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London, Ontario

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City of London
Flag of City of London
Flag
Nickname: 
"The Forest City"
Location of London in relation to Middlesex County and the Province of Ontario
Location of London in relation to Middlesex County and the Province of Ontario
CountryCanada
ProvinceOntario
CountyMiddlesex County
Settled1826 as a village
Incorporated1855 as a city
Government
 • City MayorAnne Marie DeCicco-Best
 • Governing BodyLondon City Council
 • MPsSue Barnes (LPC)
Glen Pearson (LPC)
Irene Mathyssen (NDP)
Joe Preston (CPC)
 • MPPsChris Bentley (OLP)
Deb Matthews (OLP)
Steve Peters (OLP)
Khalil Ramal (OLP)
Elevation
251 m (823 ft)
Population
 (2001)[1]
 • City336,539
 • Metro
432,451
 source: Statistics Canada
Time zoneUTC-5 (EST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-4 (EDT)
Postal code span
N5V to N6P
Area code(519/226)
Websitehttp://www.london.ca/
[1](sc) According to the Canada 2001 Census.

London is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada along the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor with a metropolitan area population of 432,451; the city proper had a population of 336,539 in the 2001 Canadian census, although the cities population reads 348,000 on the city limits sign.

London is the seat of Middlesex County, at the forks of the non-navigable Thames River, halfway between Toronto and Detroit, Michigan. It is located at 43°0′N 81°15′W / 43.000°N 81.250°W / 43.000; -81.250. London and the surrounding area (roughly, the territory between Kitchener-Waterloo and Windsor) is collectively known as Southwestern Ontario. The City of London is a single-tier municipality, politically separate from Middlesex County though it remains the official county seat.

London was first settled by Europeans in 1826 and was incorporated as a city on January 1, 1855. Since then, London has grown into the largest Southwestern Ontario municipality and the city has developed a strong focus towards education, health care, tourism, manufacturing, economic leadership and prosperity.

History

Prior to European contact in the seventeenth century, the present site of London was occupied by numerous Algonquin and Iroquois villages; the Algonquin village at the forks of Askunessippi (now called the Thames River) was called Kotequogong.

John Graves Simcoe

This location was selected to be the site of the future capital of Upper Canada in 1793 by Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe. It was Simcoe who named the settlement after London, England and also renamed the river, however, his choice was initially rejected by Guy Carleton, (Governor Dorchester), who made the comment that "access to London would be limited to hot-air balloons".

In 1814, there was a skirmish during the War of 1812 in what is now southwest London at Reservoir Hill, formerly Hungerford Hill.

The village itself was not founded until 1826 and never became the capital envisioned by Simcoe. It was part of the Talbot Settlement, overseen by Colonel Thomas Talbot, who oversaw the surveying of the land and built the first government buildings for the administration of the Western Ontario region. With the rest of Southwestern Ontario which was part of this settlement, it benefited from Talbot's provisions for building and maintaining roads and for assignment of priority for access to main roads to productive land (rather than to Crown and clergy reserves, which received preference in the rest of Ontario).

In 1832, the new settlement suffered an outbreak of cholera. London remained a centre of strong Tory support during the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837, with a large British garrison stationed there, although there was a brief rebellion led by Dr. Charles Duncombe, who was forced to flee to the U.S.

London Downtown Skyline

On April 13, 1845, a large fire destroyed much of London, which was at the time filled with mostly wooden buildings. One of the first casualties of the fire was the town's only fire engine. In the 1860s, sulphur hot springs were discovered at the forks of the Thames River while industrialists were drilling for oil. The springs became a popular destination for wealthy Ontarians, until the turn of the 20th century when a textile factory was built at the site, replacing the spa.

