Reading this article, it sounds like a description of midtown common in so many central and eastern Canadian cities, typically surrounding the downtown core. M

Reading this article, it sounds like a description of midtown common in so many central and eastern Canadian cities, typically surrounding the downtown core. Mixed density zones. Low rises and storefront retail and detached houses. Cities everywhere have such a zone of course, but it seems tiny in proportion in most US cities. Cities in Canada as a condequence tend to be much denser even though most have, like in the USA, the majority of residential land zoned as detached single home suburban. As I understand it, the pattern is actually following the original plans of the early 20th century suburbs built around the cores, before widespread proliferation of the car. Such communities were originally built densely, with the assumption of walking to the rail station, and retail, and work mixed in, along with factories, etc. Those have generally become densified further while retaining a more suburban character. I'm not sure why this is practically vestigial in many parts of the USA. Canadian urban planners weren't quite as car happy after the 60s, perhaps.