Downtown London is a safe place. I go there all the time, night and day, and I've never been bothered by anyone. Sure those guys you see smoking by the Richmond Tavern aren't always well dressed and tend to speak loudly when they've had a few. But if only you talked to them you'd probably agree they wouldn't hurt a fly.
I think the problem stems from the majority of Londoners spending most of their time in the same malls, going to the same franchises, buying the same crap they don't need in the first place. Some people on the other hand are tired of seeing the same stores, arranged in the same way wherever they go. I mean honestly who can tell the difference between White Oaks and Masonville ? Downtown London offers something different. If you can't stand seeing a cigarette butt on the sidewalk or if people wearing ripped jeans scare you then stay in your boring malls and let other people be. And please stop fantasizing about the "criminality" in downtown London, this is just ridiculous. Get off the couch and see for yourself.

I had the misfortune of being downtown last night at the McDonald's and was disgusted at the state of the sidewalk. Stained with who knows what and garbage all over.

It reminded me of why I hate going down there int he first place.

Making d& part of Richmond Row would be wonderful but I doubt it will happen.

The city needs to get Farhi to demo that hideous empty building & then buy the land off him for peanuts then turn it into an open park. The city has the power, but instead they are always held at the whim of that slumlord.

Glad to know there's others that feels the same way I do about slumlord Farhi. The man has done nothing for downtown. I remember him having a hissy fit about that heritage property and holding it ranson. Basically saying "Rent this space from me or I'll tear it down!". Once again, only in London would this happen.

Downtown is a filthy mess. We used to have a person who spent all day sweeping the streets and keeping it clean. Ever since our major downtown landlord took over the storefronts are dirty and the windows haven't been cleaned in years. Make the restaurants clean up after their smoking customers as the streets are awash with old butts. That sweeping machine that goes by once a month doesn't let it's brushes touch the ground. We need solid bylaws with big fines to make the business owners keep the buildings and sidewalks clean and passable. They're getting rich off our tax dollars renting to endless help projects the least they can do is not make our downtown look like a ghetto.

haha, JJ I don't think that we can just destroy people's homes.

Another suggestion would be to have all the ugly houses along Highbury, and Hamilton demo'd. What eyes sores.

A place for people to hang out doesn't always work as planned. Sometimes it just turns into a place for homeless people to sleep which apparently is frowned upon. D&R is full of old buildings that can really be cleaned up to look beautiful. What if the market bought it as an extension? Opened up a real grocery store around there somewhere along with other little local shops that rent from them. I feel that if the block was owned by one company it would be easier to monitor what goes in and out of there.

Hi there,
I totally agree with this. First... move the buses over 1 street then enforce loitering laws at Dundas and Richmond.

Would it be so hard to plant a cop or 2 at the intersection at all times?

I dont use hard drugs but if I wanted to I would know exactly who to talk to on that corner - the exact faces of the people. Its not unusual to see 5 or 6 deals taking place during a typical 10 minute wait for the bus.
Why cant this be stopped?

I suppose the cops need to focus their efforts on more serious crimes, like those vicious, pot smoking heathens at Victoria Park.

I think we should block off Dundas st from Wellington to Talbot.
Allowing bikers, people walking etc to have more access to area. We might not be able to change the crowd the comes downtown, but I think allowing more of a "village" type of dowtown till bring people to it.
Lets not mentioned more benches.

I was in T.O the past weekend, one thing I noticed they had and our city didn't was a place for people hang out. Make a large area for people just to sit - homesless, youth, adults anyone would be attrached to the area..

Not to mention teen moms swearing at their young kids, I see that all the time. That's the worst. Really great example they're setting.

I understand that there is poverty, and there are people in this city who really need the help that they receive from welfare. There are a good chunk of people in this city who have made their lives better with the help and support that has been provided.

However, there are a select few who see welfare as free money, who don't use it to try to improve their quality of life, don't listen to social workers' advice, taking everything for granted, continually throwing themselves downhill. These are the people who are hanging out in front of the D&R McDonalds all day after they collect their cheque.

I feel that the welfare office is what is attracting these crowds. It's a tricky subject. Should the welfare office be moved somewhere less central/downtown? It is in a great location for people who have to bus or walk. Is there more than one office? Maybe having a couple others opening up throughout the city would help eliminate this crowd and make it more accessible throughout the city.