Commensality, Sustainability, and Restaurant Clustering in a Suburban Community

Abstract

A study of a restaurant cluster on the suburban fringe of Vancouver, Canada demonstrates how commensality can play a role in the creation of more sustainable suburban environments sustainability by fostering a walkable suburban environment that encourages commensal behavior. With sixty restaurants within a few blocks of each other, the historic village of Steveston serves as an important site of social relations within the larger suburban community. Such a cluster supports the argument that commensality is an important component of the dining experience, and that the ability to eat together is a source of social capital to surrounding residents. The study showed the hub has developed fairly quickly over the last two decades, creating a varied and walkable space that is neither suburb nor downtown, supporting the thesis of city region development in which multiple hubs support a very large conurbation. These more walkable hubs suggest a possible direction for suburban developmen