I have begun to take an inventory of the area in and around the catchment of the Convent Glen Orleans Wood Community Association. I want to explore the inequal distribution of services and stores and shops that are a large part of making nice places to live. Since I live in Convent Glen North, that’s where I’ll be focusing (see map below).
My ‘methodology’ for this test is described in more detail here: The Village Test: Auditing the Place Deficiency in Convent Glen North, and this page also has links to my full analysis so far.
As we go through each category, I’ll be awarding points on a scale from 0 to 5 based on the number and quality of the amenities in that category nearby (within a 10-15 minute walk). A true village will have multiple places in nearly all categories within that distance, so let’s see how we do in Convent Glen North.
Today, we’re covering Barber Shops & Salons, Banks, Post Offices/Mail Services, and Fitness Centres & Gyms.
This is the 4th and final part of our ‘Village Test’ (see Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 here). This time, we’ll be looking at the last few straggling categories that don’t really fit anywhere else.
As always, let’s get an aerial view first.
Here’s the Situation in Convent Glen North
Overall Score(s)
Fitness Centres/Gyms: Fitness Centres and Gyms are completely missing from Convent Glen North, and north of the 174 in fact. This gets a 0/5.
Post Office/Mail: Technically the Post Office is inside of Shopper’s Drug Mart, so I’ll give it a 1/5, but it’s lucky.
Banks: There are no longer any bank branches north of the 174, so this also gets a 0/5.
Barber Shop/Salon: As far as density and spread go, not too bad as there are 3 in the boundaries, I’ll give that a 2/5. If you don’t like the one barber we have, it’s across the highway for you.
My Urbanist Take
One of the reasons it took me so long to get around to finishing this project (about 6 months) is that these last 4 categories are a huge drag and barely add anything to this conversation (other than to show how important it is). I really wanted to have something to show off at the end of this to advocate for more shops, services, and amenities north of the 174 and especially in Convent Glen North west of Orleans Blvd.
The complete lack of basically anything but schools and parks is frankly embarrassing, and the people who live here deserve more choices near us.
Where Does That Leave Convent Glen North?
We’ve come to the end of this project for now. As we wrap up this conversation to prepare the work of actually advocating for more services nearby, we are stuck in a world where most people live in total car dependence, being unable to conveniently walk to the grocery store, or sit down with a coffee or for dinner anywhere near where they live.
For pretty much everyone here, this is a fact of life and something that isn’t questioned, but I question it. I am not reliant on a car, but there are definitely days when being willing to rely on one more would technically make my life easier. But I would much rather be able to make use of other transportation options, but also just have more places nearby so it’s easier to rely on a short walk or bike trip to take care of daily or weekly errands.
I’ll have more to say about this in the near future now that this audit of what Convent Glen North looks like from the bird’s eye view, thanks for checking out this series!
What do public amenities like libraries and community centres look like in your area? We’d love to hear from you in the forum (comments below) or on Facebook/Instagram/Bluesky about your experience.
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