[archited]

Going back y-e-a-r-s, for the 15 months of research before I opened my venture in Fashion Retail -- The Great Canadian Short Story -- a project that focused on upscale "haute couture" for a location in Old Strathcona specializing in one-of-a-kind garments for petite-sized women, I spent time in each of Montreal, Vancouver and San Francisco to suss out expert fashion designers. I think that Montreal has always been the centre of Canadian fashion, nearly on par with Paris and Milan globally; it was (and I imagine still is) evident on the street in what people wear. Same, same for San Francisco with an emphasis on alternative wear. I met some very creative people through that exercise.
There is today a strong design current running through indigenous fashion design, speaking again to the concept WInPEx for the Rossdale area, a BIG win for Edmonton -- in pictures this is what I mean...

 

[constance_chlore]

Honestly if I worked downtown, I would totally live in this area. (Well, in this development specifically—I probably wouldn't buy a house in the nearby part of Chinatown.) Yeah it's a little sketch, but it's hard to imagine a more walkable area.

 

[yeggator]

The development very much feels like a wall between downtown and the homelessness problem just north of it. Good or bad? Depends on who you ask but it certainly would insulate residents from it.