home, so people can live local, saving time and money.

I love living beside multiple grocery stores. One of the reasons I chose to move into Garneau instead of Windsor Park after leaving campus student housing was the amenities that Garneau offered by comparison. The new Square One cafe on 87 Avenue has been busy since opening last month, and I know there are other opportunities in the commercial spaces for tasty, useful, and walkable amenities. With a new apartment and commercial building proposed for the commercial strip on 87th Avenue, the question becomes: would there finally be enough population in the area to support a bodega or small scale grocery store?

Census data shows many neighbourhoods in Edmonton have not kept up with the population growth and have declined since construction. Smaller families, aging populations, affordability– there are a number of reasons.

So how can we engage more small-scale grocers or retail in our community?

We’ve supported The Development Incentive Program. It has limitations in the geographic area being proposed but aligns with Priority Growth Areas and Business Improvement Areas. We also have the existing Corner Store Grant Program.
With the new Zoning Bylaw, we’ve made it easier for small commercial businesses, including bodegas or corner stores.

As our neighbourhoods evolve, new opportunities grow. What would you like to see in your neighbourhood?

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