Home of the Bowmans.
Bowmanville has a very good downtown. I would say it is perfectly average, and that’s alright. B+
Bowmanville was originally started as a mill town1 by United Empire Loyalists. Later, Charles Bowman from Scotland showed up via Montréal and sold large amounts of land to create a settlement of small businesses. This Bowman’s Village eventually became Bowmanville downtown.
Downtown Bowmanville is nicely compact. It has numerous small shops along its main street. There is shade and trees. However, unlike Ajax or Brooklin, and like Uxbridge, Bowmanville lacks a central focus, like a park. The better downtowns seem to have a central focus in a park or square as opposed to being strung out.
Bowmanville is strung out. The downtown is placed along Highway 2, which makes sense historically but is currently a busy road (although this is mitigated by the 401). Fortunately, there are measures to counter the cars on Hwy 2. Trees and parked cars line the street, which provide a visual and noise barrier between the sidewalks and the street, and encourage cars to slow down. The sidewalks are also wider than usual and nicely paved, although I would’ve appreciated them being a little larger. There are also frequent crossings, making Highway 2 feel like less of a moat, although the road is probably safe enough to jaywalk (carefully!) across, too.
Farther east, Highway 2 opens up. The cars speeds up, the sidewalks narrow, and the trees become sparse. This is an excellent opportunity to see a street compromising between cars and pedestrians in the west part of downtown and a street for cars in the eastern part of downtown – a design so prevalent in Ontario towns. As expected, this part of downtown is less pleasant to be in and does not have as many businesses.
I’d say Downtown Bowmanville is a place to check out, just don’t feel like you have to do the whole thing: the part west of Division St is much better.
Bowmanville Historical Plaques