Blackfriars Bridge

In 1875, London's first iron bridge, the Blackfriars Street Bridge, was constructed. A rare example of a bowstring through truss bridge, it remains open to vehicular traffic today. The bridge was produced by the Wrought Iron Bridge Company of Canton, Ohio; however, a local contractor, Isaac Crouse (1825–1915), was the contractor who undertook the actual erection of the bridge. Isaac Crouse was responsible for portions of the construction of many bridges in London. Although many repairs and modifications have been made to the Blackfriars bridge, the structure remains an historic relic designated under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act, still serving its original purpose.

While other Protestant cities in Ontario (notably Toronto) remained under the sway of the Orange Order well into the 20th Century, London abandoned sectarianism in the 19th Century. In 1877, Catholic and Protestant Irish in London formed the Irish Benevolent Society, which was open to both Catholics and Protestants and forbade the discussion of Irish politics. The influence of the Orange Order (and of Catholic organizations) quickly waned. The Society survives to this day.

St. Peter's Cathedral Basilica, seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of London

On May 24, 1881, the ferry SS Victoria capsized in the Thames River, drowning approximately 200 passengers, the worst disaster in London's history. Two years later, on July 12, 1883, the first of the two most devastating floods in London's history killed 17 people. The second major flood occurred on April 26, 1937, which destroyed more than 1000 homes and caused millions of dollars in damages, particularly in West London. After repeated floods the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority built Fanshawe Dam to control the level of the Thames; it opened in 1952. Financing came from the federal, provincial, and municipal governments. Other natural disasters include a 1984 tornado that led to damage on several streets in the White Oaks area of South London.

London's role as a military centre continued into the 20th Century during the two World Wars, serving as the administrative centre for the Western Ontario district. Today there is still an active Garrison Support Unit in the city at Wolseley Barracks.

London annexed many of the surrounding communities in 1961, including Byron and Masonville, adding 60,000 people and more than doubling its area. After this amalgamation, suburban growth accelerated as London grew outward in all directions, creating expansive new subdivisions such as Westmount, Oakridge, Whitehills, Pond Mills and White Oaks.

In 1993, London annexed nearly the entire Town of Westminster, a large, primarily rural municipality directly south of the city. With this massive annexation, London almost doubled in area again, adding several thousand more residents. London now stretches south to the boundary with Elgin County.

The 1993 annexation has made London one of the largest urban municipalities in Ontario. Intense commercial/residential development is presently occurring in the southwest and northwest areas of the city. Opponents of this development cite urban sprawl and transportation concerns as major issues facing London. The City of London is currently the thirteenth-largest city in Canada and the fifth-largest city in Ontario.

Law and government

Main article: London City Council
Middlesex County Court House (1824-1825 Gothic Revival, architect John Ewart)

London's municipal government is split between fourteen councillors (one representing each of London's fourteen wards) and a Board of Control, consisting of four controllers and the mayor. London's current mayor is Anne Marie DeCicco-Best, re-elected in 2006.

Historically, the Board of Control was introduced during a period of expansion so the ward councillors could deal with ward issues while the board dealt with problems affecting the entire city. Although London has many ties to Middlesex County, it is now "separated" and the two have no jurisdictional overlap. Exception here is granted to the Middlesex County courthouse and former jail as the judiciary is administered directly by the province.

The composition of the city council was challenged by two ballot questions during the civic election of 2003 on whether city council should be reduced in size and whether the Board of Control should be eliminated. Councillor Fred Tranquilli, Ward 3, was responsible for these ballot intiatives. He presented a re-designed form of local government entitled 'A Better Way', which was a modification of a similar proposal presented by the Urban League of London after the City's last annexation in 1996. Both would have seen the council reduced to ten wards and Board of Control eliminated. The council could not come to a determination and as a result decided to put two questions on the ballot for the fall 2003 election.

While the "yes" votes prevailed in both instances, the voter turnout failed to exceed 50 per cent and was therefore insufficient to make the decisions binding under the Municipal Act. When the council voted to retain the status quo Imagine London, a citizens group, petitioned the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) to change the ward composition of the city from seven wards in a roughly radial pattern from the downtown core to 14 wards defined by communities of interest in the city which includes a separate ward for the core.

