When downtown London truly was a destination

 

This old postcard from, I believe, the '40s shows Dundas Street in downtown London at a time when the core easily attracted workers, shoppers and folk just out for a night on the town. Note the two large cinemas on the left side of the street. 

Today there is a lot of talk, and action, about how to make the core more attractive, more pedestrian-friendly. To this end one section even has had the sidewalk area merged almost seamlessly with the roadway. The city planners call this approach a flex-street.

My wife and I used to live downtown. My mother lived downtown with me and even in her 80s she would walk the few blocks from my home to the core to do her shopping. She would not do that today as the stores she liked are all gone. Closed.

I believe my mother would tell the city planners that she was happy walking on a sidewalk beside a traffic-carrying street. What interested her were the shops. No shops, no cinemas, no reason to visit.