Edmonton

Edmonton Case Study Main Streets

Twenty main streets were chosen in the Edmonton region as representative case studies. Ten involved direct observational research and detailed data analysis, and ten provide the data component alone.

The case studies were also contrasted with five regional shopping centres.

In addition, we selected main streets that reflect a cross section of geographies, including four downtown (workplace oriented) streets, four small town main streets, and 12 neighbourhood (residentially oriented) main streets.

The presence of equity deserving communities was also a key factor in the selection process.

Main Street Resiliency

While all Montréal-region main streets experienced serious downturns during the pandemic, some were hit harder and took longer to recover.

Our statistical analysis shows that the most resilient main streets were those that draw a high proportion of their visitors from the immediate neighbourhood (within 1 km). Conversely, the least resilient main streets tended to draw a greater share of their visitors from further away.

Main streets located in and near downtowns tended to be hit harder by the pandemic and took longer to recover. The second most important factor associated with resiliency during the pandemic was the presence of greenspace, as people sought out safe places where a degree of social interaction remained possible.

Among all 20 Edmonton-region main streets, those in small towns were generally the most resilient sub-type, with Beaumont leading the way. The most resilient neighbourhood main streets were found in West Edmonton (149th Street NW) and Beverly (118 Avenue NW) which typically had higher levels (28%-33%) of visitors coming from less than 1 km away. More car-oriented main streets such as Calgary Trail and Sherwood Drive were less resilient and only drew between 5%–13% of their visitors from nearby.

The least resilient Edmonton case study main streets 97 Street (Chinatown), 4th Street Promenade, and Jasper Avenue. Each of these three are examples of downtown main streets that traditionally depend on the presence of office workers and related central city activity. 107th Avenue W (Central McDougall) was the fourth downtown Edmonton case study main street, which was not as adversely affected by the pandemic as the other three as it sits outside the central business district and serves more of a residential population.

Main Street Community

While the pandemic posed a major challenge to Edmonton-region main streets, there are longer-term sources of strain that continue.

Regional shopping malls and ecommerce offer alternatives to many of the goods and services offered on main streets. Shopping malls were initially hit harder by the pandemic due to the effects of hard lockdowns, but typically rebounded faster. The use of ecommerce spiked from 2020 to 2022 before returning to its (more modest) historic upward trend in 2023.

Despite a degree of overlap between main streets and shopping malls and ecommerce, there are also significant differences. Main streets offer more opportunities for independent business and provide more civic infrastructure. Both can be more responsive to the specific needs of the local community, and the relationships forged through the interactions of residents, business operators, and managers of civic infrastructure are essential for the long-term vitality of main streets.

The five Edmonton-region shopping malls clearly have a scarcity of both independent businesses and civic infrastructure, ranking below all main streets on both scores. Of the Edmonton case studies, 124th Street and Calgary Trail stand out as having higher shares of both independent business and civic infrastructure. Despite being located outside the city centre, these main streets are denser and more walkable than many other suburban streets. There are multiple conditions present that are conducive to building strong local communities.

The 137th Avenue NW (North Edmonton) and Parsons Road are main streets at the other end of the spectrum. These are places with less independent business and civic infrastructure that are heavily car-oriented and characterized by big box retail and chain restaurants. Such main streets do not possess a clear identity and are less likely to be created for and by the local community.

Main Street Equity

Main streets contain the businesses and civic infrastructure that are essential for the day-to-day lives of residents. They make people’s lives better, easier, and more enjoyable – the foundation of local communities where people come together, interact, and form relationships.

Unfortunately, not everyone enjoys equal access to main streets and what they have to offer. In some cases, main streets lack critical civic infrastructure, but more pointedly, some neighbourhoods lack main streets altogether. Our analysis shows that more recently built suburban neighbourhoods are where civic infrastructure deficits are most prevalent.

Our Civic Infrastructure Index, which considers the amount of local (within 1 km) civic infrastructure relative to the local population, shows that newer Edmonton-region neighbourhoods further from the city centre and closer to the Henday (Hwy. 216) tend to have lower levels of local access to civic infrastructure relative to the regional average. Central Etobicoke and the former City of York are examples of older, established neighbourhoods that also possess lower levels of civic infrastructure.

