[Kokkei Mizu]

St. Thomas has a bus terminal downtown.
St. Thomas has a free-flowing highway through the city.

More points to be added later :)

[BIGGUY2891]

Many LTC routes run 6:00am to 12:00am M-F
St. Thomas Transit runs 7:15am to 6:45pm M-F

[Wharn]

London, though it may be run by idiots and though it may have a hopelessly outdated transportation system, still manages to look about 1000 times better than St. Thomas, and more importantly, it has a future.

[Simpseatles]

I think a better comparison might be to an up and coming small city like, Woodstock, or Stratford. I sometimes think that those types of places are better off than London. Although they are small, they seem to have a brighter future and still have the chance to really become something, unlike London

[FazDeH]

Though I appreciate the concept of a thread to shead light on the good and bad in both cities, there really is no comparison. St Thomas and London could never be put in the same catagory. If you had said, St. Thomas vs. London circa 1900. yeah then we could have had a conversation.. lol
As for cities like Stratford and Woodstock "Becoming something" It is impossible to imagine they would become as successful for several reasons, I"ll only point out one.
Post secondary institutions. There are more then 50,000 people enrolled in Post Secondary institutions in London, which if my memory serves me is almost the approximate populations of Woodstock and Stratford combined. This generates billions of dollars across all spectrums of the economy in London. The city of London needs to capitalize on this and retain a greater percentage of graduates in my opinion, BUT this is something Woodstock or Stratford will never be able to take advantage of.

[bolognium]

St. Thomas shits all over London. I mean, can London say it has a building burning to the ground on its satellite capture?

http://i.imgur.com/22mxI.jpg

[haljackey]

St. Thomas shits all over London. I mean, can London say it has a building burning to the ground on its satellite capture?

http://i.imgur.com/22mxI.jpg

Wait isn't that Alma College?

[Simpseatles]

Interesting Fact: London's population growth according to Statscan between 2001 and 2006 was 4.7%, while St. Thomas' was 8.4%! This is also higher than my previously mentioned cities of Woodstock (6.6%) and Stratford (2.3%).

[go_leafs_go02]

Wait isn't that Alma College?

Yep.

what a coincidence. I remember stumbling upon that a few years ago, and being highly amused.

Never cared to St. Thomas. Talbot street, and that's it. Just a long 2-3 km of downtown in one strip.

Abandoned railroads, little/no industry left. It would have been fascinating to have been there during the railroad glory days. Something like 26 different railroads had tracks running through that City.

Nevertheless, it doesn't seem to be going anywhere, and I think that's the trend for the future. London's sputtering now more than ever before, but St. Thomas will never have anything on that.

Only thing I could see potentially benefitting St. Thomas is if it became a hub to a major truck ferry to Cleveland - in which it would be cheaper and quicker to ferry from Ohio than to route through Detroit or Buffalo.

[manny_santos]

Abandoned railroads, little/no industry left. It would have been fascinating to have been there during the railroad glory days. Something like 26 different railroads had tracks running through that City.

I have always been fascinated with the railway past of St. Thomas, and how little is left. Today there is still the CP line that connects to the mainline in Ingersoll, the CN line running east towards Tillsonburg (now abandoned west of Paynes Mills), the CN line to London, and the Port Stanley tourist railway that only runs in the summer. The old Canada Southern line still existed through St. Thomas westward up until sometime in 2009 or early 2010; somewhere on SSP I have some photos of the former rail bed I took last June, with the rails still in place at crossings. Down on Highway 4 at Elm Street there are still some telegraph poles marking the location of another former railroad.

All of these changes are very indicative of how the industry and transportation of not only Southwestern Ontario but all of North America has changed over the past century. Before Highway 401 and even a fully-paved Highway 2, a lot of goods passing from Michigan to New York would have passed through St. Thomas by rail.

The Ford plant closing later this year will probably have a ripple effect on the remaining railroads, as the Ford plant is served by a CN spur.

[Highinthesky]

little/no industry left.


haha Anedoctal observation being passed for fact much?

[ForestryW]

London vs. St. Thomas? London is ten times the size of St. Thomas and therefore enjoys a healthier economy and culture, 'nuff said.

It's like comparing Montreal to Regina, New York to Halifax...

When do we do K-W vs. London?

