An old page is being archived but the URL is not changed

Selected answers from the Dumb SEO Questions Facebook & G+ community.

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  Michael Martinez: I`m not clear on what you mean by "archived".
  
  If the old page will still be served live and its content is exactly the same as the new page`s content, then I would prefer a redirect to the new page over a canonical.
  
  If the old page will still be served lived and the old page`s content is different from the new page`s content then there is no need for a canonical relation.
  
  If the old page is being taken offline, then just redirect its URL to the new page`s URL.
  
  
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  נתן גאידאי: Michael Martinez The design changes, but they are keeping the old design available online as an archive with the same content but at /archives/...
  
  It`s not a redirect - it`s a page replacement but the URL remains the same
  
  
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  Michael Martinez: So, if you have an old page that says "big baby bottles in bouncing buggies" and that page (/page-1.html) is now being served at /archives/page-1.html, the question is what is being published on /page-2.html that took its place.
  
  I assume you mean the site navigation now links to /page-2.html instead of /page-1.html.
  
  If /page-2.html also says "big baby bottles in bouncing buggies", then *I* would canonicalize /archives/page-1.html to /page2.html but that is just my personal preference.
  
  If the content on /page-2.html has been rewritten, then canonicalization is not appropriate.
  
  
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  נתן גאידאי: Michael Martinez It was easier to remove the archived old version and simply redirect the current page... I did not see a huge drop in traffic