Downtown Edmonton is at the other end of the spectrum, with much higher levels of civic infrastructure, as it is home to many regionally significant assets. The four downtown main street case studies are also the top four on our Civic Infrastructure Index. The centres of many smaller communities in the region, such as Leduc, St, Albert, and Fort Saskatchewan, also score well above the median.

The core issue not only about the overall amount of civic infrastructure, but how it is geographically distributed within urban regions. There is a danger of creating “have and have-not” neighbourhoods with divergent levels of local access to civic infrastructure, which in turn decreases the amount of control residents with less access to civic infrastructure have over programming. In such a scenario, civic infrastructure is less responsive to specific neighbourhood needs.

The civic infrastructure deficit in recently constructed suburban neighbourhoods is not about the amount of investment, but rather models that favour large, centralized sites over smaller diffused locations. Like the trend toward big box retail in suburban environments, civic infrastructure provision has charted a similar path. These models may be more fiscally efficient in the short term, but they come with reduced community development and neighbourhood equity in the long term.

Summary

Our research assesses main streets by their resiliency, community, and equity. We suggest that if the traits of specific main streets can foster these elements, they will nurture healthy neighbourhoods. If this is done consistently across Canada’s urban regions, they will provide the foundation for healthy cities. The City of Edmonton is implementing a new zoning framework that actively encourages the development of ’15-minute communities’. Main streets remain an important element of this policy, as it seeks to expand land use options in node, corridors, and residential neighbourhoods.

There is no such thing as a “perfect” main street. There are a multitude of ways in which they can produce resiliency, community, and equity. Our research does, however, point toward general principles about main street characteristics that are more likely to generate positive outcomes. We have created indicators that most closely capture the essence of these themes: a Resiliency Index based on the relative change in visitor levels to a main street through the pandemic and the share of visitors that live within 1 km of the main street; an Independent Business Index; and a Civic Infrastructure Index that weighs the amount of infrastructure relative to the size of the neighbourhood population.

The Edmonton region is a dynamic metropolis that has a growing economy and offers a high quality of life. The region has a mix of well-established neighbourhoods with distinct identities and many newer areas that are still growing into themselves. At the centre of the more well-established neighbourhoods are vibrant main streets that provide a range of goods, services, and activities that support people in their day-to-day lives. No two main streets are the same, however; their specific locations and characteristics have significant impacts on the range of local choices and opportunities for residents.

Summary (II)

The Edmonton-region main streets that most consistently score the highest across the key indicators tend to be long-established neighbourhood streets that primarily serve their immediate local community with a range of independent businesses and civic infrastructure. 124th Street, Alberta Avenue, and 50 Street in Stony Plain are locations that are relatively walkable but also accommodate car use. These main streets were originally built (mostly pre-1960) in conjunction with the surrounding housing stock and have co-evolved with physical and demographic changes. Key to this is the original built form and how adaptable it is over time. In the current context, such main streets offer prime opportunities for infill housing as they already provide ample supportive infrastructure.

At the lower end of the spectrum are main streets that are heavily car-dependent places with large format (big box) retail and offer limited civic infrastructure. Such main streets tend to serve a larger catchment area and possess fewer independent businesses. Sherwood Drive, Parsons Road (South Edmonton Common), 104 Street NW (Calgary Trail), and 50 Avenue (Leduc) are examples of main streets that are designed to accommodate cars and are dominated by large parking lots. These places are among the least resilient main streets and draw a lower share of visitors from their surrounding neighbourhoods.

Edmonton’s recent District Planning and zoning amendments clearly recognize the goal of creating ’15-minute neighbourhoods’ that intend to generate a range of economic, social, and environmental benefits to residents and local businesses. This policy approach applies the positive lessons provided by ‘traditional main’ streets that are dense and walkable, but most importantly, adaptable to ever changing local needs. While it also recognizes the failures of more recently built suburban main streets and neighbourhoods that are dominated by car use and are associated with many negative outcomes. Success in implementing these policies will have a significant impact on Edmonton’s long-term urban form, and ultimately, the quality of life of current and future residents.