Guelph By The Thingies: Graffiti

Downtown Guelph has many things going for it. On a brisk twenty minute walking circuit, you can go to the knitting store, pick up a used book at Macondo, and even visit the City Hall, should you ever want to see democracy in action. (I have never ever wanted to do so.)

However, downtown Guelph is not without its faults. A lot of stores do well, but there are many empty storefronts and a struggling mall right in the middle of the main square. Once the stores close, it's a wasteland until the bars open. And a block has remained burned out for years.

One of the ideas to revitalize the downtown was to move the library from it's squaretastic '70s-era digs to a new and more central location. To that end, a whole row of stores was essentially forced out. They remain empty.

Please look upon the superimposition of the street as artistic, and not the effect of annoyingly glazed windows.

If you look through the window of what used to be the Family Thrift Store, you'll see someone has spray-painted "We need communities not condos" on one of the abandoned walls. I don't think Guelph has decided whether it should agree with that sentiment or not.