Governments that force changes in transportation efficiency and safety often fail to understand that they ought to help those whose existence is threatened by those changes. While official plans glorify the benefits of the changes they rarely discuss what elements of society will be destroyed. In the medium-sized City of London, Ontario, Canada the results of government interventions, or lack there of, have led to the destruction of many small and independent businesses along its main street, Dundas Street. Along with other political decisions that also targeted persons of low income this has led to areas of depressed economic activity that has not been seen before.

Background

Looking back, the main street of London, Ontario, Dundas Street, was a vibrant area of economic activity for well over 100 years. Dundas Street in downtown London was where you wanted to be. An example of this is the historic photo of the area below, from the year 1956.

Dundas Street in downtown London was beginning to falter even as early as the 1980s. It was then that politicians agreed to have a new mall built to help boost the area. Galleria Mall saw its opening day in 1989. It is shown on the left of the photo below, taken in 2013. While there were great expectations that Galleria Mall would revive downtown Dundas, the opposite occurred. The exterior or the mall appeared to be closed to its surroundings as there were no street-side windows and there was no connection with existing, local merchants.

Political decisions caused changes to London as well as to the Province of Ontario leading to a progressive attack on cities such as London and specifically Dundas Street. The Tory provincial government of Mike Harris was brought into power in 1995. Its legacy is encapsulated by a single sentence written in a 2023 article by John Ibbitson:

“The government closed and amalgamated dozens of hospitals, cut welfare benefits by more than 20 per cent and slashed the number of school boards by almost half.”

The Harris government also introduced the Municipal Act which off-loaded many costs, such as roadway responsibilities, to local governments. Also, the monitoring of roadway safety issues, that used to be conducted in uniform manner by the province, province-wide, was now left to local municipalities. This led to the creation of non-uniform roadway control, planning and implementation.

The “common sense” of closing many mental hospitals meant that those persons with cognitive challenges were sent onto the street, essentially to fend for themselves. This had disastrous effects on communities and Dundas Street in particular. Dundas Street in East London had already been feeling the effects of previous political disasters in the late 1960s and 1970s such as the rebuilding of Dundas Street into a a river-like, curving road that took away parking and thus took away customers from East London businesses. The city mayor at the time owned a construction company that was hired to install expensive brickwork along Dundas between Elizabeth Street and Adelaide Street. This brickwork started to fall apart and was expensive to repair. That whole area of Dundas Street was reconstructed again to its original, straight form, with some parking, but the damage had already been done to local, independent businesses. The main businesses such as Hudsons, London Furniture, Metropolitan and the Brass Rail Tavern all began to leave the area with nothing to replace them. Those displaced persons from mental hospitals and those who had their social benefits removed by the Harris government began to enter onto the sidewalks of Dundas east. But Dundas in the downtown area was still saved from that prospect for several more decades.

For decades the most commercial “place to be” had always been the intersection of Dundas Street and Richmond Street. This is where the very successful Ingram & Smallman department store expanded to the very successful Simpsons department store. Bus Simpsons began to falter and was bought out by The Bay. This change lasted successfully for a few more years before The Bay moved out of the Dundas-Richmond intersection and the depression of the area began to intensify.

Historical photos of downtown Dundas Street show that there was many beautiful buildings that existed here but these were torn down. Without such buildings it made it more difficult to attract customers to the area when there was nothing beautiful to see. An example of some beautiful architecture is shown in the historical photo below, taken on Dundas Street from just west of the Simpsons store, reportedly in 1951.

As mentioned earlier the political disaster of the Galleria Mall began to take its effect on downtown Dundas Street. Essentially no business could survive inside the mall and they soon departed leaving an empty shell. The mall was re-named the Citi Plaza but the name change made no difference. From every direction the exterior walls of the mall contained no windows and no connection with the local businesses located next to it.

Signs of economic problems on Dundas Street were not easily recognized. The development of the John Labatt Centre (JLC) was a great success to downtown London. This arena holding approximately 10,000 persons saw many new musical and sports events. With the re-development of the Covent Garden Market next to it there was a sense that downtown was headed toward some good times. But the backside (north side) of the JLC faced Dundas Street and, just like the Galleria Mall, its walls contained no windows and no connection to the outside street. Also, with the building of the formidable London Court House, and the Bell building, the trio of these buildings made it unpleasant to walk in the area of Dundas Street between Ridout and Talbot, as shown in the 2017 photo below.

The rise of Big Box businesses such as Costco, and on-line shopping establishments such as Amazon, placed further pressure on the small businesses lining the downtown of Dundas Street, and these businesses continued to falter.

Meanwhile to the east, the Dundas Street community in East London had been in complete shambles for many years. The successful business area of Dundas Street near English Street became destroyed as the complete block of buildings on the north side of Dundas were leveled, as shown in the 2013 photo below.

