I live at the north end of a block of pawnshops—there are about a dozen between my apartment and Queen Street. Some are high end, some less so. I am usually walking on the side of the street right next to them, so never see the buildings beyond the windows.

Today, I walked on the other side, and noticed the second floor of this shop. Abandoned, boarded up, but seemingly under the paint, original. I was glad not to be rushing, to take the time to notice the history behind the commercial windows at street level.

This stretch is interesting. A five minute walk from the towers of King & Bay, but a world away. These old commercial buildings, all owned by the pawnbrokers who fill them, seem to defy the commercial reality of their location. I wonder how much longer they will all be here.

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A friend on Facebook, on seeing the photo, shared an interesting fact about this building. His great-grandfather started his printing business here, 110 years ago.

His story of connection to my neighbourhood made me doubly glad I slowed down enough to take this photo.