The OMB ruled for the petitioners in December, 2005 and while the city sought leave to appeal the OMB decision via the courts, leave was denied on February 28, 2006 in a decision of Superior Court's Justice McDermid.

In response, the city conceded to the governance change, but asked for special legislation from the province to ensure that there will only be one councillor in each of the 14 new wards, not two. On June 1, 2006 the Ontario bill received royal assent which guarantees that London will have one councillor per ward.

In the provincial government, London is represented by:

In the federal government, London is represented by:

See also: List of mayors of London, Ontario, Roman Catholic Bishops of London, Ontario

Crime

See also: London Police Service

Historically, crime in London has been low for a city of its size[citation needed], although the Hells Angels have set up a chapter and the city formerly housed a chapter of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club. In 2005, however, London had a record 14 homicides, giving the city a per capita murder rate of 3.8 per 100,000, twice the 2004 national average and about a third higher than in Toronto, where much concern was voiced in 2005 over violent crimes.

Marijuana is widely available illegally, as is ecstasy. London has a small crack cocaine problem and crystal meth use is also on the rise.[2] Pharmaceutical drugs, such as morphine, oxycodone and other opiates are increasing in use. London's illegal drug problems are of long standing; it was nicknamed "Speed City" in the 1970s due to widespread use of amphetamines.

Civic initiatives

Special City of London initiatives in Old East London, such as the creation of the Old East Heritage Conservation District under Part V of the Ontario Heritage Act, special Building Code policies and Facade Restoration Programs, are helping to create a renewed sense of vigour in the East London Business District.

Geography

North Thames River, looking south from Oxford Street toward downtown London.

The area was formed during the retreat of the glaciers during the last ice age, which produced areas of marshland, notably the Sifton Bog (which is actually a fen), as well as some of the most productive areas of farmland in Ontario. The eastern half of the city is generally flat, with the exception being around the five neighboring ponds in the south, with gently rolling hills in the west and north.

The Thames River dominates London's geography, with the North Thames River and Thames River meeting at the centre of the city known as "The Forks" or "The Fork of the Thames." The North Thames runs through the man-made Fanshawe Lake, located in northeast London. Fanshawe Lake was created by Fanshawe Dam, which was constructed to protect the areas down river from catastrophic flooding which affected the city on two occasions in the past (1883 and 1937).

Climate

Because of its location in the continent and proximity to the Great Lakes, London experiences very contrasting seasons. The summers are usually hot and muggy, while the winters are normally quite cold but with frequent thaws. London has the most thunder and lightning storms of any area in Canada. For its southerly location within Canada, it does receive quite a lot of snow, averaging slightly over 200cm (80 in.) per year. The majority of this is Lake effect snow originating from Lake Huron, some 60km (40 mi.) to the northwest which occurs when strong, cold winds blow from that direction.

Major parks

Boer War Memorial, Victoria Park (sculptor George Hill)
  • Victoria Park, in downtown London
  • Labatt Memorial Park, in central London at the river forks
  • Harris Park, in central London
  • Gibbons Park, in north-central London
  • Fanshawe Conservation Area, in northeast London
  • Springbank Park, in southwest London
  • Westminister Ponds, in south London
  • Byron Bog

Economy and industry

London's economy is dominated by locomotive and military vehicle production, insurance, and information technology; the London Life insurance company was founded there, and Electro-Motive Diesels, Inc. (formerly General Motors' Electro-Motive Division) now builds all its locomotives in London. General Dynamics Land Systems also builds armoured personnel carriers there. London also is a source of life sciences and biotechnology related research; much of this is spurred on by the University of Western Ontario. The headquarters of the Canadian division of 3M are located in London and both the Labatt and Carling breweries were founded here. Kellogg's also has a major factory in London. Thanks to a $223 million expansion that started in 1984, Kellogg Canada's 106,000 m² London plant is one of the most technologically advanced cereal manufacturing facilities within the Kellogg Company. A portion of the population of the city work in factories outside of the city limits, including Ford and the joint General Motors Suzuki automotive plant Cami, with further potential in a future Toyota plant.

