Economy Thread

[ssiguy]

There are all kinds of benefits.

It's not just the actual number of students or jobs but the accumulative effect of them.

Many working there will want to live nearby as will many of the students. For the students who graduate and stay in London, chances are that if they were living downtown they will probably stay downtown and this will happen continually.

Students are also poor but they have have 2 budget items......rent and going out. Students love to stay out late, go for a drink, late night coffee, cheap dinners, individual clothing not Walmart brands, and tend to very much shop at unique indie shops which is where the downtown excels.

The Central Library will certainly see more usage as will the movie theatres and certainly the Market at lunch time with people eating outside. For the students who don't live downtown, due to parking, nearly all of them will use the LTC to get there as will probably most of the staff again due to having to pay for parking.

It fills up yet another parking lot and London is losing a lot of those gaping holes that once plagued the Core. It's amazing how the new Shoppers, even though only taking up one parking lot on Richmond, managed to make the section more urbane. The clear visual line between Richmond Row and Downtown was always that parking lot but now the two have basically merged and go seamlessly from one to the other. The new Fullerton building will help do the same.

This is a big boost for the Core which is almost unrecognizable from where it was 25 years ago when many were starting to just right it off. I know it may seem slow to you but when you only come back every few years, the changes really stand out.

So when is construction suppose to start and classes begin. Also how many Fanshawe students are already downtown?