[flar]

London, Ontario is sort of the "capital" of Southwestern Ontario. It's where everyone goes for shopping, it's where everyone goes for healthcare. It's the first "big city" destination for many a smalltown/country youth in Southwestern Ontario, including myself (I lived there for seven years). I went back to take these pictures in January of this year.

 

[ganjavih]

Great tour. How's downtown London doing these days? Still going downhill?

 

[flar]

^^Other than the John Labatt Centre, downtown London is remarkably similar to when I left it in 2002. There are several residential high rise projects going up right now. Most Londoners think downtown is rough and decrepit, but living down there for most of my 7 years in London was quite enjoyable and I never found it to be rough. Festivals almost every weekend in the summer.

 

[Hipster Duck]

Downtown London could be worse. It's surprisingly intact and has a good sprinkling of architecture across the ages. Still, downtown London kind of gets boring after an hour - I have a softer spot for downtown Hamilton, warts and all.

 

[Long Island Mike]

London,Ontario - South Central Ontario's #1 City

Flar: Good London pix! Does London have one of Ontario's largest downtowns? (after TOR and HML) I recall being there in September '85 myself-it was surprisingly larger than I had thought. It is a good mix of new and old and the city looks quite lively! It is also good to see wintertime pix on these first days of July-the thought alone cools you down. LI MIKE

 

[Hipster Duck]

This picture

is kind of your typical Ontario main street. It's got some vibrancy, a lot of down-on-their-luck Victorian commercial buildings, a handful of handsome old banks, a smidge of urban renewal, transit, a few shady characters, low-rent establishments mixed in with chain coffee shops and a couple of really good pubs. All cities big and small seem to have this: Yonge street, Bank street in Ottawa, King street in Hamilton, Dundas street in London, even King street in Kitchener are all examples of this.

 

[flar]

Flar: Good London pix! Does London have one of Ontario's largest downtowns? (after TOR and HML) I recall being there in September '85 myself-it was surprisingly larger than I had thought. It is a good mix of new and old and the city looks quite lively! It is also good to see wintertime pix on these first days of July-the thought alone cools you down. LI MIKE

Don't forget Ottawa (it's so far away I forget it's in Ontario sometimes too!). London is the next largest city (and next largest downtown) in Ontario after Toronto, Ottawa and Hamilton. It's like a little big city. Population of London proper is 352,000 and CMA is 457,000. I include both populations because the CMA includes some places that are separated from the city by a considerable distance (eg: St. Thomas and Strathroy).

Edit:

Long Island Mike: I should add too that a large part of Downtown London was demolished shortly after you were there in '85. The entire Talbot Block was demolished to make way for a shopping centre that was never built. It was a parking lot until 2002 when the John Labatt Centre was built on the site.

 

[flar]

Some old pictures from my balcony in London. The parking lot is where the Talbot Block was (before the John Labatt Centre was built). In the background you can see smoke from a fire that destroyed the Pro Hardware on Dundas St.

The JLC under construction. I watched it being built and then moved just before it opened. I still haven't been inside.

Here's another thing that's changed. London had a building called the "CN Tower" it was 10 or 12 stories.

Now you see it...

...now you don't

The old Covent Garden Market, demolished and replaced by a new building

I liked the old market...

 

[ShonTron]

The old market was pretty dank. Below a parkade, how contextual.

I guess you also remember when the London Galleria was a much busier mall, when it had both Eaton's and the Bay (now the central library, quite nice).

 

[JasonParis]

Nice shots! They sort of remind me of a winter version of my year-old London Snaps threads...

London Snaps I

London Snaps II

I'm pretty indifferent to London really, but it's not a bad place to spend a day.

 

[Long Island Mike]

London,Ontario - The Canadian version...

Flar: Thanks for more London pix! You are right-we cannot forget Ottawa - I wonder if Canada should have a Federal or Capitol District like the USA or Australia? I will post the question in the appropriate forum on Urban Toronto. LI MIKE

 

[syn]

Nice shots. I have some great memories (and some not so great) of trips to London during my university days.

 

[Millstone]

This picture

is kind of your typical Ontario main street. It's got some vibrancy, a lot of down-on-their-luck Victorian commercial buildings, a handful of handsome old banks, a smidge of urban renewal, transit, a few shady characters, low-rent establishments mixed in with chain coffee shops and a couple of really good pubs. All cities big and small seem to have this: Yonge street, Bank street in Ottawa, King street in Hamilton, Dundas street in London, even King street in Kitchener are all examples of this.

The common thread is that they were all early provincial highways in the days before freeways. Dundas St being Hwy 2, Yonge being Hwy 11, King later becoming Hwy 8 in the 50s, King St in Kitchener being Hwys 8 & 85. Bank St made up part of Hwy 31. Now that these are all bypassed by freeways, everyone's flocking to those in an ugly suburban sort of way.

Hwy 2 is never far from Hwy 401 and is much more interesting for this very reason.

 

[urbanboyto]

I think little big city is a great way to represent London! I have been there a few times visiting family but have always skirted around the suburbs and I have never actually been in the downtown area. There are more tall buildings than I thought and it has some great old historical buildings and they are grouped together to make some pretty nice streetscapes. Who knew?