The castle-like entryway to Storybook Gardens

In 1999 the Western Fair Association introduced slot machines. Currently, 750 slot machines operate at the fair grounds year-round.

For many years, London has been deemed a "test market" for Canada. International companies have used London to introduce their products and companies into Canada. They use London because, it is considered the average Canadian city.

Demographics

According to the 2001 census, the London metropolitan area had a population of 432,451 people, 48.3 % male and 51.7 % female. Children under five accounted for approximately 5.7 % of the resident population of London. This compares with 5.6 % for Canada overall. In mid-2001, 13.1% of the resident population in London were of retirement age (65 and over for males and females) compared with 13.2 % in Canada, therefore, the average age is 36.9 years of age comparing to 37.6 years of age for all of Canada.

In the five years between 1996 and 2001, the population of metropolitan London grew by 3.8 %, compared with an increase of 6.1 % for Ontario province as a whole. Population density of metro London averaged 185.3 people per square kilometre, compared with an average of 12.6 for Ontario altogether.

The vast majority of Londoners profess a Christian faith, some 75.8% (Protestant 44%, Roman Catholic: 27.9%, other Christian, mostly Orthodox: 3.9%). Other religions include Islam: 2.7%, Buddhism: 0.6%, and Judaism: 0.4%. There are also centres for Theosophy and Eckankar devotees, as well as a centre for Unitarians. There is also an active Bahá'í community in London.

Education

Elementary and secondary

London elementary and secondary schools are under the control of two school boards, the Thames Valley District School Board and the London District Catholic School Board. See List of schools in London, Ontario.

Post-secondary

The Weldon Library on the campus of the University of Western Ontario.

London is the home to two post-secondary institutions: the University of Western Ontario (UWO) and Fanshawe College, a community college.

UWO was founded in 1878 and has 1,164 faculty members and almost 29,000 undergraduate and graduate students. It had consistently placed in the top five in the annual Maclean's magazine rankings of Canadian universities. The Richard Ivey School of Business, part of UWO, was formed in 1922 and has been ranked among the best business schools in the world. UWO has three affiliated colleges: Brescia University College, founded in 1919, Canada's only university-level women's college; Huron University College, founded in 1863 (thus pre-dating UWO itself) and King's University College, founded in 1954. The affiliated colleges are liberal-arts colleges with religious affiliations, Huron with the Anglican Church of Canada and King's and Brescia with the Roman Catholic Church.

Fanshawe College has an enrolment of approximately 13,000 students, including 3,500 apprentices and more than 200 international students from over 80 countries, as well as almost 40,000 registrants in part-time continuing education courses. Fanshawe's Key Performance Indicators (KPI) have been over the provincial average for many years now, with increasing percentages year by year.[3]

The Ontario Institute of Audio Recording Technology (OIART) is also in London.

Sports

The John Labatt Centre

London is currently home to the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League, which plays at the John Labatt Centre, the host arena of the 2005 Memorial Cup, and were both 2004-2005 OHL and Memorial Cup Champions. They are by far the most popular sports team in the city. During the summer months, the London Majors of the Intercounty Baseball League play at historic Labatt Park. Other sports teams from London include:

The University of Western Ontario teams play under the name Mustangs. The university's football team plays at TD Waterhouse Stadium. Western's Baseball Club (defending OUA champions) plays all their home games at Labatt Park.

Labatt Park, which opened in 1877, is the world's oldest operating baseball grounds still in its original location.

The Forest City Velodrome, located at the former London Ice House, is the only indoor cycling facility in Ontario and the third built in North America. It opened in 2005.

The World Lacrosse Championship was played in London from July 13 to July 22. Twenty-two teams from around the world competed, with Canada beating the U.S. in the final. The event also includes a "Festival of Lacrosse", with tournaments in at least six divisions, ranging from an under-19 division to an over-50 ("Centurian") division.

