The growing city

New commercial additions are clearly in the offing.

Construction continues.

On land that was open farmland when I moved to London, a massive shopping district is taking shape in southwest London, Ontario. The plan is to make Wonderland Road a major and welcoming entrance to the growing city.

The major gateway I can see but the welcoming part may be a stretch --- unless rows of fairly standard box stores with acres of black asphalt is your idea of welcoming.

Still, it is a clean, modern area offering everything from groceries to banking to eye care and much more. Like an ice cream? It's here. Looking for wine? Or beer? Yes, these stores are here, too.

This area offered the city a wonderful chance to showcase the city's planning department. If the city was going for the gold, someone fumbled it, in my opinion.

It's a good shopping area but very, very ordinary. It lacks magic.