Looking forward to the past

For a peek at the future, I thought I’d explore a little bit of the past by venturing through some of Toronto’s well-known historical areas. I start by walking along Dundas West to Spadina Avenue to take in a bit of Chinatown. There, the sense of culture is alive and kicking. Despite the cold weather and late afternoon hour, the area is still bustling with excitement: people travelling in packs and pouring out of shops.

Switching over to Kensington Market, I walk along College Street and make a turn onto Augusta Avenue. Even with the vast expansion of modern technology and overall increased dependence on vehicular transportation, this neighbourhood is still known for being better experienced on foot. Although less crowded than Chinatown at this time, this area that once served as a refuge home for many immigrants in the past 20 years, still demonstrates a multicultural style seen in various themed shops and billboards.


Right now, this area is quiet and peaceful – almost ghostly. The only sound I hear is Bob Marley’s voice drifting out of a small boutique as a young man in a do-rag stands out front bobbing his head to the beat. With the Market’s old-fashioned appearance, typically lower prices, and graffiti that overshadows advertisements, there is clearly a focus on maintaining a primarily working class community. The clothing I see in the stores has a very retro feel: fashions designed to be recycled for one generation after the other. Located at 17 Kensington Ave. is one such store, Dancing Days, where a large picture of Mona Lisa looks down at me with a fruit basket in front of her.


It is widely assumed that because we live in the present, how things are right now are what were once reflected in “images of the future” in the past. But the future is an ongoing concept making the past, present and future interchangeable. There are glimpses into the future not only in the present but in the past as well. What this area represents to me is an insistence on preserving tradition, which is something that will always exist in every part of the future. While things change, many things still stay the same.

I saw a future that, though may grow and develop overtime, will inevitably carry many remnants of the past, offering a mix of the old and the new.