With the hot real estate markets of nearby cities like Toronto, home rental costs went up and the building of affordable housing was low. This sent more persons onto Dundas Street East with no where to go. Normal businesses could not survive and new ones such as cash lending and pawn shops emerged.

Intensified Road Reconstruction in Downtown London Commencing in 2018

In the midst of the economical woes politicians continued to make roadway “improvements” which shut down parts of Dundas Street. A decision was made to close Dundas east of Egerton for roadway improvements. But this area was shut down and dug up again only a few years later to make room for the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system.

Meanwhile, as time passed, politicians came to the realization that the world’s climate was changing and drastic measures were needed to stop our burning of fossil fuels. This led to the recognition that transportation systems needed to be changed. Transportation needed to involve multi-passenger buses that used electric power rather than gasoline or diesel. And it became essential to cause more transportation via bicycling or by walking. In London this became the impetus for a rapid increase in the number of cycling lanes throughout the City. It also became the impetus for creating a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system through select, high-volume roads.

For Dundas Street in London these political decisions led to many years of traffic chaos which began in 2018 with the decision to create “Dundas Place” between Ridout and Wellington Rd. But this was also an area where many small businesses were attempting to survive harsh economic times.

Dundas Street became closed to all traffic from the spring of 2018 to the fall of 2019 for the creation of Dundas Place. As shown in the photos below, this was a dramatic stoppage of economic activity that greatly affected local, independent businesses.

As if the hardships of Dundas Place were not enough, a pandemic struck the world in late 2019 with the introduction of Covid 19. Persons could not interact in public and were required to wear masks. This created severe hardships for businesses throughout Canada but those hardships were increased along downtown Dundas Street where essentially no shopping was possible.

In the spring of 2020 the completion of Dundas Place could be examined and the logic of the costs to create it could be assessed. It was noted that a complicated brickwork of a winding “river” in the road surface was developed as if this would be the saving characteristic of the revitalization. This was reminiscent of the meandering “river” that was created on Dundas Street in East London in the late 1960s and 1970s which was instrumental in accelerating the depression of that neighbourhood.

Even though Covid-19 and the traffic problems of Dundas Place were creating havoc in downtown London, politicians embarked on other transportation “improvements” which worsened these problems. As an example, Richmond Street was closed from York to King Street for restoration, as shown in the photo below.

A seemingly yearly shut down of King Street for various road construction also continued through 2020, as shown in the photo below.

Meanwhile city politicians also allowed for lane restrictions on Dundas east of Dundas Place. The area of Dundas east of Wellington Road was restricted to traffic as a new cycling track was being constructed eastward from downtown, as shown below.

By the spring of 2021 city politicians once again decided to make road “improvements” at the west end of Dundas Street by commencing construction at Dundas and Ridout, as shown in the photo below.

City politicians also experimented with closing Dundas Place to traffic at the Talbot, Richmond, and Clarence intersections. The results shown in the next photos are that Dundas Place looked more like a ghost town rather than the vibrant place it had been for decades.

In the fall of 2021 photos showed that King Street was closed once again as work was being done on Richmond Street and the latest construction of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) was being completed between Ridout and Wellington Road. Photos from that time are show below.

As shown in the photo below King Street still remained closed to traffic on December 1, 2021.

In the spring of 2022 several road closures and restrictions were noted. Queens Ave began be restricted to traffic west of Richmond Street. This also prevented traffic on Queens Ave from entering onto Ridout Street.

Queens Ave then began to be completely closed to traffic at Richmond Street as noted in photo below taken on June 17, 2022.

Wellington Road also became restricted from continued construction on King Street, as shown in the photo below.

Southbound traffic on Talbot Street was also restricted in the spring of 2022 between Dufferin and Queens Ave as the new Centro high-rise building continued to be constructed.

Photos also show that Ridout Street became closed south of Horton Street as the new Victoria Bridge began to be constructed. A photo that is shown below.

The beginning of the year 2023 continued to show that roadway construction was continuing to cause chaos on Dundas Street and downtown London. The construction along King Street was still not completed and this caused lane restrictions on Wellington Road between King and Dundas, as shown in the photos below.

Photos taken on March 24, 2023 show that Ridout Street became closed as work was under way on building the new Victoria Bridge south of Horton Street.

Also reconstruction was taking place along Wellington Road at the south end of downtown resulting in further chaos at intersections such as Horton Street, as shown in the March 30, 2023 photo below.

Lane closures along Horton Street meant that there were long lines of waiting traffic as shown in the photo below from April 3, 2023.

The chaos on Horton Street could be appreciated when looking along Wellington Road on its approach to Horton. Wellington Road was being reconstructed on its approach to downtown London as shown in the photos below taken in the spring of 2023.

