Project adds pop to GTA strip malls

While not exactly a secret, strip malls were an underappreciated urban aspect of the city for years.

- SHAWN MICALLEF

Seeing how strip malls have evolved into vibrant, walkable places has been fascinating, writes Shawn Micallef. Now, plazaPops is helping out by installing seating, tables and landscaping. This one is at the Colony Plaza at 2020 Lawrence Ave. E.

In 2002, former mayor Mel Lastman even said, “Strip plazas have got to go. These things are a holy mess. Their time is over.”

Yet they’re essential parts of our urban landscape and throughout the Greater Toronto Area have been recognized as great retail expressions of multiculturalism. Cheaper than downtown main streets, small businesses can flourish, especially true in the food scene. Previously ignored strip mall eateries are routinely celebrated, while a place like Ridgeway Plaza in Mississauga, with nearly 100 ethnic food options, has become such a foodie haven it suffers from the strain of so many people visiting.

Seeing how strip malls, designed sometimes decades ago for motorists, have evolved into vibrant, walkable places on their own has been fascinating. Now the plazaPops project is helping them adapt more formally.

“I grew up getting bagels and cold cuts from strip malls near Bathurst and Lawrence, and loved these places, despite being told in planning school how ugly and worthless they, and the suburbs in general, were,” says Daniel Rotsztain. “Despite having a lot of big roads and cars, Toronto’s suburbs are its most interesting places.”