You would think it so convenient. A shopping mall actually attached to a residential tower. Take that, lousy winter weather! Up yours, slush! Take a hike, hikes! I have everything I need right here. No need to go outside!

Well, such thinking may be a tad misguided. Especially since I suspect you'll be yearning for daylight as I was after mere minutes of sauntering inside The Crossways Mall.

Located right across the street from Dundas West Station, The Crossways Mall is 85,000 square feet of dreary enclosed passageways. Its exterior leaves little to the imagination; brown bricks, orange signage, and entrance steps sandwiched by two desert-like planters. While, granted, one planter had feebly sprouted a little green, the other showed growth only in its budding collection of cigarette butts. Are we having fun yet?

The sign outside promises The Crossways Mall will satisfy "All Your Modern Life Style Demands," so I was good and ready for a lifestyle (or should that be "life style"?) overhaul. And I suppose a new touch-tone phone or pair of sneakers could constitute that, right?

But of course, you'd need to be able to find your way to the cash in the dark. That was the major problem I found with The Crossways Mall; it was just way too dark. Dark walls, dark floors, and virtually no natural light. Still, as I began to explore the space it dawned on me that there actually was some potential. The wooden ceilings and brick pillars could actually be charming, I soon realized, if the mall wasn't embedded with ineffectual fluorescent lights and terrible floors.

I don't know about satisfying all you lifestyle (life style) demands, but Crossways is the place for you if you're in the market for a $1.49 glue gun. You'll find that at the dollar store, which is nearby the Cyberways Internet CafĂŠ and the Ontario Conservatory of Music. There's also a photo imaging lab, a denture clinic, doctors' office, a couple of salons, and a few places to eat. That pretty much sums up Crossways.

The most interesting shop, or so it seemed from behind its locked glass door, was a store called Nueva Vida Bookstore and Gifts--a tiny space with a rather extensive selection of Adidas shoes for sale. It was closed, inexplicably, on that afternoon. Delayed hibernation emergence? It's possible here.

THE CROSSWAYS MALL ROUNDUP

• Anchor store: Does Pharma Plus count?
• Quality of shops: Too many with the word "Crossroads" in their titles


• Most unique feature: I'm pretty sure you could hide a body undetected in one of Crossroads' nooks
• Average age of patrons: Lots of teens
• Quality of food court: There's a Chester Fried Chicken Express and Yummy Korean Food. The later has laminated pictures of its dishes tacked to its walls
• Need for makeover: Even a porthole would help

Previously in the series:

• Agincourt Mall
• Lawrence Square
• Parkway Mall
• Centerpoint Mall
• Galleria Mall
• Woodbine Centre
• Jane Finch Mall
• East York Town Centre