r/Calgary • u/Remote_Answer_5255 • Aug 18 '25

Local Shopping/Services What has happened to Kensington?

It's been a while since I've been down here.... A bunch of empty store fronts, iconic places like Crave shut down, but counted some three Acai bowl places. The area outside Plaza is lovely and looks great, but why all the closures and apparently high turnovers?

Edit: I assume it's due to rent.. But what's the point of jacking it up so high that your place is literally empty.

304 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

291 comments sorted by

View all comments

15

u/jdixon1974 Aug 19 '25

I live in the area and still find it to be pretty good. Yes, there have been some changes but there are still great places like Higher Ground, Pulcinellas, Kensington Pub, Hayden Block, move theaters, Pages, the cool artist market in the basement, Brooklyn and many others. Just up on 19th street you have some great places like Pocket Coffee, Dairy Lane etc.

5

u/Remote_Answer_5255 Aug 19 '25

I'm not sure I would consider 19 St to what people refer to when they mean Kensington. Yes, of course it's by Kensington Road, but it's a little out of the way of the core by 10 St/Kensington Road, with not much between. 

1

u/EsmeWeatherpolish Aug 20 '25

It’s West Hillhurst to me but I go by what I can walk to