Excellent article Stephen. What would be very interesting too, would be to understand the fundamental mechanisms through which individuals or groups made the decisions resulting in the destruction you’ve outlined in the article. There seems to have been, hidden from the view of the average person, a momentum of control, or decision making, which has for decades obviously not been for the good of the downtown core, but has been, apparently, for the good of someone, or some group.
One might wonder today, how much of the same mechanism is at work, and how can it be confronted, weakened, or removed so that only positive decisions and moves can be made, so that the downtown core can be allowed to achieve a strength and independence we’ve not seen since the fifties and sixties. The city core is a dependent entity now, almost childlike, whereas it was an independent powerhouse decades ago. It is as if the city core is a living entity, and this, simply because it has become weak, dependent, childlike, controllable, and always in need of desperate assistance.
However, the core can again be made strong and independent, like an adult, assuming a self-sustaining momentum. And thus, it will require almost no control or assistance simply because it will have become its own prime mover, its own powerhouse of energy. The removal of control by those who are comfortably favored by it, and the offering of freedom to the creative abilities of individuals who can make the magic, should be the goal of those desiring full vibrancy in the city core.
