Tiny spur-of-the-moment photo essay of shops along Wellington Street in Stratford by a crappy photographer with a cellphone. As a kid I was always fascinated by the doorways beside the shops leading to the upper floors. Who would live up there above a busy downtown street, and why?
In smaller towns and cities they generally tended to be reserved for those unable or, seemingly inexplicably,
unwilling to shell out for a "proper" house away from downtown with yards and driveways. But that's changing. Above the shops in Stratford you've now got condos, apartments and numerous businesses that don't require storefronts appealing to browsers on the street (yoga studios, naturopath clinics, clubs etc.).
I find them to be one of the defining elements of the British and North American urban form. My eyes immediately seek them out when looking at any downtown street, and I always notice when they're missing (how do people get upstairs then? From the back?).