Communications and media

Federal government building (Art Deco style)

Telecommunications

The independent London Telephone Company (established 1879) was bought by the Bell Telephone Company of Canada in 1881; the Byron Telephone Company, serving areas annexed by London in 1961 and 1993, was purchased in August 1960. Bell Canada continues to be the incumbent local exchange carrier for London.

Television

London pioneered in the establishment of cable television in Canada, being either the first or second city in Canada with cable service, when Ed Jarmain and others wired the first 15 homes, and had to purchase TV sets for 14 of them. London's first cable system, established in 1952, broadcast American signals that crossed the border, including WICU from Erie, Pennsylvania. Shortly afterward, Community Television was also established serving southwestern London and a "gentleman's agreement" set a boundary, convoluted in the old London South (Wortley Road) area; Community Television was later purchased by MacLean-Hunter, and MacLean-Hunter was ultimately purchased by Rogers Cablesystems. London Cable TV later merged into Canadian Cablesystems, with Jarmain as a primary company officer, which was an acquisition by Rogers prior to its purchase of MacLean-Hunter.

London had the second private local television station in Canada, CFPL (on-air November 28, 1953), and CFPL was the first Canadian local channel to broadcast in colour (1966). It remains the only local TV station in London, and as part of CHUM Limited's NewNet system was branded as The New PL. In August 2005 CFPL was re-branded as A-Channel. Several other stations from neighbouring cities have established retransmitters or are otherwise available in London, as follows:

On cable, television stations from Detroit, Michigan are visible, along with several stations from the Erie, PA, Detroit, Michigan, and Buffalo, NY markets.

From late 1970 to the mid-1980s, Erie dominated as its four network affiliates were the only American stations available on the basic cable dial of two-thirds of Londoners, and Londoners came to know Erie fairly well, familiar with Mayor Lou Tullio, Millcreek Mall, the Miracle Mile and other Erie landmarks. Londoners were contributors to WQLN-TV, the public broadcasting station. Erie stations have since been mostly shuffled to the expanded cable dial.

Radio

London also had radio since 1922 when CJGC was established. It joined a Windsor station in early 1933 to become CKLW, but a local station was reestablished late that year, CFPL. A sister FM station was established in 1948, and is now owned by Corus Entertainment. Competitor CKSL started in 1956; a third station, CJOE, was founded by Joe McManus in 1967, changing to CJBK in 1973. In addition to one station each with Fanshawe College (CIXX) and UWO (CHRW), other stations are associated with existing stations.

CBC Radio One operates a local news bureau in London, but the city does not have a full CBC production centre — except for local newscasts, the station carries programming from Toronto's CBLA. Before 1978 CBC programming was carried on CFPL-AM, as well as on CFPL-FM prior to 1972. The CBC continues to operate rebroadcast transmitter CBBL for CBC Radio Two, relaying the signal of Toronto's CBL-FM.

The following stations broadcast in London:

Radio stations from other nearby cities, including Woodstock's CKDK ("The Hawk" 103.9), St. Thomas' CFHK ("Fresh FM" 103.1) and Tillsonburg's CKOT-FM ("Easy 101" 101.3) can also be heard in London, and are often (albeit incorrectly) considered London stations by the local radio audience. CKDK-FM, however, does have a London office, and advertises for concerts and stores in London, Ontario as well as for stores in Woodstock.

Newspapers

Until 1937, London had two daily newspapers: the London Free Press (established 1849) and the London Advertiser. The Advertiser folded in 1937. The Free Press, formerly owned by the Blackburn family, is now owned by Sun Media, a subsidiary of Quebecor Media Inc.

Scene, a free biweekly community entertainment, arts and news paper, was established in 1989 and is still owned by publisher and editor-in-chief Bret Downe. Scene boasts a readership of over 30,000 each edition and over 70,000 in total.