In downtown London itself traffic chaos was still occurring on Wellington Road between King Street and York Street as shown in the photo below, looking south along Wellington, taken on September 26, 2023.

The start of the year in 2024 showed that the traffic chaos along Wellington Road intensified. Major reconstruction was now taking place further north, past Dundas Street and toward Queens Ave through the spring of 2024, as shown in the photos below.

At Ridout Street the Victoria Bridge construction was taking shape and some sidewalk access was created along the new bridge as shown in the photo below.

A new element of traffic chaos commenced in the spring of 2024 when the City of London decided to perform major road reconstruction of York Street which closed the road west of Wellington Road. This was at a time when major construction was also taking place along Wellington Road.

By July, 2024 the newly constructed Victoria Bridge was being prepared for opening, as shown in the photo below.

By August 1, 2024 traffic on York Street was still severely limited as shown in the photo below.

Photos taken on September 18, 2024 showed that York Street became fully closed at Clarence Street. Signs of that closure could be seen from the intersection of York and Richmond as shown in the photo below.

By September 30, 2024 photos taken in downtown London showed that Wellington Road still remained restricted from Horton Street through to Dufferin Street, as shown in the photos below.

Throughout these detailed descriptions of road construction in downtown London between 2018 and 2024 there was a demonstration that, although improvements were being made, the improvements also negatively affected the area and particularly Dundas Street. While construction of Dundas Place was completed by 2019, many additional road construction projects commenced which either blocked access to Dundas Street or political decisions were made to close access to it. The combination of these political decisions, along with a lack of recognition that homeless street people were increasingly assembling along downtown Dundas led to extreme difficulties for normal, independent businesses to stay open. Upon completion of this article in October, 2024, these problems continued to exist. While the City of London was becoming larger in population its politicians seemed to conclude that development of large, high-rise buildings would be the mark of a successful city while not seeing the reality that many small businesses were closing and for too many persons on the sidewalks of downtown London were not customers or tourists but the streets became their home, as the cost of housing made it unreachable and they had no where else to go.

Comparison To Other Successful Downtowns

A trip to Great Britain in August and September of 2024 demonstrated how pedestrian malls can be successfully integrated into downtown areas. Britain has a northern climate similar to that of southern Ontario so many of the cold conditions of winter affect both locations. Here are some examples of some successful pedestrian malls in Britain.

The photo below shows Buchanan Street in Glasgow in late August, 2024. It is completely free of motor vehicle traffic yet there are numerous persons walking through the area and many successful, independent shops sell their merchandise to those customers.

Another example of a very successful pedestrian mall is the Royal Mile area in downtown Edenborough Scotland. As shown in the photo below very large numbers of pedestrians walk along this road which is closed to motor vehicle traffic.

A particularly relevant comparison to London’s downtown can be made with Bath England. Bath is a city which is about half the population of London and is located in the county of Summerset, west of London England. While the downtown of London Ontario is struggling the politicians of Bath turned its downtown into a spiderweb of successful pedestrian malls. Much of that success came from Bath officials recognizing that they had interesting and unique, historical buildings that needed preservation. One of the best-known locations in Bath are the roman baths which still stand two thousand years after they were first created.

Extending from the area of the roman baths are a series of pedestrian malls, another example is shown below.

An important element of a successful pedestrian mall is to include unique and independent shops that may sell items of specific relevance to the region. The photo below is an example of merchandise being sold in such an independent shop.

The success of the downtown of London, Ontario must be compared to these other areas where business is thriving. While London’s downtown is expanding in the height and size of its buildings, it is not difficult to detect the decay at its street level. The true measure of success is how the most vulnerable in a community are taken care of, not how the most rich can express their narcistic desires.

In London Ontario we spend much of our time and resources controlling the vulnerable persons we have created and then refuse to make a commitment to make a lasting change.

While this article has expressed some doom and gloom there is also hope and optimism. Much like a brown and dried up lawn on a late summer’s day, the apparent death of a downtown is not forever. A few days of rain, some re-seeding, and careful application of fertilizer can bring back a seemingly dead lawn and the same can occur in downtown London. Despite the folly of many, cities are resilient. In the country my birth, Poland, that resiliency was most evident when 85 per cent of Poland’s capital city was leveled in the 1940s by Nazi aggressors. Warsaw’s historical castle, its main square and the famous King Zygmunt’s monument (my namesake) were completely levelled. But that did not stop the Polish citizens. They gathered photos and drawings of all these destroyed places and reconstructed everything to the point where it is difficult to detect that any of these reconstructions ever took place. This was possible through the resilience, dedication and pride of its citizens. By no means has London Ontario been destroyed to the extent that it cannot be revitalized. It just takes some level-headed thought and wisdom to understand what needs to be done and how to do it.