Nestled between the low-rise buildings in the heart of downtown London are the wonders of the ocean. An aquatic mural spans the length of a bricked wall, splashing the side of 197-199 Dundas St. with rich shades of blues and dark pinks. An octopus splays its tentacles across the rocky ocean floor, amidst coral and other lush marine life. The mural is one of several downtown that add colour to the grey urban landscape.
It was only a block away, at the intersection of Richmond and Dundas, that a store owner chased two men allegedly using drugs on the street away with a baseball bat. The incident happened last July and spread through a number of Canadian media outlets after a video posted to Facebook went viral. The video has since been removed, but the conversation it generated hasn’t gone away.
“It’s a perception that it’s unsafe. It’s not unsafe,” says Janette MacDonald. “I live downtown. And my friends who live downtown, my friends who work downtown – my age, younger women, older women – we’re not afraid to walk around the downtown.”
MacDonald is the CEO and General Manager of Downtown London, an organization committed to the revitalization of city’s core. Downtown London is the umbrella name for the London Downtown Business Association and Mainstreet London. The two organizations came together under the same brand in 2009.
The Downtown London office sits on King St., across from the Covent Garden Market and surrounded by some of London’s most well-known local businesses. The building stands out on the street with it’s bright blue exterior, punctuated by a tilted white exclamation mark. Inside, a long gallery wall features artwork from the Jonathon Bancroft-Snell Gallery.
MacDonald describes the function that Downtown London plays within the community. “Our role is for beautification, for business retention, for promotion of the businesses that are in the area, and to seek investment and new tenants as people vacate. So it’s our job to keep it full, to keep it vibrant, and to keep it as creative as possible,” she says.
But vibrancy and creativity often aren’t what members of the community see. The downtown narrative is defined by images of violence, homelessness and drug use.
“There’s a negative association with downtown that is something that we as a whole community – that’s every level of government, business, health agencies – everybody needs to play a big part in repairing,” says Tanya Park, the city councillor for Ward 13, which includes the downtown and surrounding neighbourhoods.
Park was elected to office in 2014, after years of community involvement in her own neighbourhood of SoHo. SoHo, or “South of Horton,” has bordered the downtown core since the establishment of the city. Park fought to change the negative stigma of the area in her time as president of the SoHo Community Association. She has seen the downtown fight a similar stigma.
“From when I was a teenager to what I see today, it’s an incredibly different downtown,” she says.
By many accounts, downtown London has seen miraculous growth. Between 2003 and 2013 the City of London released six reports analyzing the revitalization efforts taking place downtown. The 2013 State of the Downtown Report shows steady growth since the early 2000s.
The value of properties downtown has risen to over $1 billion in ten years, reflecting an increase of more than 60 per cent since 2004. The area has also seen a spike in population, dwellings and average household income since 2001. More people, in more homes, making more money are now living downtown. Moreover, growth in these areas is occurring at a faster rate than the rest of the city.
London’s post-secondary institutions are also establishing themselves downtown. Fanshawe College is entering Phase II of its downtown expansion. Phase I saw the opening of the Centre for Digital and Performance Arts (CDPA) in January 2016. The newest campus, which will occupy the location of the former Kingsmill’s building, will house the tourism, hospitality and IT programs in September 2018.
“Both the city and the college recognize that increasingly activity is going on in, I would say, any downtown,” says Tony Frost, Executive Director of Reputation and Brand Management at Fanshawe College. “You see more people living downtown, you see more people shopping downtown, and they are increasingly becoming vibrant magnets for commerce and social activity.”
The CDPA has already brought almost two thousand students downtown and the next phase is estimated to double that amount. Frost believes this will contribute indirectly to social and economic growth in the area.
“They’ll want to shop, they’ll want to spend some time downtown, they’ll be frequenting businesses and enjoying the downtown life. So that changes the dynamic of the downtown,” he says.
The story of growth in downtown London, however, remains coloured by the pervasive image of “street culture”. Market Lane, a pedestrian area off Dundas St. which parallels the CDPA building, is often cited as the epicentre for this culture.
Last October a report released by LiveWorkLearnPlay, a real-estate advisory firm hired by Downtown London, recommended the city “disarm drug use and street culture” in key areas, including Market Lane. The language used in the report generated backlash from mental heath, anti-poverty and homelessness advocates in the city.
Park believes language can often be a barrier when discussing such social issues.
“We just don’t know how to talk to each other properly in a way that we all understand,” she says. “And it’s unfortunate because when we’re too busy talking about people’s intentions we’re not doing anything, we’re not making actual change.”
Park sits on the board for the London Downtown Business Association arm of Downtown London. She and MacDonald both believe the narrative of downtown London needs to change.
Many Londoners still only see downtown in the video of the man with the baseball bat. That video received almost 50,000 views before it was taken down. Outside of Market Tower where the incident occurred, loud classical music can be heard down the street, all the way to Market Lane. The music echoes a strategy known as hostile architecture, where public spaces are designed to discourage use by “undesirable” people.
“There’s still a lot of work to be done,” MacDonald says. “I mean, I always paint a rosy picture because it’s my job. But I do not in any way, shape, or form think that we’re done.”
Robin De Angelis 