Sun Media's subsidiary Bowes Publishing also owns and publishes The Londoner, a community-focused weekly started by Controller Gord Hume and former Free Press editor-in-chief Philip R. McLeod in 2002.

Arts and culture

Patrons queue at the 2006 Rib-Fest in London, Ontario.

London's diverse cultural offering boosts its tourism industry. The city is home to many festivals throughout the summer including the London International Children's Festival, the Home County Folk Festival, the Taste of London festival, London Ribfest which is the second largest rib festival in North America [4] and Sunfest, a World music and culture festival — the second biggest in Canada after Caribana in Toronto [citation needed].

Musically, London is home to Orchestra London, a professional symphony orchestra, the London Youth Symphony, the Amabile Choirs of London Canada and also the Guy Lombardo Museum. There are several museums and theatrical facilities including Museum London, which is located at the Forks of the Thames. Museum London exhibits art by a wide variety of local, regional and national artists including Paul Peel and Greg Curnoe. London is also home to the Museum of Archaeology, owned by the University of Western Ontario (UWO), with a reconstructed Iroquois village, the McIntosh Gallery which is an art gallery on the UWO campus and The Grand Theatre which is a professional theatre with a secondary stage named the McManus Studio. Other places and events of artistic and cultural interest include:

Transportation

TD-Canada Trust bank building (Art Deco style)

Road Transportation

London is present at the junction of Highway 401 that connects the city to Toronto and Detroit, USA, and Highway 402 to Sarnia. Also, Highway 403, which diverges from the 401 at nearby Woodstock, Ontario, provides ready access to Brantford, Hamilton, the Golden Horseshoe area, and the Niagara Peninsula.

Many smaller two-lane highways also pass through or near London including Kings Highways 2, 3, 4, 7 and 22. Many of these are "historical" names, however, as provincial downloading in the 1980s and 1990s put responsibility for most provincial highways onto municipal governments. Nevertheless, these roads continue to provide important access from London to nearby communities and locations in much of Western Ontario including Goderich, Port Stanley and Owen Sound.

London also has some roundabouts in the city, which are uncommon for any North American city. They are mostly found in new subdivisions (such as in the Hyde Park, Byron, and Summerside neighborhoods).

Network Problems

Within London, as with many cities, traffic tends to congest in certain areas during rush hour. However, the lack of a municipal freeway (either through or around the city) as well as the presence of two significant railways (each with attendant switching yards and few over/under -passes) contributes heavily to this congestion. These conditions cause travel times to be highly variable with the time required to cross the city varying from 20 minutes to over an hour.

The "London Ring Road" controversy

London is the largest city in North America not to have an urban freeway serving the metropolitan area. This is despite plans to construct such a road (around the city's periphery) which have existed for decades, but have recently been revived. Notable in the 1960s and early 1970s was an effort to route, through the north and east sections of the city or in the rural areas beyond, an expressway from Sarnia. The assorted route options (in-city that served users but disrupted neighbourhoods, or out-of-the-city that avoided neighbourhoods but did not serve city users) were fought over, but in the end, city council rejected the freeway, and instead accepted the now named Veterans Memorial Parkway to serve the east end.

Another freeway near the city's western edge is also under consideration, as future traffic volumes for the city will easily outplace capacity for the north/south western arteries, even with massive widening projects. Many Londoners have expressed concern that the absence of a local freeway is hindering London's economic and population growth, being far behind growth rates of other Canadian cities with a better developed freeway network for some time. Londoners have voiced that some sort of expressway/ring road for the city would be the best way to solve London's long-term transportation needs, but the city has been reluctant to comply with the public opinion on this issue.

Although there are many factors at play, proponents of the project attribute the lack of progress largely to litigation by environmental lobbies and local home-owners. Nevertheless, the recent road capacity improvements to Veterans Memorial Parkway (formerly named Airport Road and Highway 100) in the industrialized east end does represent progress toward this goal and significantly aids traffic (largely coming off the 401) in reaching the east, and north ends of the city. However, the Veterans Memorial Parkway has received criticism (like Airport Road in the past) for not being built as a proper highway and having intersections instead of interchanges.

