Waterdown Case Study

In my hometown of Waterdown Ontario, there is rarely a minute when the main downtown area is not buzzing with people. In my opinion, the downtown area of Waterdown is alive and lively. Whether people are shopping in one of the variety of stores, grabbing a bite to eat at one of the numerous restaurants or cafés or just driving through, downtown is easily the focal point of town and continues to increase in chaos as Waterdown continues to grow and suburbanize. In Waterdown, the downtown core is where almost every shop and store is located. If you want to do anything from buy groceries to take a pottery class, you do so downtown. This creates heavy traffic flow through the area ultimately creating a lively atmosphere. In addition, the downtown core is host to many town events; the Santa Clause Parade, Arts and Music Festival, Oh Canada Ribfest and Farmer’s Market just to name a few. Hosting these events results in a great deal of rural tourism

I consider Carlisle to be a dead downtown because it only consists of a few small and rarely visited, individually owned stores, commercial space that has been on the market for years and a single, four-way stop intersection. Carlisle is a great example of exurbanization. Exurbanization was defined in this week’s lecture as, “movement of households from urban areas to locations outside the urban area but within commuting distance” (Fullerton, 2017). Carlisle is located approximately fifteen minutes north of Waterdown meaning that residents are close enough to Waterdown that the can come here to partake in Waterdown’s activities but do not have to reside in the busy town. Unlike Waterdown, Carlisle’s downtown has never been host to an event, has little variety among it’s space and is not very visitor-friendly. In conclusion, these factors have resulted in a few quiet and dead downtown very different from the one witnessed in Waterdown