Edgewater Shopping Center — Attraction in Sand City

Decent shopping center near beach access 🏖️🌊🐚🌅. Centrally located public transit center 🚌🚏👍👍. Close to Monterey Recreation Trail 🚶🚲👌. Other Bicycle and pedestrian connections are passable, but not great 😕. Road and pedestrian/bicycle connections at North entrance are a dangerous and frustrating clusterfunk 😰🚳🚷👎. Not entirely the center's fault, as multiple jurisdictions and roadways collide here 🤷. Lost opportunity for inviting business from the adjacent High School 🏫🎒🚸🛹💸. Southeast entrance is also very car-centric, yet poorly designed for all users. Southwest pedestrian/bicycle entrance isn't exactly welcoming, but it's utilitarian. Wheelchair access from street level is problematic ♿. Somewhat better from within parking lot IF you came by private vehicle and parked close to whichever store you're visiting. A sidewalk connects some stores on the same side of the parking lot, but the business on the far side of the sea of parking are mostly islands unto themselves 🍔🍟🏝️🚗🚗🚗🚗🚗🎯. Woe unto pedestrians 😕🚶🙎. I'll be glad when this whole area inevitably gets redeveloped, hopefully into a mixed-use, pedestrian-focused complex with a bit more attention to safe and welcoming access for all shoppers. 🏗️🏘️🏢🌇🙋🛍️🛒🏷️💳💵☺️ This would be a smart business move to plan for, given the Bus Rapid Transit (and ultimately tram/light rail) and improved cycling/walking connections that will be built into the old rail corridor in the coming years....

The Bagel Bakery Drive-thru at the Edgewater Mall is awesome. Always fresh, I have gone hundreds of times and they have never messed up my complicated order. The Mexican Fiesta Omlet on a Bagel is so good! I like their coffee and OJ better than Starbucks.

Behind the mall runs the beautiful Recreation Trail above the beach. It goes under the freeway and if you turn left towards Monterey the view is awesome. If instead you go right is is too close to the freeway for awhile but eventually widens out to great beauty as well.

The Target is smaller than other Targets in Marina and Salinas, but they have everything I want from a Target so it means less walking up and down the store.

PetSmart has Fancy Feast even when it is out of stock everywhere else.

I wish they had a...

A wonderful shopping center for your general needs! Whether you're looking for a quick bite to eat, getting groceries or simply want to shop around, Edgewater is a great place to do it.

With that said, if you're used to shopping at a 'true' shopping mall with higher end retail stores, a food court and the like, this is the wrong mall to visit. Del Monte Center is a much better place to go shopping for clothes and the like, while Edgewater wins in the budget shopping and groceries department. They have been stepping their game up with names like Sephora, yet still I stand by my opinion.

I love Edgewater, but only for what I mentioned. If you're looking to really spend some money on brand names go to Del Monte Center, Gilroy Outlets or...