What is downtown like in in St. Catharines, Ontario?

If one moves to St. Catharines, they should strongly consider a downtown or midtown location, if not the rural outskirts. The downtown and the area directly surrounding it are quite nice, with the oldest houses in the city and a many independently owned businesses. However, the area between the older parts of town and the rural outskirts is, frankly speaking, frequently hideous. I know it’s unavoidable in most cities now, but something about a strip plaza full of chain-owned industrial businesses one has never actually stepped foot in, lining overly-busy and poorly planned roads, while a homeless man pushes a shopping cart directly towards your car while you pray the light you’ve been stopped at for ages finally changes before he gets close enough to knock on your window to ask for money, something you wouldn’t mind so much if you were walking but when you’re in a car that can’t move it feels so much worse – something about that fills one with despair. I dislike the strip plazas in St. Catharines.