Desperation on Dundas Street

Life on the street
London, ON
January 2020
This photo originally shared on Instagram

A while back, a local business association launched a marketing campaign to boost engagement with retailers in and around the downtown core.

Big, bold, blue "London is on!" signs like this one started popping up everywhere.

I captured this poignant moment on a cold January afternoon on the main retail drag that forms downtown's spine. Dundas Street has seen more downs than ups since its largely-forgotten heyday, and this ironic scene practically screamed at me from across the newly renovated, fancily-bricked flex-street.

I've never been comfortable with this kind of hyperbolic messaging. It feels shouty, even a little desperate, like you're trying to convince people you're once again successful, when every reasonable metric suggests otherwise.

Cold realities have a way of telling stories more truthfully than polished catch-phrases. Indeed, downtown streets may be rougher than we wish, but they don't lie.

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