[haljackey]

London vs. St. Thomas? London is ten times the size of St. Thomas and therefore enjoys a healthier economy and culture, 'nuff said.

It's like comparing Montreal to Regina, New York to Halifax...

When do we do K-W vs. London?

I agree.

If this comparison was done like 100 years ago it would be justified.

London to K/W? Don't get me started. It's lopsided since we're comparing one city to two (or possibly more). It just becomes way too difficult to compare.

[Wharn]

London to K/W? Don't get me started. It's lopsided since we're comparing one city to two (or possibly more). It just becomes way too difficult to compare.

Kitchener and Waterloo, for all intents and purposes, are practically the same city. The only noticeable difference is Waterloo is traditionally more of an academic community, while Kitchener tended to be the Blue-Collar town. But really, it's the same thing for West London and East London; you'd never bother calling the two a different city.

Back to the comparison: London was rather pathetic compared to K-W right up to last year, but this year economic growth rates are expected to be comparable. Embarassingly, both cities will be left in the dust by Windsor.

[haljackey]

Back to the comparison: London was rather pathetic compared to K-W right up to last year, but this year economic growth rates are expected to be comparable. Embarassingly, both cities will be left in the dust by Windsor.

Just keep in mind these are predictions. I have serious doubts that London will live up to it's expected growth rates, especially with the Ford assembly plant closing this year.

Windsor's growth will without a doubt be high, but short lived. This is almost entirely due to the Windsor-Essex Parkway project. Once it's completed where are all those workers going to do for jobs?

K-W I can see achieving it's goal. Toronto and the GTA are influencing the four-headed monster more and more every year which can't be said for London and Saint Thomas.

[ForestryW]

Just keep in mind these are predictions. I have serious doubts that London will live up to it's expected growth rates, especially with the Ford assembly plant closing this year.

Windsor's growth will without a doubt be high, but short lived. This is almost entirely due to the Windsor-Essex Parkway project. Once it's completed where are all those workers going to do for jobs?

K-W I can see achieving it's goal. Toronto and the GTA are influencing the four-headed monster more and more every year which can't be said for London and Saint Thomas.

And the stimulus package bandaid solution strikes again.

I wouldn't be surprised if London achieves it's economic growth predictions. There is more to the economy than manufacturing despite all external appearances. London could be growing as much as K-W if city council wouldn't be so conservative about transit and transportation planning, but I digress here.

[Blitz]

Windsor's growth will without a doubt be high, but short lived. This is almost entirely due to the Windsor-Essex Parkway project. Once it's completed where are all those workers going to do for jobs?

The auto industry is bouncing back (this is why Oshawa will have the 2nd highest economic growth in Canada this year). The Chrysler minivan plant in Windsor is firing on all cylinders right now and the smaller feeder plants around town are hiring back laid-off workers. Plus, the new wind turbine plant and other smaller new industries popping up around Windsor Airport will add over 1000 decent jobs in the next few years.

[haljackey]

And the stimulus package bandaid solution strikes again.

I wouldn't be surprised if London achieves it's economic growth predictions. There is more to the economy than manufacturing despite all external appearances. London could be growing as much as K-W if city council wouldn't be so conservative about transit and transportation planning, but I digress here.

I wouldn't call the Windsor-Essex Parkway a bandage stimulus package... it's something that has been planned for a long time and should have been done some 50 years ago. It will certainly play a major role giving a much needed jump-start to the Windsor economy and I certainly hope the city won't stall again once work is completed.

Personally I am still optimistic if London will achieve it's economic predictions. We have a much more diversified economy than Windsor or K-W but remember this includes St. Thomas as they're in our metro area. I'm certain the city will bounce back but still have doubts that our metro may continue to bog us down. Only time will tell however.

The auto industry is bouncing back (this is why Oshawa will have the 2nd highest economic growth in Canada this year). The Chrysler minivan plant in Windsor is firing on all cylinders right now and the smaller feeder plants around town are hiring back laid-off workers. Plus, the new wind turbine plant and other smaller new industries popping up around Windsor Airport will add over 1000 decent jobs in the next few years.

Let's hope so. Windsor is feeling the wrath of Detroit but thanks to an international boarder and sounder economic policies I hope Windsor can bounce back and "keep on truckin".

[Kokkei Mizu]

Look at this! I made a thread about nothing turn into a thread about everything haha