[Keith P.]

I happened to be downtown today and was struck by the awful state of Barrington St. For all the talk and supposed effort to resuscitate it over the last few years it is probably as dead as I've ever seen it.

Starting at Scotia Square and heading south, you have construction on the right (which may eventually have some storefronts), the Delta/Barrington Place on the left which offers a restaurant and not much else. The CIBC in the next block is now dead, and beyond that the Foreign Affair, ex-Freak Lunchbox, ex-jeweler, and Menchies storefronts are also vacant now.

Further south the ex-Doull bookstore is vacant and of course the Roy is under construction. Further along the ex-Discovery Center is gone, the storefront at 1592 is still empty next to the dead zone of the Khyber & NFB, and across the street the Green Lantern is ready to come down as well.

Yes, there are a few brave new businesses like the Highwayman and Barrington Steakhouse restos, but one wonders how much longer they can survive on such a barren street. It is really quite depressing given all the attention and talk devoted to it in recent years.