Groceries Gone

The people in the green circle are entering a Food Desert in September, as Sobeys is opting to close the Lakeshore store on 23rd Ave. There will be no grocery store within walking distance for thousands of people. Bus service, limited as it is, is highlighted for the region.

I’ve heard that a developer involved in creating a large down town tower recently now wants to develop the Lakeshore site, and my hunch is a grocery store on the lot doesn’t fit into their plans so they priced a willing Sobeys out of it. Sobeys wants big stores, not small old IGA sites, I’m certain. I’d like to see a tower go up, but the main floor should be a grocery store. I was in such a mall in waterfront Toronto not too many years ago. It was probably a Loblaws, but I can’t remember. Somewhere near Queens Quay if I recall.

If a grocery store isn’t opened quickly on campus, or on the existing site, it will be a disaster for the Hillsdale neighbourhood people who need to walk or bike to get their food. Many may be comfortable with the change because they are driving right now, but what happens to them if they are no longer able to afford to drive? Walking down Hillsdale St. got even harder as bus service was removed for most of it, and one side lacks a sidewalk as it’s a pedestrian wasteland of solid fences on both sides of the street for half a kilometer. Neighbourhoods on either side are walled in by houses and fences.