“It’s a destination versus a drive-through,” he says.
While he’s a big proponent of supporting local businesses, Arbour says Scarborough strip malls have examples of “the good, the bad and the ugly” because some of the private properties simply don’t maintain their premises.
For Valenzuela, the sense of community offered by strip malls — dilapidated or not — overrides the usual conversation around tearing them down to make way for high-density land development. A student of public policy and city studies at the University of Toronto Scarborough, she recently debated a classmate during a lecture on potential redevelopment around the Eglinton Light Rail Transit currently under construction.
“He was saying things like, ‘This whole area should be redeveloped, there should be no strip malls. It should be densified, have high-level storey buildings,’” she says. “He was talking about anti- homeless design. I got so mad. I said, ‘Do you not understand this area?’ There have been ethnic food stores here for a long time. They are low-rent and provide opportunities for new immigrants. And I love the food there!”
“I get that it’s not as aesthetically pleasing, it’s not the downtown [Toronto] beautiful plaza,” she says. “But there’s so much happening here.”
A sense of community is also evident in the example Ubayd Deen gives of a halal butcher shop that opened more than a decade ago at the strip mall at Sheppard and Progress Avenue, near his home. After the closure of an M&M Meat Shop that couldn’t cater to the predominantly Muslim population living there, the Al-Nour Halal Meat & Grocery took its place.
“I remember when it opened. It was very convenient for us. Sometimes you drive there, but most times you just walk up and pick up your meat. Occasionally you meet your family and friends there,” says Deen, 27, an accounting analyst.
The strip mall near his home with the halal butcher is “always filled with people and has been a meeting place and community hub
“It’s nice to see them because it’s unexpected,” he says. “It brings a smile to your face.”
In fact, he says, between the business owners, family and friends, the halal butcher shop “became a big part of our life in meeting people.”
Navigating strip malls in Scarborough can be a challenge, however, Rotsztain points out. The suburb was built for cars, and the streets are often six lanes wide — designed to move traffic quickly. Besides the long distances between your home and the strip mall, or even between two neighbouring strip malls, the streets are not pedestrian-friendly.
“There aren’t many places to sit, not many places with shade, not many crosswalks in between major streets. People waiting for a bus can be seen sitting on curbs or newspaper boxes,” he says.
Rotsztain will offer solutions to some of these challenges as part of a project called plazaPOPS, which he will co-present with Brendan Stewart and the University of Guelph next summer at Scarborough’s Wexford Heights Plaza. Funded by Park People’s public space incubator grant, plazaPOPS aims to demonstrate the potential of community gathering places within the privately- owned public spaces (POPS) of Toronto-area strip malls.
“We want to show that strip malls can be vibrant, pedestrian-friendly places,” Rotsztain says. His guide to enhancing strip malls includes suggestions such as building patios, planting trees and adding some seating areas. “Strip malls work well. They just need some infrastructure to support those kind of uses.”
For her part, Valenzuela points to the diverse food choices available at Scarborough strip malls as an illustration of the way Canadians can come together.
“A friend of mine introduced me to an Indian/Sri Lankan place. I took my parents there. Now we go there regularly. The owners know us, we eat their food. It’s how you go beyond tolerance, and start talking about acceptance.”
As Valenzuela prepares to leave Mendoza’s Bakery, the proprietor’s daughter, Alma Pillay, steps out of the kitchen with a tray full of freshly rolled Brazo de Mercedes, a roulade made of meringue and a rich custard.
“This is my favourite Filipino dessert,” Valenzuela says, grinning from ear to ear. Then after a moment of hesitation, she gives into temptation. “I’ll take one.”