Network Solutions

Since the 1970s, London has been more successful at urban road realignments that eliminated "jogs" in established traffic patterns over 19th-century street "mis-alignments": the Riverside Drive-Queens Avenue-Dundas Street linkup, the Horton Street Expressway, the Bradley Avenue-Highbury interchange, the Wonderland Road bridge over the Thames River, and the Oxford Street West extension. Despite these improvements, London has some of the worst roads in Ontario [1].

Other Transportation

Rail

London is on the Canadian National Railway main line between Toronto and Chicago (with a secondary main line to Windsor) and the Canadian Pacific Railway main line between Toronto and Detroit. VIA Rail operates passenger service through London station as part of the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor, with connections to the United States.

Bus

London is also an important destination for inter-city bus travellers. The Greyhound Canada express services to and from Toronto are heavily travelled, and connecting services radiate from London throughout southwestern Ontario and through to the American cities of Detroit, Michigan and Chicago, Illinois.

Air

London International Airport (YXU) is served by airlines including Air Canada Jazz, WestJet and Northwest Airlink, and provides direct flights to popular national and international destinations. Many flights to nearby major airports Toronto and Detroit are flown daily, as well as a daily non-stop to Ottawa.

Miscellaneous

Like most cities of its size or larger, London has several taxi and for-hire limousine services and the London Transit Commission has 38 bus routes throughout the city. London is believed to be the only jurisdiction in North America where executive-class, sedan limousines can accept street-flags and wait for walk-on customers outside bars and restaurants, a popular by-product of the city's controversial and on-going taxi wars. Recently, London has constructed cycleways along some of its major arteries in order to encourage a reduction in automobile use.

Future Transportation Plans

The city of London is considering BRT (bus rapid transit), LRT (light rail transit) and/or HOV (high-occupancy vehicle) lanes to help it achieve its long-term transportation plan. Additional cycleways are planned to be constructed when road widening projects are conducted providing there is need and enough space along to route. A possible expressway/freeway network is also possible along the eastern and western ends of the city, from Highway 401 (and Highway 402 for the western route) past Oxford Street, potentionally with another highway joining the two in the city's north end. A parclo interchange between Highway 401 and Wonderland Road is also planned to be completed by 2009 to help move traffic more efficiently through the city's southwest end.

Miscellaneous

One London Place.
  • Contrary to popular belief, London did not take on the name "Forest City" due to the number of trees in the city. In its early days, London was an isolated destination and one would have to walk through a forest to get there. So it can be said that London was a "city within a forest" and as such earned the nickname "The Forest City." In modern times, however, Londoners have become protective of the trees in the city, protesting "unnecessary" removal of trees. The City Council and tourist industry have created projects to replant trees throughout the city.
  • Sister city: Nanjing, China.
  • Asteroid (12310) Londontario is named for the city.
  • The tallest building in London is the One London Place, which currently stands as the tallest office tower outside of Toronto, in Ontario.
  • The CFPL Television Tower, a 314 metre tall guyed TV tower, is the tallest structure in the city.

Notable Londoners

A-B

C-D

E-J

K-P

R-Z

Further reading

  • Frederick H. Armstrong and John H. Lutman, The Forest City: An Illustrated History of London, Canada. Burlington, Ontario: Windsor Publications; 1986.
  • Orlo Miller, London 200: An Illustrated History. London: London Chamber of Commerce; 1993.
  • L. D. DiStefano and N. Z. Tausky, Victorian Architecture in London and Southwestern Ontario, Symbols of Aspiration. University of Toronto Press; 1986

Notes

  1. ^ 1
  2. ^ 100% Purity Crystal Meth taken off streets (retrieved on 2006-07-26)
  3. ^ . http://www.fanshawec.on.ca/kpi/default.asp
  4. ^ http://www.bgclondon.ca/specialEvents.html#ribfest

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to London, Ontario.


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